Elem. Teacher moving to Va Beach area (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: how much, find a job)

[mastersm9]

I am trying VERY hard to leave Ohio (no jobs) and move to the Va. Beach area. Does anyone have any clue as to how much competition there is for teachers out there. I've applied to every school district I could find in the Hampton Roads area and have no idea when I'll hear from them. Being in Ohio where there are no teaching jobs at all I'm willing to work in any type of environment just to get out of here. I'm worried though that there will be a lot of others competing with me. Anyone who can give me some hope that I'll get a job out there??? Thanks!

[VA Yankee]

The competition may be very high because of the large military presence there is a large pool of spouses who are teachers. I lived in that area for 20 years and teachers like all job areas are paid less due to the military presence. Basicly there is a glut of talent. You might want to consider the Metro Richmond area there is good growth and schools are definetly a growth industry. The cost of living is comparable to Va Beach. You can check this site Virginia Department of Education - JOVE (Job Opportunities in Virginia). This is the state department of education job list and show jobs in education state wide. Good Luck with your search.

[CosmicWizard]

mastersm9

From the posts above, it appears that things have changed quite a bit over the years in regard to teaching jobs. Back in 1990 when my wife was finishing her degree in Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach Schools was recruiting teachers from Pennsylvania. Have you tried Plaza Midlle School in Virginia Beach. I personally know 2 teachers from that school who left positions there for positions in Colorado.

Good Luck with your job search....Franco

[Lisa7Pisa]

Don't give up hope. I used Teachers-Teachers.com to help find a job in VA maybe it can help you too

[sltamoore]

I live in Southampton County. I don't know how close you want to be from the beach, but we live about an hour and 20 minutes from it. We actually spend the day there about once a week during the Summer months :-)

Anyway, I used to work in the school system before I started my own business and they were always looking for teachers in Greensville County. I don't know if there are any elementary positions open in Southampton but the schools here are better than they are in Greensville.

Hope that helps!

[wjjbward]

Have you looked on the VB Schools website? Virginia Beach City Public Schools You said that you've applied already, so you probably have looked at it.

[helixrider]

My dughter is in Newport News and loves it, she was in Hampton before that and hated it.

[summers19]

Also try Suffolk public schools, two counties west of Virginia Beach. And Norfolk public schools, just northwest, west of VB.

[Hokie]

It is really tough to find an elementary education position in this area. I know many elementary education teachers, and I know some recently graduated students from local universities who could not find positions. There is absolutely no teacher shortage in this area. It used to be if you couldn't get a position in Virginia Beach, one of the nearby cities would pick you up. That is not true anymore. The whole area is glutted with teachers. Additionally, my school has been talking about the possibility of having to let teachers go. There is a budget crisis and a declining student population. It used to be easy to find a position five or ten years ago. Those days are gone.

[rtandc]

It will be very difficult to find a teaching job in this area right now. Besides what has also been posted several cities are talking about closing several schools down. Just this week the city of Norfolk was on the news talking about closing down one middle school and shifting the attendance zones for two others because there is 2100 less students attending schools in Norfolk now then what there was just 4-5 years ago. Va Bch is also talking about closing at least one if not 2 elementary schools down next year