Elementary Teacher Moving to Spring, Tx summer 09 (Houston, Dallas: apartments, safe area)

[pierce-teacher]

I am considering moving to the Houston and a friend recommended Spring or Humble areas. I also read about Klein and Champion???? I currently teach 5th grade and hope to get a teaching job in a good school district. Seeking a nice safe area to live in and a good school for my son..newly divorced single mom .I would appreciate any info on private/public preschools, apartments (pricing), and tips on getting a teaching job one of the school districts in those area...Help!!! Also open to other areas of Houston.....Thanks

[Josci]

This post is hard to answer because Houston is HUGE and has a lot of great suburbs and great school districts.

If you want to look at where you will make the most money Google each district and the pay schedule will be on the site. Districts vary with pay so that could help sway you.

You should decide on an area of town and then look up apartments on apartment finder sites.
I cannot help with pre-schools.

Once you know where you want to live people may be able to give you more specific information on the area.

Getting a job as an elementary teacher is the most competitive area…especially in good districts. This is the one area of teaching that is very over saturated. Very few teachers want to work in the bad areas of town, which makes good schools competitive.

North
Humble is Humble ISD
Spring is Spring ISD and some Conroe ISD

Other good areas
Sugarland…Fort Bend ISD
Katy…Katy ISD

I have no idea where Klein or Champion is.

Here is the big thing…. Will Texas accept your certification? You can find out a lot of SBEC and TEA.

Texas Education Agency


Welcome to the State Board for Educator Certification

From SBEC….
“Applicants who have met the comparable Texas passing score on selected tests from Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, a Texas Comparability Test Score/Passing Verification Form must be completed and submitted to the National Evaluation Systems as part of the Review of Credentials for authorized release of your test scores.

Individuals who have taken comparable tests in the Praxis II series should contact Educational Testing Services (ETS) at (800) 772-9476 to have these scores mailed to SBEC. The State Board for Educator Certification entity code is R8325, and this number must be supplied to ETS to get a score report mailed to SBEC.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Assessments (NBPTS) are accepted for certification testing requirements in Texas. The National Board Certified Teacher can request official verification of National Board Assessments be sent to SBEC by contacting NBPTS at (703) 465-8867 for the release of test scores to the State Board for Educator Certification.”

[Josci]

Sorry I could not format that post right!

[buffy888]

Are you moving from out of state? As Josci's post mentioned, some states have what is considered equivalent certification. If you aren't from one of those states, you can get a one year out-of-state certificate (this is what I did when I first moved back down here). Either way, you will want to get the process started ASAP.

It is not too early to start applying. Most districts will accept (or require) applications online.

[pierce-teacher]

I currently live in Dallas..so I am already TX certified

[Josci]

You could attend the Gulf Coast Teacher Job Fair...It is region 4 and covers Houston area and all the surrounding districts.

http://www.esc4.net/docs/166-Job%20Fair%20Brochure.pdf

I highly recommend applying online to the districts you like before attending the job fair.

Some districts also hold their own job fairs in the Spring/Summer...so you could look into that as well.

[pierce-teacher]

Thanks for the info...greatly appreciated