Relocating to Delaware to teach high school (Wilmington, Dover: credit, house)

[disom]

My wife and I are looking to relocate to Delaware because of the lack of jobs in the Syracuse, NY market. There have been hundreds of jobs cuts in the surrounding districts. I am not a teacher but my wife is and we are wondering how easy it would be for her to get a job in Delaware.

She has her Bachelors in English and Masters in education from LeMoyne College, which has one of the most respected teaching programs in the state.

I have been to Delaware many times at different times of year for vacations and we spent a week in Lewes/Rehoboth/Dewey during our honeymoon and she fell in love with the state.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[DelawareLiz]

I'm a middle school science teacher in Sussex County, and I'm certified to teach agriscience as well. It didn't take me long to land a job after completing my student teaching requirements and obtaining my teaching license. The school districts are hiring for the 2011-2012 school year; therefore, it's best to start applying NOW.

Your wife shouldn't have any trouble landing a job with a masters degree. DE will require her to have a recent background check (cannot be over a year old) and almost all schools require teachers to now be "highly qualified". This means that the teacher must pass the appropriate praxis two exam in his/her area(s) of expertise. She may have already done this, but if she hasn't--she needs to sign up for her praxis two exam immediately. She can be hired under an "emergency certificate" if she has not passed the praxis two yet; however, most will expect her to already be "highly qualified" when she comes to the job interview.

I worked for the Indian River School District for many years, and the only reason I'm not there now is because they did not have any teaching jobs in my certification areas once I graduated with my degree. I would highly recommend this school district along with Cape Henlopen. Both are beach area school districts, and both districts hire many teachers from out-of-state. I currently work for an inland school district (and enjoy it!), but I do NOT enjoy the drive nor do I have much interest in that particular section of the county.

Please let me know if you have any further questions about teaching in Delaware; I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge. Delaware is definitely a decent state to teach in--best of luck!!

[disom]

Thank you for your response. My wife said she took 3 exams in New York, the LAST(liberal arts and science test), Content Knowledge test, and pedagogy knowledge test to get her certification in New York. We're hoping they are equivalent to the Praxis II tests that we looked up online. Obviously we'll find out from the school districts once she applies.

We have been watching the districts web pages for job postings and a few of them already posted jobs for next year so she will begin applying once we talk to our parents. They don't know about our intentions to sell the house we've only lived in for 2 years and move to Delaware but that's another story.

Well we're off to break the "good" news to my mom. Thanks again!

[SXMGirl]

Your wife will still have to take the Praxis II in order to teach in Delaware. She can be hired before taking it, but I believe that she must take it and pass within one year of employment. Delaware requires higher scores on the Praxis than some of the other states, so make sure that she checks that out. She will have the option of a paper test or a computerized test, unless that has changed recently. If I remember correctly, I had to take math, reading, and writing.

[disom]

Upon doing more research we found this on the DSEA website:


http://www.doe.k12.de.us/csa/profstd...%20pd/1540.pdf

Since my wife is certified and licensed in NY, it doesn't look like she has to take the Praxis II. I'm hoping we're right about this but if not, she'll be fine.

[longnecker]

Disom..Have you given much thought to what You are going to do? There are not a whole lot of well paying year round jobs in Sussex County.

[disom]

Even though we love Sussex County, we're looking all over for teaching jobs. We found some districts near Dover and Wilmington that looked pretty good so nothing is definite.

As for me, I have over 7 years banking/credit union experience and since Delaware is the banking capital of the country, I think I'll have a pretty good chance landing a job in that sector. If not, I've always wanted to work in a restaurant again so maybe this move will be a time for a career change. Who knows.

Oh and if anyone read my post from mid afternoon yesterday, I told my Mom and she wasn't really surprised. "Go where the jobs are" she said. Apparently she hates NY and has always wanted to leave but didn't because me and my brother. She has a great paying job here and won't move until she retires.

I'll have more updates in the coming weeks as we still have to tell her parents/family and a good amount of our friends. I'm glad I found this forum because everyone seems so helpful and if we do move, we'll be prepared because of all of you.

[DelawareLiz]

Good luck!! I think you'll really like Delaware.

[disom]

My wife applied for jobs at Brandywine and Sussex Tech. Tomorrow she'll be applying for Indian River and Smyrna. There are a few other districts we're interested in but they haven't posted job yet. There are a few districts that have posted but we're skeptical of.

We're getting sooooo excited!

[DelawareLiz]

Sussex Tech is a wonderful school!! Brandywine is excellent as well...

Please let me know if there are any districts you have questions about. I pretty much know which ones to avoid...