Looking to relocate and teach in Denver (apartment, credit)

[sz89128]

Hello all. I am 33, married and have an 8 year old daughter. We currently reside in Las Vegas and we absolutely hate it. The education system is the worst and the housing market continues to deteriorate with no signs of recovery. There are no activities for families and no culture here. Need I say more as to why we need to move?

I know Denver has some teaching opportunities but I wanted to hear from some locals about life in Denver. I am mainly interested in family activities and education. I have lots of urban experience so I am comfortable teaching anywhere. I would just like to gather some thoughts for a young family that is bored to tears where they live.

Being a teacher, my salary won't be that great so I wanted to make sure we can live comfortably and safely. We will be seeking an apartment at first and then in a year or 2 looking at a house.

Any tips you can provide would be appreciated.

[Davros]

Be careful about quitting if you have a job in these times, even if it's in an area you hate. I've heard some school districts in the Denver area are having to cut back, and the new law on tenure may have some effect on jobs availability ?

However, Vegas is probably a tough place to raise a family. Place doesn't even belong there ! ("oasis" in the driest and hottest desert of America). I'm living in a tough place for singles who aren't in college (there's basically zero chance of my finding a date in my town), but I'm toughing it out because I have a good job. I'm in State College, PA. Believe me, you don't want to be here if you're a single who's no longer 22 and care about dating. There are no single women here, just college girls and married women ! Great place to raise a family, though !

Yeah, Denver's a good place to raise a family. But my personal advice to you would be to apply to jobs everywhere in America rather than only in Denver. Perhaps you've found that Vegas is the worst place to raise a family, but there are plenty of places other than Denver to do it. Like State College, PA !

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

OP, not sure what you're looking for in the way of information. The city of Denver is a very large metropolitan area that has many affordable, safe areas to live and raise a family, and there are all sorts of urban opportunities. There are also many, many various school districts in the city and the surrounding suburbs. However, with the current economy and cut-backs, I'm surprised that you have found some teaching opportunities available. Good luck!

[dfmetal1]

Hello:
I am in the same situation. I currently live in Las Vegas and I hate it. My wife and I are thinking about moving to Denver or Oakland/Sacramento area. Denver is cheaper and we like it alot. I have been teaching for a couple years and I am ready to make the move.However, I am not sure how to get hire in Denver. I keep going to the DPS website and i see the same positions everytime. Do I apply directly to the schools or Do i apply at DPS and wait for a call?
here in Las Vegas, you apply at Clark County School District and once your applications has been reviwed and accepted, you just wait for a call from the school principal.
I guess Denver does things differently because I can't even get a phone call back.
I have already apply at DPS and I am license to teach in CO .
Any advice?

[harrison21]

If you haven't already, you need to apply for your colorado teaching license. Even if your state is in the reciprocal agreement (most states are), school districts are not really going to consider you if you haven't bothered to get their license. The job market is better here than many other states, but there are still plenty of quality in-state candidates applying for each position. The CDE is also SLOW. In my old state my teaching license took about 3-4 weeks to come in- here, it took almost 6 months.

What areas are you licensed in? That makes a big difference as well. I am currently working in sped (although I am switching to regular ed elementary next year) and that field is wide open. From what people have told me, many CO universities aren't accredited to offer special education licensure programs in undergrad, which explains the lack of candidates. My district's sped department has over 100 employees and not a single one of them is a CO native.

Unless you're in a specialty field that doesn't have many candidates, you'll also need to look anywhere in the area, not just at select districts. DPS does tend to have a "bad" reputation, so you'd think it would be easier to get a job there, but from what I've heard many new teachers really want to work there. They pay much higher than other districts in the metro area. I went to a metro-area job fair a few weeks ago and was shocked to see DPS had HUNDREDS of candidates waiting in line to see them while other districts a little outside of the city had hardly anyone. I heard many new grads talking about "wanting to work in a school with diversity."

[jacoby23]

We have been looking to move to Denver for several months now. We will finally be moving at the end of May as I have accepted a position out there. My wife who is a teacher has been looking as well. She has received a few phone calls but many teaching positions seem like they are reluctant to even interview if you are not yet living in the area. If this isnt possible keep trying, you never know.

[Autodidact]

My daughter left Denver to go to college. She is coming back to get married and raise a family here because she says Denver is a great place to grow up. Take that as an endorsement. Also her fiance's family lives in Las Vegas and she says it's the worst place, so you may share some views.

In addition to regular public schools, be sure to look at the charter schools, who hire separately.

[localgirlpdxbldr]

Start your CDE application now. Mine took 8 months. There seem to be teaching jobs here compared to the Portland, Oregon metro area. My husband, a school administrator, was hired over the phone. A good website is CASE which posts teaching jobs all over the state. Also, get your ESOL / ESL endorsement now. Things will be changing next year I heard and it may be more difficult to switch it from state to state without additional coursework. Most jobs prefer you have that endorsement, no matter what you are teaching. (prob. the same as in LV?)

[hollyt00]

My friend just got a job in DPS, after beating out 80+ applicants for an art position. (Art! Can you imagine how many it would be for Social Studies or Elementary?) Reasons why I think she snagged the job: she has a Masters, she has received multiple awards for her teaching, and she has had students win multiple awards for their art.

If you're an average teacher in a common field, you'll likely have difficulty finding a job.


I hope you are more similar to my friend than, say, me, who has no Masters, nor awards.

[davidv]

The process for getting on with a school district generally goes like this.

1. Submit an application
2. Sit for a screening interview (fail this you will not get a job in this district)
3a. Job Seeker Searches job postings - submits a letter of interest to the principal when a job is posted.
3b. Person in charge of hiring at a school conducts a paper screen to find the best applicants to bring in for an interview.
4. Interview is arranged in person or over the phone. There may be more than one round of interviews.
5. School decides which candidate to hire, notifies candidate.
6. Other candidates are notified when job seeker accepts the job.