Teaching Spanish in Denver public schools (Lakewood: apartments, find a job, transfer)

[Wtoral]

Hi everyone!

I’m a literacy coach in Ecuador with teaching experience in the US public system. I lived and taught in Florida for 9 years and LOVED the south Florida life. I worked in title 1 schools so I got to see a lot you might not see in other types of schools.

I’d like to move back to the USA and Denver is one of my best choices due to their salaries and availability to move there with a work visa. I also have family there so it’d be nice to have them close. I’d like to know the opinion of any fellow teachers who have moved from Florida to DPS. How is it the same? How is it different?

I’ve read a lot of bad reviews online but coming from a troubled school district, I’m used to many of the things mentioned so they wouldn’t really be a problem for me. I’m more concerned with the methodology used, access to training, and anything academic you can share with me.

Because it’d be easier to get a work visa teaching Spanish, I’d like to apply for a Spanish literacy position in elementary. I think it’s called ELA-S. I’m very interested on knowing more about the bilingual program in DPS. Even though I have 15 years of teaching experience, I have never taught in Spanish so I’d like to go to a district that has a strong program to learn from the best.

[harrison21]

I would make sure to ask very specific questions about curriculum and resources. This was about 6 years ago now, so hopefully things have changed or this school was not the norm, but I had a close friend who taught in one of those ELA-S positions in DPS. She was handed the English curriculum and told to translate it for her students. She was expected to do all of the same things the ELA-E classes were doing, but in Spanish. That meant she was spending a significant amount of time, unpaid, translating. I would also ask specifically about what translation you'll be expected to do. I would not expect much quality PD specifically for teaching in Spanish.

I am a teacher and I personally would not work for DPS, despite the fact that they now have higher salaries. There is just too much turmoil and nonsense going on in the district. They also have a reputation for forcing out veteran teachers, and many of their schools now have "innovation" status which basically means they have become charters. If I were to transfer there I would get a raise, but IMO it's not worth dealing with all of the other stuff.

The COL, especially for housing, is quite high here and IMO even the DPS salaries don't match that. I would do some very specific research about where you could live and what your monthly budget would be prior to moving. We've had a lot of out of state applicants in recent years who have not accepted jobs once they started seriously looking at apartments and such. I know the salaries in FL are supposed to be terrible too, but I'm thinking the COL is lower there. I'm certainly no expert on FL though, just feel like that's what I've heard.

Finally, if you decide you're really serious about doing this, start the process for getting a CO teaching license NOW. The state department of ed is as slow as molasses, and especially since you've been out of the country, there may be extra things you need to do. Again, hopefully things have improved over the years, but when I moved from out of state 9 years ago, it took 7 months to get my official CO license. DPS will also start posting jobs in early February, so also get your resume, letters of rec, etc. together and be ready to apply very early.

[Wtoral]

Thank you for your reply! I'm surprised to hear that though considering common core standards were already in place six years ago. I know that in FL we were using them already. I don't know when CO started implementing them though. Anyway, CC comes in Spanish too, so that shouldn't be a concern right now.

I've maintained my teaching certificate from FL and communicated with the DOE in CO. They told me I couldn't apply for a teaching certificate in your state until I've moved there and started working for a school district. They did tell me that due to my professional teaching certificate from FL and my experience most likely I'll qualify for a professional teaching certificate from CO as well. I can be hired with my FL certification.

I also did my homework on COL in Denver. Even though it is a pricey city, with the salary I'd receive (even after taxes), I'd still do well. I'd love to find a job near Lakewood as Belmar seems like a cute area to live in.

I also know that right now DPS has mandatory training(provided by them) for new bilingual teachers at the beginning of the year, as stated in their website. My interest is in knowing more about continuous training after that and the quality of it. So, if anyone has some information on that, I'd really appreciate it.