New school year brings new faces

Jennifer+Holcomb+teaching+her+class+on+the+first+day+of+school.

Riley Laurence

Jennifer Holcomb teaching her class on the first day of school.

Jillian Sanders, Editor-in-chief

While students enjoyed summer, school administrators were working rapidly to find new teachers to fill the numerous teaching positions that became open within the past few months.

“Whenever we have an open position, we want to find and hire the best applicants we can,” principal Chris Mayfield said. “The closer we get to the start of school, the pool of applicants often decreases. This can make it more challenging to find the right people.”

Although it seems like the district had more teachers and coaches resign than usual, school officials say staff retention is something that fluctuates year to year.

“The amount of teachers leaving just varies all the time,” administrative assistant Lynda Fleming said. “Last year seemed to be a very small turnover but the year before was like twenty percent leave. I don’t know what it is that governs how many people leave. Sometimes it’s just that their husband got a new new job so they move away with them. Sometimes it’s just an opportunity to coach at a larger school which is a challenge for them. Just like the students, our teachers like to be challenged. I really don’t know the reasons behind it and it varies every summer. You just never know.”

With new teachers can come new standards and students are the ones that have to adapt to any changes in the classroom.

“I think things will be a lot different this year because the new teachers could have a completely different way of teaching compared to the old teachers,” sophomore Collin McCutcheon said.

Despite the often stressful hiring process, school administrators are excited with the new hires.

“It has been very exciting to have the opportunity to interview and hire our new teachers,” Mayfield said. “I am really looking forward to seeing the great work they are going to do with our students.”

Below is a list of new teachers and their position.

Above is a list of new teachers and their positions for the 2014-2015 school year.
Jillian Sanders