A: Our staff teams work together really well in the classroom, and I think project-based learning really helps that relationship. We also have weekly staff meetings, and we work with each other to figure out who’s going on what field trips.

We have two teachers in every classroom as well as an academic coordinator who looks out for the academic outcomes, we have three reading specialists who come in for part of the day and they pull kids out of the classroom in the morning when they need extra support in grades K-4.

When we have a behavioral issue that requires that a child leave the room, sometimes another staff person will take that child. If a behavioral issue turns into having to meet with a parent, we invite the lead teacher, sometimes the social worker if she’s available, and me to meet with the parent and the child. What is very clear to me is that we’re all here for the kids, so if there’s stuff going on, we are here to get that child to work within the boundaries of Horizons and produce the result, no matter what they’re used to doing elsewhere.

A: Horizons aims to get teachers from public school settings because they’re the most familiar with the population that we serve. We do have a couple from Dedham Country Day, but they have experience with this population in other ways.

A: I do a phone interview to gage their interest, but the in-person interview is critical for me to see their passion and their abilities and what they have done before. I look for the sense of commitment to the children and the sense that they know how to manage the classroom. Classroom management, in our case, is really really important. When you’ve got two-thirds of a class operating below grade level and your goal is to move them ahead two to three months in skills in math and reading in the course of six weeks, that’s pretty high stakes. You know that you need to hire somebody who can make their way through the classroom, be able to work with their assistant in the best way, and adapt to change.

A: We’re only six weeks long, so we want everyone to be happy but doing their part.  I don’t press the point unless there’s a big problem. I haven’t had major problems with a staff member, with the exception of a time when someone was just a wrong fit for us. You just have to manage through the six weeks, and you try to find other ways to support that teacher in that classroom.

A: Being a “yes.” Having the student’s input, being able to assimilate that information, and then throw it back out in a structured form that makes a curriculum for a six-week program—that’s a great teacher. We have those who can adjust to whoever is in the classroom. You might get your roster but you don’t know who your kids are until you’re with them, so that takes something. That’s skill. The ones who are able to adjust whatever they’re thinking to whatever is going on in the room, the interests and needs of the children, are probably the greatest teachers.