Work Woes

This past week I interviewed at two preschools in the area. The first was at Primrose School, a private preschool (not sure I understand what that is supposed to mean), and Private Kindergarten. This school is awesome...classrooms are oversized, bright, cheery with plenty of play and work stations for the children. Each room has their own door leading to age appropriate playgrounds. The cirriculum was excellent and chock full of fun. They integrate sign language and Spanish at every age level, from babies to Kindergarten. Anyway, the interview went well, it mostly consisted of me observing a few rooms for about 30 minutes each. I was very impressed with the program and anxious to sit and chat with the director. "Interviewing" with the director was a bit surprising, she was really much more interested in finding out if my hours would work than finding out about how I teach, discipline and react to certain situations. I don't believe she asked me a single question pertaining to children. A bit of a let down. As we got further in to the "interview" I realized that this "competitive pay", "flexible schedule" (as stated in their ad) job was not for me. Number one, they were not flexible with the work schedule, not at all. And the pay, well, I did expect it to be low, but was amazed to find out that $8.50/hr is competitive. It makes me so sad to see the way our society views the important job of caring for and teaching children. It has to be one of the most important jobs, yet, even at a professional level, pays so, so poorly. Obviously, those that work with children do it for reasons other than pay, thank goodness, but really our priorities are so screwed up in this country in regards to educators. It's so disheartening.

Pros: Awesome cirriculum. Beautiful school.
Cons: Director not as "warm" as I would like, and not up to par as far as I'm concerned. I also forgot to mention that I did speak with an assistant teacher. I asked her about how she liked the job. She doesn't. I'm sure it's all relative, but I got a bad vibe about management from her.

On to the next school. The Goddard School, just blocks away from our old house. I was impressed with their entry system. They have a fingerprint scanner, and unless your fingerprint is on file, you cannot enter the facility. The director was wonderful. Very caring, good natured and welcoming. She was very different than the previous director I interviewed with. She gave me a tour of the facility, which was nice, clean, no "day care" smell, and the employees seemed to be happy and enjoying their jobs. Good sign. After the tour we sat down and talked a bit. She asked several questions relative to caring for children, and followed through with explaining their procedures. Very thoughrough. She was interested in hiring me, however, there was not a current opening for the hours that I am willing to work. She said she'd try and adjust some things and see what happens in the future.
Pros: I know I'd be happy with management. Willing to work with my schedule.
Cons: 15 minute drive, and low pay. Education philosophy is not entirely on board with my philosophy. They seem to be a bit Piaget based than I care for...but I don't know that for sure. They don't believe in timeout either, which I found a little strange.

So the search continues. This morning I did my regular job search and ran across an ad for an Admin. Assistant for the drafting department at a manufacturing company here in Georgetown. The job description and requirements could have been quoted from my resume. The position would be perfect for me AND it's right here in G-town. The pay is much, much better, however, this is an 8-5 job. Not so good. I went ahead and shot off my resume, how could I not. I'm sure they'll want to at least interview me for the position, since there's nothing on the ad that I don't have documented experience in. I figure if I get far enough to receive an offer, I can see about negotiating a little with the hours. If that's not possible, I have a lot of thinking to do.