Look at all of your options beforehand. - MS Teacher Uncommon Schools Employee Review

- While pay and benefits are attractive, teachers in Boston are only allotted 7 days PTO which do not include sick or mental health days. For a 185 day/40 week school year (8.5 hour day), this is absurd and foolish. - Administration - because let's be honest - they coin themselves as "leadership", but any person can see right through that. Members of administration often exhibit unprofessional and questionable ethics. (inability to deliver on staff-related needs, gossiping about teachers and other members of administration, intimidation techniques towards teachers, disingenuous relations and conversations with teachers) - Post-COVID positions which were funded by the government were what kept the school afloat. The people in these positions were overworked with little to no training or preparation, expected to be able to manage classrooms while teaching content at the level expected by teachers, and were often not provided adequate breaks. This is largely in fault to the Operational Director. However, now that Post-COVID funding has been eliminated, I believe this will present itself with more clarity. A solution? Perhaps a budget readjustment. - All schools in the network teach and receive the same lesson plans from Uncommon curriculum writers which follows a strict and fast-paced pacing calendar. It can feel overwhelming to put a foot down and demand what your students in YOUR classroom need. - While Uncommon Network boasts about instructional coaching, it must be noted here that this baseline promise is often not met. Without being too specific on this matter, it is understood that administration and Instructional Leaders are spread thin as are teachers. Rather than solving this issue where it stems from, administration and coaches group teachers by ability/competence/trust. If teachers need more support, coaches/admin will stay in their classrooms longer while leaving most of the other teachers with no feedback and coaching. Please note that most teachers for Uncommon are uncertified and have had zero prior training before beginning this position. This lack of commitment is hurting teachers, morale, and ultimately the students the network vowed to value more than anything else. - In addition to teaching, you also have to serve and clean lunch everyday. - Longer days which are borderline unhelpful (7am-3:30pm). -You have zero union protections. They can and will fire you for whatever reason they please with zero questions asked.