What School Leaders Can Learn about Retaining Teachers from this New Jersey School

Like my peers in every other industry, as Director of Talent Recruitment at  Foundation Academies, a small charter school in Trenton, NJ, I can relate to the staffing challenges created by the Great Resignation and the national teacher shortage.  

Faced with responding to the needs of our communities during the height of the pandemic, our faculty and staff proved exceptional at every turn, starting with the sheer logistical challenge of turning an in-person learning landscape into remote classrooms nearly overnight. Returning to in-person instruction brought new challenges. To even begin, we needed to connect with our staff and understand what they needed to be successful. We did our best to ensure the safety and health of our faculty and staff, but even our most valiant efforts did not please everyone. At the beginning of the school year, we too had teachers resigning at the eleventh hour.  All the while we continued to recruit new hires who would be a great fit and who wanted to be in-person with scholars. I’d be lying if I told you this was easy. 

Thanks to years of investments in our teacher recruiting system, we already had a robust referral program in place. We have always believed that our strongest employees know great people, and we were providing significant bonuses for every referral that led to a hire. But we didn’t stop there--we differentiated based on need. After one year of successful teaching, we would pay $1,000 for every referral hired and $3,000 for any science and math teachers. Given the challenges we faced this past school year, we amended the referral bonus timeline and provided more instant gratification. Our teachers expressed a need for immediate compensation for their referrals, and we delivered. It may then come as no surprise that we have hired 12 people through our referral program this year.     

Our school has a longer school day and longer school year than others, so we are well aware that our entire staff works extremely hard; and while no one goes into education for the money, we can’t rely on people’s good will. This year, we implemented an attendance bonus and have rewarded all full-time staff members achieving 95 percent or higher attendance with a significant bonus. Also, to incentivize teachers to return after the winter holiday break in 2020, we implemented a one-time mid-point retention bonus for all full-time employees who resumed their positions in January.   

Financial compensation hasn’t been the only way that we’ve demonstrated to our teachers and staff that we care. If nothing else, the pandemic highlighted the need to address wellbeing in the workplace. Last year, we initiated a wellness program for our staff which had multiple points of entry. We formulated different optional programs centered around the mind and body. Our range of programs included physical activities like step contests and sessions with a fitness and wellness coach, as well as activities designed for mental health like meditation and a wellness retreat. More than 40 percent of our staff participated in at least one of our offerings.   

To support the career aspirations, growth and learning of our non-certificated staff, we teamed up with Varsity Tutors and Teacher Test Prep to support our aides and substitutes in achieving passing Praxis scores. The certification exam represents a barrier to entry for many of our aspiring teachers of color; so we’ve stepped in with our test prep support initiative to address this. We have a few staff members this year enrolled in one of the programs, and we are working to get them certified in time to begin with us next year as full-time teachers. Foundation Academies covers the full cost of the tutoring program for staff and works with them to navigate the process of certification.  

The many one-off incentives worked for the short-term, and has accelerated the revision process for our  total compensation model, which we had previously planned prior to COVID. We resumed that work this year with the help of an independent firm which collected feedback and perception data from our staff for the benefit of our board president and senior leadership team. Our community spoke and we heard them loud and clear.  And consistent with our school values, we embraced the feedback and have begun making the needed adjustments our data suggests.   

I cannot say that all these initiatives are perfect, but they were helpful. Retaining quality teachers is central to our mission. How can we offer scholars a quality education if we can’t recruit and retain effective teachers? 

Best-selling author John Maxwell stated that “people don’t quit organizations; they quit people.” And even the hard things can become simple when we remember that it all comes back to leadership valuing their greatest assets--the people who make our building a school, our staff.    

 
Foundation Academies: Trenton is New Jersey’s largest and highest-ranking K-12 free public charter school. Our mission is to ensure that all of our students secure the academic knowledge and skills to prepare them for the nation’s finest colleges, and to instill in them the core values of caring, respect, responsibility, and honesty. We serve more than 1,000 of the city’s K-12 population across four schools on two campuses. We admit students by lottery, irrespective of gender, race, household income, or academic ability.  

Our team of experienced and mission-driven urban educators values growth mindsets, lifelong learners, and individuals who believe that every child deserves an excellent education. We hold ourselves, our students, and our city to high standards because that’s what our families deserve.  

We are conveniently located a quick car ride to downtown Princeton, a 45-minute SEPTA ride to Philly’s Center City, and a hop on the NJ Transit Express to New York City.  

If you’re considering following your dream of teaching, Rutgers Alternate Route can offer you the support and training you need to succeed. Be sure to follow Rutgers Alternate Route on Twitter and sign up for Alternate Route’s monthly newsletter for more information and stories from the field of education.