Each year, one of the most exciting things we do is interview and hire new teachers.  Now, in our school’s 8th year of existence, I realized a new possibility: we can hire our former students as teachers.

Since our school’s first year in 2011,* we have had students serving as tutors to other students. It started out as tutoring each other over the summer: kids who had passed state exams in math tutored those who had failed.  The tutors earned a small stipend.  That summer, many students passed the math exam.

Over the years, we’ve shifted the tutoring opportunities.  Now, we give seniors who are on-track to graduate the opportunity to tutor their 12th-grade peers who need support or to serve as teacher assistants in 9^th and 10th-grade classrooms. Continue reading →