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Achievement First

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Rewarding and demanding - Teacher Achievement First Employee Review

5.0
8 June 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I'm finishing my fifth year at an Achievement First Middle School. I came to AF after mixed results teaching in a district ran school and a different charter school. My first year at AF was powerful--because of the systems at my school, I was able to get closer to my goal of providing every student with an excellent education. Previously, I was able to serve kids that were invested in school, but I struggled to reach kids that seemed uninterested and/or misbehaved consistently. I realized, though, that it wasn't the systems themselves that helped me, but the team of teachers I worked with that prioritized our collective vision rather than their individual classrooms. I recently attended the "high school senior signing day" for the 8th graders I taught five years ago and it was extremely rewarding to learn which colleges they would be attending in the fall: UPENN, Carleton, Colombia, Lafayette, Skidmore, etc. I believe AF is truly expanding the life opportunities for almost every student in our schools and am proud to be part of this team. On a more personal note, I feel like my coach at AF has helped me significantly improve each year. I feel fortunate to have a job where I am improving each day.

Cons

I love this work and it has become all consuming at times. I regularly put in much more than 60 hour work weeks. There have been times where the amount of work I have on my plate has been stressful and I have struggled to give my family the time I want to give them. Another significant stress agent is the irregular schedules my school frequently has. Our days are long, 7:15-4:15, and irregular schedules for events such as interim assessments can lead to me having fewer much cherished preparation blocks.

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Achievement First Response
8y
Thanks for your positive and kind feedback. It’s great to hear that both the systems and collaboration at your school led to academic gains for your kids. We believe in our bones that this work is only possible if we all row together. In regards to your point about more extracurricular activities, we definitely agree that our scholars need to spend time exploring their passions and skills outside the classroom. If you haven’t already, you should check out our Greenfield Model. At each Greenfield school, scholars have enrichment classes twice a day, and then also engage in expeditions a few times throughout the year. These expeditions get scholars out of the classroom and into the community to engage in various learning projects. We’re proud of the work we’ve done with Greenfield and are excited to build upon that throughout the rest of the network. Thanks again for taking the time to review us and best of luck with the start of the school year. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer

Explore other reviews about Achievement First

5.0
19 May 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Easy work and good team work

Cons

Didn’t have anything wrong with my team

3.0
11 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Dedication to education, core values, commitment to DEI

Cons

Return to office policy, lack of transparency from leadership, lack of communication from leadership

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