Pros
-Wonderful staff who desire to learn and grow.
-Clear policies/procedures
-Admin has high expectations for teachers, but works to help teachers meet/exceed those
-Culture team is a well-oiled machine, so while typical behaviors exist, they are swiftly dealt with in a fair/equitable way. Seriously, best culture/student support team I’ve ever had
-Coaching meetings were mostly helpful and focused on what could actually help;
-Typically low turnover rate (elevated in 2024 due to several staff, myself included, leaving due to moves out of the city, or opportunities that have nothing to do with disliking LAHS)
-Student population is generally respectful
-I love the focus on college and career readiness
-Aside from occasional standard high school activities (graduation, occasional late field trip, etc.) I rarely worked outside of contracted hours, including grading
Cons
-Building is ancient/needs a lot of work
-HR/Network is centralized, sometimes network policies didn’t feel like they didn’t work best for our particular school. HR could sometimes be slow to respond
-Merit-based pay raises are as fair as probably could be possible, but still sometimes felt like “performing” during observations was more important than simply teaching effectively
-Non-credentialed staff ineligible for merit-based pay raises, even if in a full-time classroom role
-Limited parking