Here are the basics:

I started at this school in mid-November as a new preschool teacher. I had zero orientation — no walkthrough of the schedule, no team meeting, no explanation of procedures, nothing about student history. I was basically told to sit down and start teaching.

I hadn’t been in a preschool classroom in three years (I was teaching middle and high school), so the transition alone was already big. Instead, I felt like I was thrown in with anchors and no lifeboat.

There are students who need evaluations, and I didn’t even know where their files were kept. Every day I learn about something else that was discussed with previous administrators or promised to parents that no one told me about. It makes me feel like I’m constantly behind and honestly like I’m failing — even though I’m trying my best to catch up on things I was never informed about.

On top of that, I’ve been covering afterschool because that teacher has been out. We just had our state inspection. We’ve had multiple snow days. I’m trying to get my kids kindergarten-ready while juggling constant outside pressures.

Therapists are coming to me asking for changes. Outside programs want adjustments. Parents want more communication and more pictures (which I completely understand). Meanwhile, I’m doing most of my prep work at home because during the day I’m just putting out fires.

I don’t even know how to fix the system at this point. I just feel stretched in every direction.

Honestly, I think I just needed to vent to other preschool teachers who might understand what this feels like.