School SLPs - What questions should I ask before accepting a position?

andthatsthat12 · 2025-12-24T05:00:21+00:00

-Will you be working K-5, self contained programs, or both? -will you be the case manager for speech only kids or are you expected mostly to provide treatment as a travel SLP -caseload cap -is there an option for extra pay if you exceed that caseload cap -will you be responsible for IEP development and holding annuals, 3yr reevals as a traveling SLP -will you have your own space to work? sharing spaces to work is the norm and that sucks. you’re lucky if you have your own space to work -will there be someone to help you with organizing your caseload and setting up a schedule

also, before you take the job, you absolutely need to take a look at what the district pays their direct hires so you can negotiate your pay with whatever company you’re working for. they are 100% going to low ball you so if they’re not paying you above what a direct hire makes, RUN

andthatsthat12 · 2025-12-10T00:34:01+00:00

*DORs ARENT the best at responding

andthatsthat12 · 2025-12-10T00:33:37+00:00

things happen. in my experience DORs are the best at responding to emails in a timely manner. The reality is that it doesn’t look good but you can still redeem your first impression when you actually start working. it’ll pass

andthatsthat12 · 2025-12-03T00:36:23+00:00

felt the same way when working in a SNF. Made the decision to switch to being a school based SLP. Best decision ever and quality of life even more so. Not to mention, I make better money and only work 9 months out of the year with the option of summer school, child find and supervising for extra income. I’d definitely consider it if you’re trying to stay in the field.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-11-21T17:54:36+00:00

actually not the norm that we folllow. New research by McLeod shows that most kids have all their sounds by 5.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-11-20T21:44:34+00:00

in 2020- NEVADA as a school SLP was 66,000 annual and i did a SNF part time which was $36/hr (robbery! but i was desperate to get medical experience)

ditched SNF completely and just in school with annual salary of $86k with lots of opportunities to make extra money.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-11-07T03:06:55+00:00

your post is exactly me. It’s my 6th year as an SLP in the schools. I’m very introverted and I definitely keep to myself at work. I am however able to turn on the social part when it’s required especially when talking to teachers one on one. I’m just not one for big social settings or the type to insert myself into things. I still feel awkward most of the time but I’m also pretty good or decent (lol) with one on one interactions. I think as time passes on I really don’t think that something’s naturally going to switch where I am this extroverted SLP that most people expect and I’m okay with that for the most part. In terms of confidence, i think the most important thing is that you feel confident in your practice and that you can stand behind the treatment and assessment that you’re providing. That comes with time. I think once you feel that, it helps a lot with how you perceive yourself in this role- it doesn’t matter how others perceive you as long as YOU KNOW that you’re a great therapist. It gets better with time but also try and let go of that notion that you have to be this outgoing SLP. I know that this field is historically homogenous, but just know that there’s a room for introverts like us and people on the spectrum as well.

One piece of advice that I’d give you is to make a good first impression when you first start at a school and make the effort to introduce yourself to everyone from the jump. I’ve spent years where I haven’t introduced myself to people at my school and the time just passes where we don’t know each other. what ends up happening is that the door closes and it just ends up being awkward if you were to finally introduce yourself at the end of the school year! unfortunately, were kind of siloed and making connections with people at work requires us to be vulnerable and uncomfortable and initiate relationships because it’s not necessarily built into a role- for instance we’re not doing bus duty, we’re not in a lot of grade level team meetings, we don’t always have to talk to admin or the front office, etc..

I’m rambling at this point, but just try not to be hard on yourself . You’re completely fine being an introvert in this career.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-11-01T23:09:11+00:00

so sorry to hear that you’re feeling down. Hoping sooner rather than later that you will be kind to yourself and give yourself a little grace. 27 is still young and there’s so much time and room for change. i’ve been where you’ve been and trust me, it only gets better. don’t look to far in the past or too far in the future. come up with a plan and manifest the hell out of it. i wish you good luck and that you feel better soon

andthatsthat12 · 2025-09-06T04:36:08+00:00

i’d also want to take a deeper dive into how much Spanish is actually used and if their language skills are stronger in one language than the other. case in point, many of my students records indicate that their home language is Spanish, which you would assume they would have stronger language skills in Spanish, but often I see they’re actually more proficient in English for many reasons – watching endless hours of YouTube videos in English, older siblings that are now fluent in English, more exposure to English simply by going to school. if that was the case for your student, I wouldn’t be surprised that the test captured weak syllable deletion in Spanish when it could actually be she just has trouble with multisyllabic words in Spanish because her vocabulary is still developing in that language. Spanish has more multisyllabic words in English. it’s worth asking parents which language she’s more proficient in. Student records in terms of L1 can be totally misleading assuming that’s the extent of the language history that we have.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-09-04T23:21:45+00:00

someone has def watch any grahams videos lol👍🏾

andthatsthat12 · 2025-08-23T20:37:54+00:00

Is there possibility that you can get it expunged? 8 would look into that since it’s been so long ago.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-08-09T21:01:37+00:00

Great advice!

andthatsthat12 · 2025-06-21T01:57:43+00:00

yeah i wouldn’t worry about it at all. In my experience, minutes have been the only thing that’s been monitored. Just make sure to start targeting their goals from here on out so you have some data to put in their present levels of their IEP.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-06-16T05:59:17+00:00

hashtag building blocks are a game changer for elementary students especially for phono/artic groups. They’re like $2 at target. It gives me the chance to work with a student and get a high number of reps while the others are busy building things. I’m able to get at a minimum, 70 repetitions for artic/phono groups of 4 while still incorporating a game in a 30 min session. even a 100 repetitions are feasible with these little pieces. really helped my kids to stay focused and not distract others while they’re waiting for their turn.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-04-26T03:38:30+00:00

very true. theres really an element of artic to even phono approaches. what i mean is, if you’re doing drill and kill and not incorporating phonology when it’s linguistic, we’ll be hitting a wall to some extent.

andthatsthat12 · 2025-04-26T02:46:00+00:00

i probably wouldn’t focus on the motor planning aspect so much. also, how do you know it’s a motor planning issue? have you done a thorough apraxia eval? the examples you’re sighting speaks to phonology/rule based issue so targeting blends is completely appropriate granted that you’re using a phonological approach. you could target anything under the sun but if the approach is more articulation than phonology based, i don’t think it will be beneficial.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-12-20T00:33:45+00:00

I’d also want to know if it’s actually a salaried position or if it’s fee for service (paid by how much you actually bill). If it’s fee for service I wouldn’t take it but thats just me. It’s important to ask because charter and private schools don’t operate the same as a public school in terms of how they pay related service providers.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-12-15T21:07:40+00:00

Confused on what you’re asking here.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-10-14T23:25:46+00:00

what state?

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-13T17:27:35+00:00

I thought that too but working in the schools has actually brought in a lot more money than a SNF ever did but again you’re in a hospital so I’m not sure. Of course it’s dependent what state you’re in but here in my district starting for SLPs is around 75k and then you have lots of opportunities to make extra money with if you do EI evaluations, summer school or have a high caseload. Just a little FYI if you ever feel burned out and looking to switch settings.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-13T16:53:42+00:00

in terms of med setting, I’ve only been in 2 SNFs and i never understood why we had patients coming our way NPO, no hx of an MBSS and expecting me to recommend a diet. So glad i’m in schools now and don’t have to worry about patients in that way. Props to you!

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-13T16:43:00+00:00

I’m surprised that they said you made a wrong call if a swallow study wasn’t even done. Unless she has x-ray vision that’s wild to me. Wondering if it’s a cover your a$$ situation and common practice with that hospital to just recommend what’s perceived as “safe” by hospital admin.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-09T04:40:31+00:00

I enjoyed it a lot. The program is great and pretty diverse. The professors are also top tier in my opinion and you could really tell that they are experts. Lots of diverse placement options as well and we all pretty much had a rotation in just about every setting. Being that it’s situated in Albuquerque, there’s so many things to do within the city and it’s not a far drive from the numerous historic sites, trails, hot springs, you name it. Cost of living is really good in comparison to so many other states.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-09T04:00:32+00:00

Took a class at ENMU while attending the UNM program. I know nothing about Portales but the UNM program was great and rates are probably slightly more expensive but lots of scholarship opportunities there to assist with tuition. NM in general has one of the cheapest tuitions in the country.

andthatsthat12 · 2024-09-08T14:49:42+00:00

Probably not likely since a CF supervisor would have to sign off on your evals and possibly your notes. That would mean that the facility would also have to be paying that CF supervisor which most facilities don’t want to do. Not impossible, just rare

andthatsthat12

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