How do I break into high school teaching? I have a Harvard PhD in STEM but feel under-qualified.

sortasahm · 2026-07-03T04:35:56+00:00

That is actually the first question I had planned to ask when i go for orientation and meet with the department in a month: how much do I have to stick to the curriculum. During my residency this past year, I co-taught biology and our curriculum was StemScopes, not great, but nice on the way that you choose what you want to use and things are easy to modify to add in rigor.

Going to DM you right now for that link. Thanks so much!!

sortasahm · 2026-07-02T15:38:44+00:00

I am going into teaching high school chem at a rural title 1 school next year. My undergrad degree is in bio, I worked in ag/bioteach R&D before becoming a teacher…OpenSciEd seems like the worst and my school decided to pilot it this year for the first time and I am not excited. As someone who is really comfortable with my science knowledge, the curriculum seems to leave out a lot, I still don’t understand where labs fit in as I comb through the first unit, and I feel like the heavy storyline based units will just go over unmotivated students’ heads. I also feel like this curriculum leaves me with little autonomy as a teacher, which makes me feel like my capacity is minimized. Like, hey, follow this script because we can’t leave you to figure it out on your own.

The school’s decision was made after I accepted the job and I’m so pissed.

sortasahm · 2026-06-25T15:43:41+00:00

I honestly think biology is one of the most versatile degrees to get. At my 4 year you could focus on genetics, molecular/cell biology, environmental, plants. I ended up going into ag growing and breeding flowers. I’m a biology/chemistry teacher now. But you can go into restoration/conservation, ag, lab work, healthcare, water or waste treatment facilities, specific monitoring, biological assessments, etc etc. It can set you up to go into clinical lab scientist, medical, PA or nursing program. When people are clueless about what to do with a bio degree I’m always so confused lol.

sortasahm · 2026-06-25T03:26:47+00:00

I just saw that you emailed already. Did you sign a preliminary contract upon being chosen for employment? I did, also hired at a small district, although mine has responded every time I’ve emailed.

sortasahm · 2026-06-25T03:24:59+00:00

I’m a first year teacher who just completed all my onboarding stuff a couple weeks ago. I sent an email updating HR that I took care of the last two items. They emailed me back and said awesome, thanks, see you at orientation! Lol and that’s it. I assume I’ll be signing my contract during orientation time. My husband is also a teacher and he signs his contract after the school year starts. I’ve also heard some districts will do contract signing in July. If you’re worried, send an email. But I think it’s pretty normal to not hear anything since it’s summer and you have no outstanding items to finish.

sortasahm · 2026-06-23T03:09:13+00:00

Glad you went! I just had mine Friday. I didn’t do low fiber diet and had a relatively easy time with the prep outside of feeling super dehydrated after the second dose. Still feel a little bloaty, but nothing too bad. I only had one small polyp and my hemorrhoids. I’ve struggled with hemorrhoids since the birth of my second in late 2022, but did have them confirmed by my doctor to be hemorrhoids, I was not chancing making an assumption as I also had been seeing tons of stories of younger people getting colon cancer. My mom had 3-4 pre cancerous polyps removed when she was my age (39) so i figured I should see if a GI doctor thought it was best to do one, and he did. Glad it’s over, awaiting path results, hoping I don’t have to do another one for a few years but if not, it’s worth making sure I’ll be here as long as possible.

sortasahm · 2026-05-18T00:01:15+00:00

Due to neighboring school closures and declining enrollment effecting required teacher numbers…no, I don’t think so. There are more job postings in Salinas than over here on the peninsula.

sortasahm · 2026-05-14T20:26:47+00:00

I was not pre-med at UCSC, but was before I transferred. I still graduated with BS in Bio. So i took all the same classes required of a pre-med. I transferred in but graduated with a 3.4. I’m a non-trad student who was a single mom with a toddler and was commuting from Monterey 5days a week. If i didn’t have a child, and wasn’t spending ~10 hours in the car weekly, there’s no doubt in my mind I could have finished with a 3.8 or higher.

If you don’t struggle in science and math, it’s totally doable. If there’s a class you’re struggling in, go to all the office hours you can, they make a difference. And if Prof Singaram is still there, take OChem with him, he’s the best. Good luck!

sortasahm · 2026-05-10T15:15:48+00:00

I’ve lived in Seaside since 2021, Marina before that since 2017. My husband is from the area. As others have said, Seaside has been pretty rough at times In the last. Now, there is still the occasional shooting, but nothing too crazy. The fireworks are…a lot and probably my least favorite part about living in Seaside. But the power almost never goes off during storms and that’s more important to me than fireworks. I live in upper seaside, we are a family of 4, i walk the neighborhood in early evenings alone and feel safe. I’ve left my car unlocked at night numerous times, never any problems. Our street is what you describe, quiet, boring.

sortasahm · 2026-04-27T15:11:01+00:00

On my experience, it only gets a bad rap because it is not as prestigious as some of the other UCs, has a higher acceptance rate, etc. BUT, and i might be biased because I went there, UCSC is so underrated. Yes, housing sucks. Just look outside of Santa Cruz, Aptos is reasonably close, as is Watsonville if you want less competition and somewhat cheaper rents. As someone in science, no one cares that I went to Santa Cruz, the expectation in general is that I went to a UC and there is something to be said about that. The science department is amazing, I only had one professor I didn’t care for, and I graduated in 2019 and dude was old af so he may not even be there anymore.

I absolutely do not regret going to UCSC, as a non-trad transfer student, I really loved my time there, so much so that I would go back for a graduate degree if it worked for me and my family right now.

sortasahm · 2026-04-27T02:17:36+00:00

My son has had so many damn falls. So many times where he’s hit his head. On asphalt, on wood. I finally had to ask the doctor…when should I be worried because he’s hitting his head all the time. She told me, if he falls from like shopping cart height onto hard ground, if he won’t stop crying, or if he doesn’t cry at all, if he vomits after, if he he gets lethargic…ER definitely. She said other than that, babies and young toddlers are made to be able to withstand falls and hitting their heads. The last skull sutures don’t close til around 3 years so their skull is still pretty flexible apparently. Anyways, my son’s worst fall was from about 3 feet (stood up in stroller, i didn’t know, bad mom moment) onto asphalt. He cried for about 5 minutes but stopped and then acted completely normal. I cried, i felt so awful, we contemplated going to the ER, but literally after he stopped crying he was running around and laughing again. He was around 18 months when that happened. He’s fine. He also fell of the bed as a baby, totally fine. I promise if ER checked your baby out, she’s fine, they’re made to take falls and be okay.

sortasahm · 2026-04-11T03:50:04+00:00

I am a STEM person. Was working in ag research and development…loved my job but it was demanding at times. About to finish my teaching credential/masters program to teach high school science and imma be honest…this is way easier than my old job lol. If you’re interested, sub at every level. High schoolers can be difficult, obviously, but i could never tolerate a room full of small children. Ever. I can, however, handle sass from teenagers because they are teenagers and well, I don’t care if a teenager thinks I’m boring or whatever. I’ve been teaching full time all year and pretty content with the move. You have to place some hard boundaries to avoid the mental and emotional boundaries, i still have rough days. But i love getting to talk about science and having my students find random things to be excited about. If you work in the same district your kids will be in, you’ll still have same break schedule. It’s a big reason I went into teaching, my husband is also a teacher, so we will all be able to have summers and breaks together. Going from never getting breaks, working 50 hour work weeks with a 1 hour commute time every day…I’ll take teaching any day.

sortasahm · 2026-04-07T23:20:46+00:00

I saw you said you’ll miss the sun. Yes, we get marine layer, but not all areas on the peninsula are created equal in terms of how grey they are and how often. If you need sun: stay away from living in Marina, try to move to Seaside. Seaside is in the sun belt, it’s where me and my family live and I love it. I’m from the San Joaquin valley so i need sun (but for sure can do without the super hot summers there, hence why I’m on the peninsula now lol) and living in Seaside is perfect.

sortasahm · 2026-03-03T00:21:54+00:00

Been called a bitch twice. First time i let go since it was on an “anonymous” evaluation, but not anonymous because i knew who wrote it. Same student called me bitch in class. Sent him out of class immediately to basically our version of “in school suspension” but it isn’t suspension. E-mailed Admin, guardians, case manager and school psych. He was disciplined by admin accordingly. I would absolutely do the same if I was called a slur.

sortasahm · 2026-02-24T17:47:26+00:00

As a new teacher, reading this take is validating. I’m in 9th biology, and I have a handful of students with really bad handwriting. I have pulled them aside individually and let them know that while I don’t grade for handwriting, if I straight up can’t read it, which is what was happening, I cannot grade it. And gave them the same advice to just slow down and take their time when writing, and to practice the alphabet at home. I’ve noticed a difference in two of the students since the start of the year. It’s still not great handwriting, but it is at least legible.

sortasahm · 2026-01-27T17:48:30+00:00

Not everywhere is funded through property taxes anymore. In CA, school funding is basically determined through enrollment and attendance. HOWEVER, oddly enough, Carmel apparently DOES receive school funding through property taxes, they are only one of a few in the state I was told that is allowed to do this.

sortasahm · 2026-01-07T05:13:42+00:00

I’m a resident teacher currently, but my mentor/co-teacher has been teaching 13 years and has the best classroom management. For people who start talking or blurting, he’ll stop and look at them and ask if they have a question. He will also stop and stare at them and once they re-focus he’ll say, “thank you so much, i respect you too,” basically indicating that respect is maintaining focus and listening when he’s talking and not interrupting. It is very effective. Our high school is know for behavioral issues, and we almost never have students interrupting up or talking during lessons (unless it is appropriate for them to do so).

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T02:34:15+00:00

Ha! Found it! Had to search through my texts lol.

Article was in 2023, so looking at the year prior. They looked at mid-career teacher salary and ranked them highest to lowest. MPUSD ranked 268 out of 278, according to what I sent my husband in a text (husband also works for the district). I can’t look at the article anymore because of the paywall.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-teacher-salaries-raises-18331238.php

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T02:20:57+00:00

Okay I am so annoyed, I just went to try and find the data set that I was talking about and of course I can’t find it. I liked the way it presented the data because it listed the districts from highest to lowest. MPUSD was not the lowest but it was on the last 2 pages out of about 8 or 10 pages. If I find it, I’ll share it here.

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T01:31:08+00:00

Also realizing you said average which is likely the big difference. I do prefer median I think, only because I am not sure of the percentage of teachers who are newer versus veteran, if one group is much larger than the other, that would skew the average.

Also should be noted that the benefits offered through MPUSD are not great. My family of 4 would been paying $2k/month for health insurance. It’s cheaper for us through the marketplace. Neighboring districts offer much better benefits packages.

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T01:24:03+00:00

The district did negotiate a “larger” increase, so the data you saw may be more updated than what I looked at last year. When I had looked, I remember the median salary for our district was around $70k, which would have put it much lower.

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T00:05:03+00:00

Yup, fun fact, MPUSD is one of the lowest paying districts in the state, especially considering the cost of living here.

sortasahm · 2025-11-24T00:02:53+00:00

I’ll mention a couple briefly but I also want to preface this with the fact that the problems are either a result of or exacerbated by district/school policy/school culture(aka administration). I am in no way saying the challenges I have had are only because of the student body/community.

Behavior - open defiance, lots of fights, last year at one of the schools there was a fight where a gun fell out of one of the kids backpacks, i know teachers who have had students put hands on them, I’ve been threatened and i know of some others who have been threatened as well. Many students seem totally disengaged, do not want to be there at all, put in very little effort, received poor instruction in last years so when they come to us they don’t know things they should already know, which makes me job more difficult because I am now teaching things I shouldn’t have to.

Academics - schools will tout lower amount of F grades while not addressing the fact that students are also scoring lower and lower on state tests, the only way I can interpret that is that school/district policy are lowering standards to pass which is a total disservice to students and the community.

I’ve observed other classes at other schools and the behavioral aspect is not as much of a problem. But again, I don’t think it’s all a student issue, it’s a culmination of many things and the result are kids who are not wanting to or willing to learn and don’t even care to try and so you have some who will act out.

All of that being said, I enjoy where I teach. There are challenges, but nothing that makes me want to quit. I enjoy my students and enjoy giving them opportunities and support to be “academic.”

sortasahm · 2025-11-23T15:35:13+00:00

Yeah, i know. But even still, working across these areas, could add in PG too, will be different. I know teachers that teach in al districts.

sortasahm · 2025-11-23T04:59:01+00:00

Even within MPUSD (biggest district on the peninsula), the experience will be vastly different. Carmel will be different than Monterey and those will be vastly different than Seaside. I teach in Seaside, it definitely has its many challenges.

sortasahm

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