2007 – 2008 Opening of School Update

Human Resources: Rick Ledwith

The quality of persons this school district has attracted to its staff has been and continues to be enormously impressive. Our ability to recruit, year after year, teachers of exceptional talent and dedication is vital to maintaining the highest level of excellence in ensuring that all students reach their highest potential.

This school year 120 new employees joined the professional staff of the West Hartford Public Schools. These talented educators were selected from a candidate pool of over 4,000 applicants. Our recruitment efforts began in February with identification of anticipated vacancies and included a career fair held at Conard High School on March 1^st.

Members of our administrative and teaching staff met with approximately 700 interested candidates from across the region at this event. We were fortunate to have a significant candidate pool for most vacancies.

Our new colleagues bring a wide range of professional experiences and come from varied training and preparation programs. This talented group includes individuals with extensive teaching experiences in a variety of educational settings. Candidates include individuals from internship programs in our school system, alternate route to certification participants and from a wide range of college and university preparation programs. A number of our new staff are graduates of the West Hartford Public Schools.

An orientation and staff induction program was held during the week of August 20^th. A number of activities were offered in areas such as elementary mathematics, creating positive classroom environments, and a range of technology workshops. Members of our district’s leadership team, teaching and support staff, parents and students welcomed our new staff at an orientation workshop on August 23^rd. Individual school orientation programs were held on Friday August 24^th.