DERRY — The message scrawled in chalk on the blackboard in fifth-grade teacher Elizabeth Drolet's classroom says, "Welcome, Beth."
It's a small reminder of a big change for the Derry School District this fall. Drolet is one of 50 teachers the Derry School District has hired for the new school year, according to School Superintendent Mary Ellen Hannon. The number is unprecedented and although some of the teachers have prior experience, a few are newly minted educators like Drolet.
"I'm really excited to actually get started and be here," said Drolet, who graduated from Ithaca College and spent a year teaching on an internship, in addition to student teaching.
She will meet her new class at Grinnell Elementary School on Tuesday, but all the teachers have actually been on the job since Monday, principal Mary Hill said.
The teachers are preparing for the first day of classes and decorating their classrooms. Drolet is also meeting her mentors. New teachers won't be on their own when school starts, Hill said.
Drolet already has met mentor Steve Lebel, a third-grade teacher whose mentoring job involves showing Drolet the ropes around the building. Next, she will she meet her classroom mentor, a retired teacher who will help by co-teaching a lesson or presenting a lesson.
Each new teacher will have a mentor, Hannon said. The district is using money received because the schools are in need of improvement. The idea is to help new teachers go from education theory to application, Hill said.
Hill said Drolet landed the job because she made a great impression in her interview.
"All her answers went back to what's good for the kids," she said.
Grinnell School has 10 of the 50 new teachers, Hannon said. Most have had some prior teaching experience.
For example, new kindergarten teacher Jennifer Wilson taught kindergarten in another school system. Her teaching team partner, Erica Cole-Tucker, previously taught first grade at Grinnell and is returning to the school after taking a year off.
