Welcome to Bridgeport Public Schools

I had a helluva of an introduction to Bridgeport Pubic Schools. If this is any indication, this is going to be an interesting.

I started off the morning by arranging electric, gas, and water service for same-day turn on. Done by 8:30 AM. Move into the apartment at 3:30, and mattress delivery at 4:30.

Then, we had our first day of new teacher orientation. We sat for about three hours listening to an explanation of how great unions are. They then had us sign away $850 of our annual paycheck (pre-tax).

Then the fun began.

Our sessions ended at noon, and my friend and I headed to the school to look at our classrooms. We walked into the school, introduced ourselves, and followed directions to our respective classrooms (she had the library, I had the science room). The classroom has a Smartboard! And computers! It’s small, but with only twenty kids in a class, it should be fine.

As we were walking out of the school, we were called over the loudspeaker to the office. Uh oh. In trouble, and we haven’t even started yet.

We sit in a conference room in the office for a few minutes, and the principal walks in. She tells us she wasn’t expecting us today, and she writes down our full names on a blank piece of paper. Then she explains, it’s not that she wasn’t expecting us today, it’s that she wasn’t expecting us. As in, she didn’t know we worked there. Fantastic.

We ran outside and called the TFA placement lady, who said that my friend was definitely working there…but I might not be. And that I should call Bridgeport Public Schools HR to confirm.

I called HR, but the person I had to speak to wasn’t there, but would be back within a half hour. Ok, relax, don’t cry.

I dropped my friend off and drove in the direction of a place I might be able to get a haircut. When I was about halfway there, with a dying phone and malfunctioning GPS, I got a phone call from the mattress delivery guy called and asked if he could get there at 2:30 instead. Uh, sure. I called the leasing agent and left a message asking if I could come in earlier. At this point, it is about 1:30.

I turn the car around, and then get a call from BPS HR. I do have a job, but it’s somewhere else. And they didn’t get a chance to call TFA. Ok, I called TFA back, and updated them. They told me to go to the school and introduce myself. Alright.

I plugged it into the GPS, and noticed that it’s really close to my almost-apartment. On the way, I leave a message for the mattress delivery guy that I can’t be there yet. I hope he gets the message.

Then I get the school…and they’re doing construction on it. Like, big construction. The parking lot is accessible, so I drive in and ask if the school is open. Nope. Closed for the school year.

I google the hell out of the school, and find NOTHING about a new location. Or the construction. I call TFA again, and they don’t know anything. I then call BPS HR, and get a new address. On the way other side of town. At least I can take the highway there in about ten minutes.

I arrive at a beautiful new-looking building, with no markings of any sort other than the address number. I walk in, and see school things. Oh good.

I find my way to the main office. No one is there, except the principal in her office. She is on the phone. I wait patiently, and realize that she is frantically talking on the phone about trying to hire a science teacher. Who isn’t me. I wait until she is done, while trying not to completely burst out into tears, and walk into her office to introduce myself.

“Hi. I think I’m your new science teacher.”
“Um, what?”

She calls BPS HR, and gets confirmation. Oh good. She talks to me for about ten minutes – she seems pretty awesome – and then takes me on a tour around the school. I enjoyed meeting her and I got to look at the classroom. A lot of supplies are still in boxes, but there are supplies. I have textbooks, lab ideas, plastic beakers and graduated cylinders, flashlights, and miscellaneous office supplies. And, a Smartboard! It’ll help for teaching two classes of 7th graders and 3 classes of 8th graders, each packed full of 28 students. Relieved, I trudge back to the car.

Next, time for an apartment. I sign the lease in my car and then drive over to the complex, just in time to see a Sleepy’s truck enter the gate. Oh crap.

We rush through the paperwork and keys and key cards and mailbox keys, and open the apartment to get the mattress. I lie down on the bare mattress and take a few minutes to relax. It’s a nice mattress and a nice apartment and I have a job and it’s okay.

Then I actually got some planning done before my parents arrived with a carload of stuff, including my incomparable recliner and a bedspread. The rest of my stuff arrives on Saturday, as well as a new bedroom and living room set and an order from Peapod. It will look like home soon enough.

Internet comes tomorrow afternoon!