Amid a nationwide teacher shortage, McLean High School has no problem finding new hires. In February, McLean administration kicked off its annual search for teachers. On March 6, McLean closed their student course registration, giving them the required data to proceed. With information on the number of students enrolled in a course, administration gained an understanding of how many teachers they will need for the next year.
As of early March, only two teachers have been hired, but administration is looking to hire many more.
“We usually hire between probably 12 and 20 teachers a year,” Principal Ellen Reilly said. “March and April are our biggest months, so we will start hiring more [then].”
However, the exact amount of teachers needed for the next year isn’t definite until very late in the school year. While most teachers who retire or quit give notice of their intentions months ahead, they aren’t required to, which can have detrimental effects on the coordination of the hiring process.
“The hardest [time] to replace [teachers] is when summer hits. [Fairfax], Loudoun, Prince William, Manassas, and Arlington [county public schools] all have an agreement that after June 15th, we can’t take a teacher from a different county,” Reilly said. “If I have an English department opening, and it [opens on] June 18th, and this teacher from Arlington is really great, I can’t take that teacher because it’s after the June 15th date. I always try to let the teachers know that we want to know before June 15th so we can get somebody from another county.”
Administration finds that McLean is a coveted school for its high academic performance.
We’re a very sought-after school. We have a lot of people coming in, with resumes, looking for jobs,” Reilly said. “When teachers come here, they’ve usually done their homework. There’s a reason they want to be at McLean. We have a high number of AP students. Our SOL scores are great. Our attendance [rate] is one of the better [rates] in the county.”
The large demand to work at McLean allows administrators to utilize a lengthy process to select the cream of the crop.
“Even if we don’t have openings in their [department], I still send it to an assistant principal, and we still maintain contact with that person just in case something does pop up,” Reilly said. “We interview more candidates than we need. We want to interview at a minimum five to six people before we make a decision. Then the top two candidates will come to me, and we make a final decision. Sometimes it’s a long process, but we tell them to hang on.”
