Mrs. Duncan, a former public school education teacher joins SOCHH for the 22-23 school year. After just a few months at SOCHH and diving in deep learning about its mission, values, and the way it operates, Mrs. Duncan goes on to say, “SOCHH is unique in education in the way that everyone collaborates on what is best for the kids and it is not just an admin running it, who doesn’t even have a classroom.”
She continues by saying, “People outside of public education don’t realize that teachers have the least amount of power to make critical decisions for their students. We are the ones with them daily, for hours on end, and we don’t have a say in how we are allowed to operate in our own classrooms based on what we see as the needs for our students.” When asked about her thoughts about the smaller class size at SOCHH, she says, “Maxing out the classroom at 16 ensures more attention for each child and gives the teacher the ability to actually know all students. Students at SOCHH who are getting their needs met are thriving because of the low class size and the trust given to the teachers to do what is best. Some SOCHH students, who are making progress here, would be otherwise struggling in public school and getting nothing done for them until years later when they are significantly behind their peers.
Now having taught in both the public sector and SOCHH, a smaller learning environment, Mrs. Duncan comments, “Nothing else can allow success for the student than a smaller student to teacher ratio. I left a classroom of 32 students with no assistant knowing I couldn’t meet all their needs. I now teach to a classroom of 14 students who get my attention and intervention with no waiting. I personally know how each of my students are doing in all subjects because there are only 14 of them!”