TOOL: RECRUITING FOR OPPORTUNITY CULTURE POSITIONS—
QUOTES FROM TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS
This tool provides a wide variety of inspiring quotes from practicing Opportunity Culture teachers and principals
to use in recruitment materials.
MULTI-CLASSROOM LEADERS
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What brought me back to the classroom and students was this role. I would not be here if it weren’t for
this role.—Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I’m very much immersed in the teaching, and in the work on the ground.…We’re in the mix, we’re
there—it’s all hands on deck.—Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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Now I have my wings, and everyone’s up under my wings.—Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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The whole reason I’m an educator is to impact lots of students, and I feel like I’m really having an
impact and am able to change their life trajectory through this role.—Middle School Multi-Classroom
Leader
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Having a school building where there are leaders among leaders among leaders really changes the
climate of a school—it really sets a culture of mutual respect and responsibility and professionalism.—
Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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The increase in pay makes you feel professional. It makes you feel like somebody values your work.—K–
8 Multi-Classroom Leader
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It’s not enough to do PD once a month. Teachers need to know that someone is in the trenches with
them. No matter how many years they’ve been teaching, no matter their age.—K–8 Multi-Classroom
Leader
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With Opportunity Culture and the MCL position, I pretty much have the best of both worlds—I still have
the opportunity to impact more scholars with this position as well as impact the teachers.—Middle
School Multi-Classroom Leader
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It is exciting to have that many students tied to me.— Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I kind-of feel like a classroom teacher, but I have more bang for my buck. I’m making a bigger impact.—
Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I felt like I was doing my best in my classroom, but when I looked next door, across the hall…I wanted to
be able to help other teachers.—K–8 Multi-Classroom Leader
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I actually had my administrator license, and so I was toying with the idea of leaving the classroom, and
the Opportunity Culture really spoke to me because I didn’t have to do that.—K–8 Multi-Classroom
Leader
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I could still be in front of kids every day. I could still plan lessons. I could still do all the things I love but I
would have more of a chance to lead.—K–8 Multi-Classroom Leader
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With a multi-classroom leader, you are guaranteeing that your staff or your teachers are really being
coached from good to great. …The rate at which they grow I think is just, again, unheard of.—K–8 MultiClassroom Leader
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What makes me most enthusiastic about OC is the ability to actually see the achievement gap close.—
Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I’ve grown a lot as an educator in doing this. … I’ve really been able to break apart my practice and see
what I’m doing intuitively that needs to be repeated in other classrooms in order for the results to be
similar.—Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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When you offer teachers a career ladder that respects who they are as thinkers and as professionals
and as people who are very valuable to your workplace…you’re going to get the best people. And with
the best people, you get the best results.—Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I have the opportunity to craft all of the instructional lessons for every single scholar in this school, and
to make sure they are receiving the same instruction as a scholar would at a more affluent school—
because they deserve it.—Middle School Multi-Classroom Leader
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I love being accountable for 371 scholars. I love it because what I want to see happen in five years is for
371 scholars to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas…and now I know that I’m having a
direct impact on making sure that they actually reach that goal.—Middle School Multi-Classroom
Leader
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Having the MCL positions…really creates this strong team network.—Elementary School MultiClassroom Leader
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I’ve always been interested in leadership but just didn’t really know what avenue to follow, and an
Opportunity Culture gave me that avenue to still be able to work with students but have hands-on
interactions with teachers as well.—Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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My days are exciting! …If there’s something I’m doing that’s working, I want to be able to share it.
…Now, I can share it with everybody.—Elementary School Multi-Classroom Leader
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It creates a sustainability for teachers staying in these turnaround environments because we are there
to support them. We know it’s hard, and that’s what we’re here for.—Middle School Multi-Classroom
Leader
DIRECT-REACH TEACHERS (BLENDED-LEARNING AND ELEMENTARY SUBJECT SPECIALISTS)
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The impact I’m seeing is phenomenal. I’m seeing learners that are really becoming truly 21st century
learners.— Elementary School Direct-Reach Teacher
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I really like the blended-learning position. I love the opportunity to reach more students and in creative
ways.—Elementary School Direct-Reach Teacher
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Opportunity Culture really gave me the opportunity to stay and continue to improve my craft and
continue to reach these kids. It’s awesome.—Elementary School Direct-Reach Teacher
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I really wanted to expand my impact with students and also wanted to grow as an educator, and so
when I heard about the Opportunity Culture position, I jumped at it immediately.—K–8 Direct-Reach
Teacher
©2015 Public Impact
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I really liked the blended learning role because I have a passion for technology in the classroom.—K–8
Direct-Reach Teacher
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I wanted to stay in the classroom, and I wanted to keep teaching, but I wanted to feel like a
professional and see the teaching profession grow in that aspect, and that’s what I think Opportunity
Culture does.— K–8 Direct-Reach Teacher
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[Opportunity Culture] gives teachers the opportunity to move up in roles and feel respected and feel
like they are increasing their impact and increasing their capacity, and definitely more of a professional
feel.—K–8 Direct-Reach Teacher
TEAM TEACHERS (WORK ON TEAMS WITH MULTI-CLASSROOM LEADERS GUIDING THEM)
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This model is great because on my best day I can go get advice, and on my worst day I can go get
advice, without judgment. …You can go to your MCL and she’s right there to pick you back up.—
Elementary School Team Teacher
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Support is a huge piece of this—it makes a big difference! I feel very supported this year.—Elementary
School Team Teacher
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The MCLs give you daily support. They’re not just there for the observation, but they’re there from the
beginning to work with you.—Middle School Team Teacher
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The best part of working in an Opportunity Culture is the support. I mean, it’s just unbelievable.—
Middle School Team Teacher
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It’s given me an incredible amount of support. I have a lot of friends who are also in their first year
teaching…I just get so much more feedback and support.— Middle School Team Teacher
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I get time saved and support added that allow me to focus on the details that allow me to improve each
day.— Middle School Team Teacher
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We learn from each other, which is really great and helps me become a better teacher.—K–8 Team
Teacher
PRINCIPALS
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I’ll never do anything else in a school—this work of building a teacher leadership model is
transformational.— Middle School Principal
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To me this is the new frontier and this is the way forward. I can speak for my school only—this has
been absolutely the it factor when you look at what has changed the game and changed learning for
kids.— Middle School Principal
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It’s a sustainable answer to school turnaround. It is a sustainable and innovative way we can bring
higher-powered teaching and learning to underserved schools—to all schools.— Middle School
Principal
©2015 Public Impact
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I feel like we’re on the cutting edge. We’re not just working on some flash-in-the-pan experiments in
education.—Elementary School Assistant Principal
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To see the teams with these different roles come together and look at data, look at collaborative
planning, and differentiation, you see student achievement rise in new ways.—Middle School Principal
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We are really seeing lots of gains in our scholars and in their growth and in their achievement.— K–8
Principal
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We got a better bucket of applicants because of the MCL model. Teachers want to collaborate.
Teachers seek this model.— Elementary School Principal
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People want to be a part of this. Teachers are applying at newfound rates to be a part of this work—
it’s exciting. And teacher leadership is at the heart of it.— Middle School Principal
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Opportunity Culture has afforded me the opportunity to keep …outstanding teachers here. I’ve been
able to provide them with opportunities to impact more than one classroom of scholars. We’ve been
able to pay them for that.—K–8 Principal
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And so these teachers could really go anywhere and work and get hired right away, and in some cases
get promotions, but they are staying here to do this work because they are challenged, they know
they’re challenging their teachers, and they know they’re helping our scholars be successful.— K–8
Principal
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Keeping people in the building that I know belong with kids—that’s a benefit for me. Knowing that I
have people in the building that share my vision and also are carrying it out…that’s what rock stars
do.—Elementary School Principal
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[If] you market it the right way for your school district, you’re going to get great candidates from all
over the country that would be interested in it.— Elementary School Principal
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Before Opportunity Culture…there were 28–29 first-year teachers in this building, and we don’t have
that anymore. We have teachers with experience, teachers [with] a proven record.—Elementary School
Principal
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Teaching is a team sport, and this kind of work with the Opportunity Culture [is] keeping more teachers
feeling supported, more teachers in the work, and bringing some of the most effective teachers into
historically underserved schools and extending those highly effective teachers’ reach not only over the
students, but over the teachers on their team so everybody’s growing together.—Middle School
Principal
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An Opportunity Culture provides you the opportunity to evaluate what resources you really have and
make a plan for the gaps. …And so it’s just about taking the time to design and move around what your
specific needs are with the resources that you have, so that you create something that’s sustainable.—
Elementary School Principal
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The biggest benefit Opportunity Culture provides for teachers is that they have a partner in the work, a
true partner. My multi-classroom leaders, their success is tied directly to the teachers’ success, and so
they want to make sure every teacher is successful.— K–8 Principal
©2015 Public Impact
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