All too often this school year, I’ve been approached with the same question: How different is teaching in a private school versus a public one? With us settling comfortably into the second semester, I’ve had months, seasons, holidays, events and sicknesses pass long enough to be able to answer the question fully. For those of you who have yet to meet me or have had very few interactions with me, my name is Paige Towle, and I’m one of the new English teachers this year. Prior to my arrival here at Ensworth, I spent the last 13 years working in both public and international schools. Below, you will find my most notable differences thus far for your reading entertainment.
Perhaps one of the biggest (and more selfish) highlighted differences that struck me immediately was the 70-minute long lunch breaks here. In my previous life as an educator, I can’t recall an instance where I ever enjoyed a lunch break longer than 25 minutes. I believe the exception to that in any public school happened when your “planning period” fell over an allotted lunch period. Regardless, lunch to me was always a time of isolated and rushed eating in my room. Sure, I may have shared a bite with a co-worker that was across the hall from time to time, but by and large, the brief window of time was never any bigger than the time it took to warm up any food I brought, quickly use the restroom, and scarf down the nutrients to carry me the rest of the day. For many public school teachers, this 25-minute window is even shorter when you add in the time it takes to escort your class down to the cafeteria and then pick them up again. While it was never ideal, it was always the way it was (and still is). In stark contrast, our lunch here at Ensworth far surpasses not only the window of time but the opportunity to engage in the community, build relationships, or heck, even just sit by yourself and recharge for an hour. Within my first full week of working here, I often found myself recounting my daily lunch conversations with colleagues representing various subject areas and positions. As an introvert by nature, my tendency is to retreat and recharge. But there was something compelling about this window of socialization that brought an immense amount of support, friendship, and joy to my day that I can’t believe I never had before.
I’d be lying if I said I ever knew where I was supposed to be for about a month at the start of the school year. I remember several administrators trying to explain the schedule that changed both vertically and horizontally to me, thinking I would never make it to class on time. Acronyms describing meetings and locations further confused me. But as each week passed, it became ingrained where things fell. One example of this is another difference from public schools: meetings. Ask any public educator…their “planning period” or “free time” is never actually their own. Parent meetings, grade-level alignment, faculty meetings, and anything regarding state testing always took place during these times. Add in an A/B rotating schedule, one might not even get a planning period all week! Here at Ensworth, meetings are conducted at designated days and times thus relieving the burden of any extra expectations. While the difference may not seem like a big deal, especially to a student, the end result of this is the ability to properly plan, grade, and align with other teachers in a way that ideally allows us to avoid bringing more work home.
Speaking of alignment…as most people know, public schools operate on a state testing mindset, as it has the greatest effect on the funding each school or school system receives. For this reason, people often hear the recycled jargon of state tests, level of effectiveness, and ACT prep. Within the last two decades, state standards have shifted and amended countless times, so much that different states can’t even agree on an end result for each year of school. As part of that, there is little flexibility in the teachable content. Many public school teachers are directly told which books to teach (or not to teach), given textbooks they are expected to use, or specific formulas to follow in Math. Many rubrics are pre-outlined per state testing requirements, and feedback is expected to follow common core verbiage instead of being more individually tailored and organic. Here at Ensworth, grade level alignment (at least from my own experience) looks very different. Rubrics are constantly changing to meet the needs of assignments, personal preferences, and to perfect maximum feedback. Just because a text book was taught this year doesn’t ensure that it has to be taught next year. The discussions surrounding how to make content more relevant and in line with real-world shifts happens on a yearly, if not monthly, basis. When I previously asked an administrator what topics were off the table of discussion, I was confidently told to encourage conversations of all kinds, even if some may consider them taboo. As a whole, communication seems to be a pivotal point in which the school maintains an axis, even if all members aren’t in the same point of rotation.
One of the largest questions I get when talking to outside friends, former co-workers, and even family is focused on the specific demographics of both our faculty and students. Outside assumptions often lead most people to believe that every teacher here holds a PhD in their field of study or has over a decade of experience, which is largely untrue. While many of our faculty hold higher degrees (71%), only a pool of individuals hold PhDs. In fact, the elements that set our staff apart have very little to do with where they went to school or for how long; instead the focus, at least in terms of hiring new, has more to do with proper alignment to the fundamental beliefs Ensworth was built on: focusing on each child as a whole. In terms of our students, it is often assumed that our student body consists solely of wealthy families, and our own students will attest to being on the receiving end of these beliefs. When I tell families that our families travel from Lebanon, Antioch, Murfreesboro, and other surrounding counties, they often rebuttal with some claim about money. In fact, the income range for our families this school year that are receiving financial aid (15%) ranges from $6,000-$285,000, addressing quite a range of economic status for our families.
Last, but certainly not least, there’s the day-to-day student behavior. While teaching at an international level, my school was split between two shifts of kids: the ones that came for the first half of the day and those that came at night. By default, most of the nighttime students were rough, rowdy, and dubbed “problem” students. But allowing for students to attend one of two shifts had an incredible effect on cutting down disruptive behavior while also improving overall test scores. Back here in America, public schools were a world apart…pun intended. My 7 years in Metro left me with endless mental pages of heinous fights, crimes, and misbehavior that made people’s mouths drop when I told the stories. The extreme diversity that overlaps, while it seems ideal, can also cause larger problems resulting in a total break in the community. Not often did I feel in line with the majority of the faculty in terms of student behavior. Many teachers looked the other way, some were unrealistically strict, rules were inconsistent among classes, and students holding IEPs were limited the amount of days they could be suspended. I saw too many kids go to the hospital, adults get assaulted, felonies in action, and uncountable days spent in lockdown. Obviously, not all students fit the bill for this in Metro, but I could not help but feel bad for the good kids being surrounded by this each and every day.
After leaving Metro and jumping over to Cheatham County, I saw a drastic difference in student behavior. Heck, I could actually teach a class!! There were certainly still issues like defiance, bullying, and apathy, but all-in-all, it was a breath of fresh air. Over the years, coupled with those of the pandemic, the level of apathy amplified. Teachers were not allowed to give students anything below a 60, and even when a child turned in no work at all, the schools would push educators to bump them up to a 60, if not passing. The result of this led to many students doing the math and figuring out how to get out of doing any work. Their focus shifted into pushing kids through while spotlighting random initiatives like ACT boot camps. The morale was low, and it wasn’t just amongst the students.
You are probably wondering about my reflection of the Ensworth student body, as well as what happened to land me here. In terms of our students, I’ve been consistently blown away by the versatility. A student athlete might also star in a school play, or a top achieving scholar might also be a talented musician. Students know not to limit their virtues and to hopefully seize the room to explore and grow in all of the programs Ensworth offers. In classes, students engage in conversations suited for college while still reminding teachers that at heart, they are still just teenagers. As with any school, there’s some expected immaturity, but at this one, it’s overshadowed by those that really care. Students are learning how to self-advocate while building onto the community as a whole. I see true happiness in groups enjoying their outside freedom on nice weather days. I see it in the competitive nature of wanting to perform higher than friends. What’s important is that I see it consistently, and not once have I thought the general morale of the student body was ever something to be concerned about.
At the end of the day, that’s what initially drew me into Ensworth. As my own two boys got older, I had to face the reality that they would be equally invested in any school community I committed myself to, and that’s quite a responsibility. I feel fortunate to be a part of a community that tries its hardest to focus on each individual as a whole.
- Mrs. Towle, Sponsor