CSH’s New Staff
“These viewpoints serve as a reminder that Comp Sci High is a community based on relationships, support, and shared values rather than only being a place of education.”
At Comp Sci High, a new year means a new beginning for teachers. Nine new teachers were welcomed to the school’s community this year. We wanted to take advantage of this to get to know the new teachers that shape the future of our school, as there are new faces in the hallways and fresh voices in the classroom. In order to get their opinions, experiences, and views on Comp Sci High, we went around the school and spoke with a number of these new teachers. We hope to provide readers with an insight into the thoughts of the newest members of Comp Sci High, because sometimes the people who are the newest in a community can also offer the most interesting insights.
We sat down with the following new staff members:
Mr. Thevenin (12th Grade Journalism Teacher)
Mr. Rahaman (9th Grade Algebra Teacher and Math Department Chair)
Mr. Yuen (12th Grade Chemistry/Forensics teacher)
Ms. Joseph (10th Grade English Teacher)
Mr. Clark (9th Grade Government and Geography Teacher).
Every teacher comes to Comp Sci High for different reasons. Mr. Thevenin was coming back to New York after working out of the country and decided to come to the Bronx since “the students were just more real.”
Mr. Rahaman came to Comp Sci High for a different position than the one he has right now, but he chose our school since “there is a level of respect.” He feels like “there’s a certain way that the administration and leaders interact and treat adults,” which is a factor that he likes. Not only does Mr. Rahaman like the respect held in our school, but he also likes the relationships we build. He stated that “Comp Sci High holds onto the relationships that they build with students post-high school,” and that this is something that isn’t seen in other schools.
Ms. Joseph taught at other schools before ours but one of the key things she wanted was a “community that felt really innovative and a community that was for black and brown kids.” She mainly wanted this since she also identifies herself as black. Not only did she want a community that was for black and brown kids but she also wanted “a space where it’s constantly moving with the times.” She felt like our school sees “technology as a tool” and wanted our students to have “access to it as they grew into the future.” Comp Sci High offered Ms. Joseph exactly what she needed.
Comp Sci High has partnered with a teaching program called Teach for America, of which Mr. Clark is a core member of. Mr. Clark told us that the main goal of Teach for America is “to train new teachers and put them in schools where new talent and partnerships with people who are working for the federal government are needed.” So since our school partnered up with them, we were one of the options given to Mr. Clark. During his interview, he was “very impressed” talking to the staff members and our school in general. When he was given the chance to work at one of the schools he was interviewed at, he decided to settle down with Comp Sci High. Just like Mr. Clark, Mr. Yuen is also a part of Teach for America, so our school was one of his options. Comp Sci High stood out to him since his “virtual interview was 3 hours long” while at other schools, they were only around “30 minutes” which made him wonder why they were so short. He soon got his answer when he got here and noticed “that the interview process alone showed the school commitment to just trying to incorporate as many voices and as many people as possible,” which is something that he really liked. The one experience caused him to see “what the values of the school are.”
Relationships. Community. Diversity. Competence. People come to Comp Sci High for these reasons, seeking companionship at the same time as they seek excellence.
We asked these new teachers about the very community that brought some of them here. When asked about our community, Mr. Clark said he loves it. He views the community as “one of the strong suits of the school” and he was given this impression when he did his interview. The community was a “big reason on why I wanted to work here,” said Mr.Clark. He noticed that on our school website, our watermark “said it was created by a student,” which Mr. Clark thought was “really cool” and wasn’t something that is seen in other schools. This one detail gave him the sense that the “staff and the students and the work that they do here is intertwined” which so far has been true for him since working here. Mr.Clark also “really likes the teachers” he works with and he sees them as “admirable professionals.” He thinks that his co-teachers, the 9th grade team and the history department “are the gold standard of how teachers should be.” The connection that the staff hold with the students is something that he finds “very impressive,” as well. He sees how the staff give students “extra agency” and provides them with ways to “take control of their learning,” which is rare to see and he greatly appreciates it.
Mr. Thevenin loves the fact that past students are still “continuing to return.” He sees that the community is “one where you all tend to work together.” All of these factors add up to the “family-oriented community” that we hold and one that Mr. Thevenin hasn’t recognized in other schools he worked at. Mr. Rahaman sees that Comp Sci High “has a great and strong community.” He sees that “everybody wants to help and support each other” and that people who are seen as leaders here try to “make peoples lives easier and peoples jobs easier.” He really likes the “advising part” of Comp Sci High as well. What Mr. Rahaman would want the community to work more on is “a little more structure in terms of what’s expected from students.” This structure is seen in advisory but it is “kind of up to interpretation” to Mr. Rahaman.
For Ms. Joseph, she just loves “our athletics program, our clubs” and loves “being able to be a part of things like our Black History Month fashion show.” All of these activities allow students to be around their interests and culture which “makes it really feel like a safe space and makes me feel like it’s a place where I can thrive” to Ms. Joseph. Community has always been important to her so being in a community where you can be yourself “is the goal.”
Our community to Mr.Yuen is “a very special one.” If he is working with his colleagues or any other faculty at Comp Sci High, “everybody has the same goal” which is to help “prepare our kids for what comes after Comp Sci High.” Whether it's students or teachers, we are “geared towards” that goal which Mr. Yuen views as something “so unique.”
Not all of our new staff members are new to teaching, which means that they are able to judge their experience of Comp Sci High against their past experience as teachers. What is the difference about Comp Sci High then past schools they worked at? “It's the level of commitment” that is different according to Mr. Thevenin. He loves seeing “the SCORE values” and knowing this is what our “students and teachers embody.” He believes that “we hold a set standard” to make sure that everyone has success.
The curriculum is what is different to Mr. Rahaman compared to other charter schools he worked at. According to Mr. Rahaman, “everybody has their own curriculum and teachers are able to create their own things,” which is a huge difference compared to other charter schools. Other charter schools are much more inflexible with teachers and staff members, but, at Comp Sci High, if “you need to push that testing back you can do that,” which Mr. Rahaman believes is very helpful.
Ms. Joseph thinks other schools are “really stagnant with whatever the school system is mandating.” However, in Comp Sci High, we have been doing “a really good job” by making sure that our students “are at the forefront and that we’re progressing.”
Mr. Clark worked in spaces where he “didn’t always get the vibe that the teachers cared for the welfare of their students” and rather were just working to get “get paid for a job that they felt like it would be easy to do.” Those same teachers who were faced with struggles like getting students to understand “challenging material, struggles with classroom management or students behavior”, it just felt like a burden. However, in Comp Sci High, if our staff was faced with these struggles they would treat them like opportunities, “specifically opportunities to really get to know the students and help them work through the things that are important to them.” So to Mr. Clark a difference is our staff aren’t just trying to get paid but “they are here to care about the work, they care about the mission and what needs to be done to do that mission alone.”
For Mr. Yuen, we geared this question towards the difference of being a student since this is his very first year teaching. He thinks it is “very cool” to see how being a teacher you are “orientating yourself towards preparing students for what is coming next after college or after high school.” When he was in school, they mainly prepared you for how to show up your best “in school at the moment” like how to succeed in your college class. But in our school, we just don’t focus on how you will be in the moment, but also how you will be in 5 years.
Are there any personal feelings about these differences? Mr. Thevenin believes that this difference is good since “we live in a day and time where it’s good to be different.” Change is needed to make “students succeed” and have “accomplishments in the future” which is what the difference in our school is doing for us. Our school is also ensuring that students will “reach financial independence by the time you’re 25” which is something Mr. Thevenin loves about Comp Sci High’s mission.
Mr. Rahaman sees that in Comp Sci High "there's definitely more creative freedom.” Comp Sci High gives “a lot more respect, a lot more joy, and a lot more happinesses" which makes it such a positive difference. However, like Mr. Rahaman said before, our school has less structure. Previous schools he has worked at “have a lot more structure and organization, like things should be done a certain way.” Despite all of this, the “overall happiness, it's pretty good” to Mr. Rahaman.
Ms. Joseph “feels great” since she is in a space where “innovation is at the forefront.” Being surrounded in a space like this allows Ms. Joseph to “foster my skills and help me feel at ease.” She is about to learn more about herself and her skills in this new space that she is now in.
Mr. Clark likes the differences that our school gives compared to past schools he has worked at. He really “appreciates the attitude and the energy that the staff that works here bring in everyday.” He knows that with teaching, it comes with a “whole lot of unique challenges” and everyone approaches them differently. He sees that teachers at our school “approach the challenges with a lot of zeal and selflessness” and it is known that our staff “really dedicate a significant amount of their life and their energy to the jobs that they do” which Mr.Clark admires so much.
The difference is “really awesome” to Mr. Yuen. He sees that the world is changing “very rapidly” especially in education with the use of Chat gtp since when it first released he was in college. No one at the moment knew how to use the new type of education coming their way but now we are watching the way “that education changes so quickly around that.” So to Mr. Yuen, it is only right if we “change the way our school kind of runs” to adapt to new education which is what Comp Sci High is doing.
So as Comp Sci High enters a new chapter, it is clear that our newest teachers already understand what makes this school special. From the strong, family-like community to the respect shown between students and teachers, each teacher highlighted the great atmosphere that differentiates Comp Sci High from other schools. While there are areas to grow such as adding more structure there is also an appreciation for the creativity, flexibility, and commitment that defines our school.
These viewpoints serve as a reminder that Comp Sci High is a community based on relationships, support, and shared values rather than only being a place of education. As Mr. Thevenin, Mr. Rahaman, Mr. Yuen, Ms. Joseph and Mr. Clark develop with our students, we can’t wait to learn more about them. Comp Sci high has a bright future thanks to their new perspectives and experiences, and we’re excited to see what kind of impact they’ll have in the years to come.