Best Place to live/teach in Alaska

[windswept]

I know there are a few of you here who are teachers and I was hoping you and everyone else could shed some light on a few questions my wife and I have. We will both graduate next year and are looking forward to leaving the rapidly growing Wasilla area. We have two children, 5 and 7 one boy and one girl. We are strongly considering teaching in the bush. If you could choose anywhere in Alaska to live/teach, where would that be? Also any info on teaching in the Villages or any other towns would be appreciated.

excellent hunting and fishing would be a big plus

[COtoAK]

My home. I teach in my home... so I am biased.


Here are my suggestions.
The school districts are pretty packed with teachers. Do you have your Masters Degree? It goes further up here if you do. Are you specialized in a certain area? Even better on your part as well because it makes you more versatile.
I don't know about Anchorage School District, but the one here in Fairbanks is filled to the brim unless you have Special Education Certification and they just developed 34 more positions for SpEd.

There are also homeschooling organizations that need home based teachers. You may not be teaching directly, though. It may just be more administrative.
IDEA is through Galena School District.
www.ideafamilies.org
Raven Correspondence is through Yukon/Koyukuk School District.
www.ravenschool.com
Cyberlinx is based in Nenana.
Cyberlinx Correspondence Program
600 W 41st Ave
Anchorage, AK 99503
907-277-0731
There is also a Chugach home schooling network as well.
www.chugachschools.com/home_school/index.html

I know that there are going to be positions in the bush because there are schools that are going up everywhere.
I know that there is a new school getting built in Mountain Village.
There was just a new school built in St. Marys this passed summer.
Would you seriously consider working in Barrow?

I hope these suggestions have helped.
You may also want to consider posting in the 'Help Wanted' section of Outdoors Directory, too.

[Amigo Will]

Haines is a nice town.
http://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/classifieds.html

[windswept]

We will both just have our Bachelors, for now and are weighing options for graduate school. Our children attend a charter school one day a week, are homeschooled the rest of the week and we are very happy with it. My big thing is I didn’t move to Alaska to live in a bustling city which Wasilla is quickly becoming. Haines, Valdez, etc are the types of towns we would love to live in but have been told that it’s hard to find teacher jobs as few ever leave. We haven’t seriously started the job hunt yet as we still have a year left before graduation. Thanks for the post.

[ret25yo]

try the CRSD...

any certain subject ya'll speciallize in..

[Unalakleet yooper]

This is a good time to start your search. I am the Business Manager for the Bering Strait School District and my wife is a SPED teacher here. I would recommend becoming a member of the Alaska Teacher Placement website. Many districts list openings as well as there is a forum that you can ask questions as well as see various discussions on teaching in Alaska. There is also a job fair in Anchorage. Visit web sites of various districts to get information. If you PM me, I can get you in touch with our personnel director for questions you may have. He can also answer any questions you have about certification.

There are schools in 15 villages and the hunting and fishing opportunities are quite different between the villages.

[mnfish365]

We love it here in Kodiak. My wife is a Sped teacher, and I am a stay at home dad and freezer filler, and firewood seller during the winter. Tons of hunting and fishing oppertunities, and a small town atmosphere without the total seclusion of living in a bush villiage. May be hard to get in here though. Start looking now!

[Lease Rental]

Is there is a lot of property available for lease in some of these smaller towns in Alaska? Like Kodiak? I'm thinking about leaving Anchorage for a smaller town, but I have some reservations.

-Greg
Alaska Lease

[danattherock]

I worked in Kotz and Nome for two years as a travel nurse and met many teachers. Most seemed happy and if you like hunting and fishing, there is much to be said for the remote villages that are near Kotz and Nome. Not sure if you both could get a job though. I get the impression that the villages have small numbers of teachers. But in Nome for example, you are not far away from hunting and fishing. The road system there is great and you can travel in three directions some 80 miles from town. In Kotz, you would need a boat to get around, but with that being said, having a boat in Kotz will get you to many fine places to hunt and fish. Nome would offer the average person more in my opinion though. Just depends on what you are after. Generally speaking, if you could find a job for the two of you and you want a remote village, any of the villages along the Kobuk would be awesome. Great hunting and fishing and just wonderful people. The only bad things I heard were from teachers in Selawik and Buckland. Most others were very nice from what I recall.