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Spring is
here and summer vacation is just around the corner but we’re
busier than ever at SchoolSpring. We’ve been growing with
new school district members in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont. We have over 40,000 educator
members, nearly 30,000 school jobs listed, and over 1 million visitors
come to our website every year! But that doesn’t mean we’re
not here for you. SchoolSpring is dedicated to the kind of customer
service we’d expect if we needed help. We’re proud to
be one of the few web-based services that happily advertise our
toll-free number so that you can pick up the phone and call us anytime.
As we grow, our mission will remain the same, to help great teachers
and excellent schools come together while providing superior customer
support. So pick up the phone and give us a call at 888-546-3487
or email me at jim@schoolspring.com
if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Jim Fitzpatrick
President, SchoolSpring
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 Podcasting
is a fun, free way for people to share information using
audio and you don't even need an iPod to listen. Our new
SchoolSpring podcast Announcements will inform
and entertain you. SchoolSpring's podcast covers an important
topic – Big Interview Mistakes to Avoid..
If you have iTunes on your
computer just click on the icon below to listen
and subscribe:
Don’t have an
iTunes? No problem! Just click
here to listen to the podcast on your computer.
Want more information about
podcasts? Click
here to learn more from Apple.
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 Over
the last few months we’ve attended job fairs around New England
talking with education candidates about our great service and showing
employers how we make finding great teachers easy. Most recently,
we exhibited at the Rhode Island Consortium of Educators (RICE)
conference in South Kingston, RI and the Massachusetts Educators
Recruiting Consortium (MERC) conference in Boston, MA. We met over
a thousand students looking for teaching jobs and dozens of school
districts from all over the nation seeking top candidates. While
speaking with attendees about our service current members started
dropping by our booth to rave about SchoolSpring.
Patricia Bean from Somerville, MA, a middle school
science and special educations teacher, came by our booth excited
to let us know how much she loved our service. “SchoolSpring
is awesome!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never found
another website that follows through like SchoolSpring. You’re
incredible…thank you for what you do!” Julie Mehne,
an elementary educator from Brookline, MA dropped by to say, “I
love SchoolSpring! It’s really easy to use.”
Darrell Braggs, a history teacher from Springfield,
MA, told us how he became a member. “I heard about you from
my college career center. All the jobs I’ve found have been
through SchoolSpring. Thank you!” Michelle Davidson, a high
school English teacher from Keene, NH, also remarked about the number
of jobs she’s found using our service. “I love SchoolSpring!
I’ve found so many jobs through your website…it’s
been fantastic!”
We also heard from SchoolSpring employer members
about how much they appreciate our service. Susan Sullivan, Director
of Administrative Services at Wachusett Regional School District
explained, “SchoolSpring allows our recruiting to be paperless
which is more convenient for principals and assistant principals
than ever before.”
And if you’re new to SchoolSpring don’t
worry about it being difficult to use. Julia Wismar, a 3rd grade
teacher from Quincy, MA said when she first saw SchoolSpring “It
seems too easy!”
With all this great feedback it’s a pleasure
to hit the road and share SchoolSpring with candidates and employers.
And best of all, it’s making finding a good job simpler for
teachers and filling vacant positions easier for schools.
To everyone we met at job fairs in Massachusetts,
New York, and Rhode Island we want to say thank you for feedback
and good luck with your job or candidate search!
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What do you plan to
do this summer?
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 Dr.
Henry R. Scipione, Superintendent of Schools for York School Department
in York, Maine, had been carefully watching the expansion of SchoolSpring
since its inception in 2001. Last year, however, Dr. Scipione knew
it was finally time to bring the service to the attention of his
colleagues to evaluate. It looked as though the service was really
taking off in New England and he wanted to be one of the first in
Maine to jump on board.
“I knew Jim Fitzpatrick, co-founder, president
and CEO of SchoolSpring from when he was a high school principal
in Vermont,” explained Dr. Scipione. “I occasionally
saw Jim at conferences and he would fill me in on the growth of
SchoolSpring. I watched the service evolve and in the spring of
2004 I decided that it was time for my district to seriously consider
it for our recruiting needs.”
That year, Mr. Fitzpatrick traveled to York School
Department conducting presentations for the review board so that
they could better understand how the web-based recruiting tool worked.
“We checked customer references, looked at alternatives, and
weighed our options for almost a year before deciding to go with
SchoolSpring,” said Dr. Scipione.
York Schools had been using a successful method of
recruiting for years but they knew it could be better and more efficient.
“Two areas needed improvement,” explained Dr. Scipione.
“One issue was that the pool of applicants we were receiving
for specialized jobs like special education and science wasn’t
large enough.” SchoolSpring’s website receives over
one million visitors a year and currently has almost 40,000 educator
members looking for jobs. That means those hard-to-find teachers
are now easier to locate and hire using SchoolSpring.
“Another area that needed improvement,”
continued Dr. Scipione, “was the sharing of information like
resumes and transcripts for members of interview teams. Passing
around information from school to school was cumbersome and slow.
But with SchoolSpring, applicants’ complete information is
online and everyone involved with hiring can review it and comment
easily.”
Dr. Scipione went on to say that SchoolSpring’s
automatic notification system makes communication with applicants
during the hiring process effortless. “SchoolSpring automatically
informs applicants when we’ve received their information,
that we’re reviewing it, and even if we’ve made a decision
about the job they applied for. I think it’s an important
professional courtesy to keep applicants informed of the progression
of their submission and SchoolSpring makes it a snap.”
There are challenges to adopting new technology like
SchoolSpring and Dr. Scipione thinks York Schools is up to the test.
“The capacity of SchoolSpring is amazing, now we have to harness
it. I think that with time, training, and a few key people embracing
the system, we’ll see cost and time savings for the district.
I can see our newspaper advertising expenses declining and we expect
to be a paperless recruiter which will save everyone time and money.”
“I’m glad we were careful not to rush
into an unproven technology,” concluded Dr. Scipione. “But
now that SchoolSpring has established itself elsewhere, we’re
excited to be on board as a leader for Maine schools.”
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Cool Summertime Opportunities for Educators
As the school year comes to a close, thousands of
teachers who haven’t made plans for vacation will wonder “What
should I do this summer?” If you need to earn some extra money,
there are fun and rewarding summer jobs. Or, if you want to take
it easy and enjoy your time off you can volunteer, work part-time,
or just relax! Here’s a list of some great some things you
can do with your time off this summer.
4-H, Here I come… Take a job
at a summer camp as a counselor. You won’t be teaching the
usual curriculum, which will be a great break for you. You might
even be able to find a camp abroad making the job even more exciting.
And, keeping in contact with kids will keep your teaching skills
honed and maintain your motivation for the school year to come!
Vroooooom – Mobile Marketing Tours…
Many marketing companies and advertising agencies execute mobile
marketing tours in the summer. And, many of them can be educational
in nature. Others are sampling tours – think Red Bull, Mountain
Dew, or Coppertone. They pay hourly, give you a per diem to spend
on food and shelter, and you may get a cross-country opportunity.
Just think of the educational opportunity you can share with your
classroom when it’s time for back-to-school!
Here kitty, kitty – Woof, woof…
Check out your local Humane Society for ways to help animals in
your area. They usually plan, organize, and execute summer activities,
like dog walk-a-thons, and they would appreciate your help! Looking
for more options to volunteer? Check out www.volunteermatch.org
and search for organizations that need your help!
Old Stand-bys Made Better…
Everybody knows you can make some extra money waiting tables. But,
rather than taking any old food service job, look for a restaurant
with an outdoor patio or deck, then it won’t even feel like
a job! Check out resorts, country clubs, and other outdoor venues
so you can enjoy the sunshine, have fun, and rake in the dough!
Check out SchoolSpring… We’ve
got tutoring and other summer job opportunities available on our
website. Just visit www.SchoolSpring.com,
click on Advanced Search, and then search by Keyword: summer. You’ll
find hundreds of positions right on SchoolSpring so check it out
today!
Whether you work, volunteer, or just get some well-earned
relaxation, enjoy your summer!
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| WHAT
IT IS... |
WHEN
IT IS... |
WHERE
IT IS... |
| Jim and Susan’s Daughter Meghan Gets Married! |
June 24, 2006 |
Shelburne, VT |
| National Educational Computing Conference |
July 5-7, 2006 |
San Diego, CA |
| MASS Executive Institute |
July 19, 2006 |
Mashpee High School
Cape Cod Mashpee, MA |
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