Baruch College Campus High School has started to have some teachers replaced.
As students continue this year’s academic journey, the winds of change are whipping within the school’s community. Many educators, specifically those who teach juniors, have been leaving the school temporarily. Some have also left permanently, such as math teacher Laird Jonas who retired in January.
Classes such as Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus, Chemistry, US History and Spanish all are taught by teachers who have left or are about to leave.
David Sanchez is temporarily replacing Maria Garcia who left for maternity leave in Dec. 2023. He went from being an administrative support to teaching Spanish classes and will continue to do so until Garcia’s return in April.
Sanchez talked about his ability, methods of adapting to the new classes he has to teach and the smaller details he noticed.
“I’m learning how to manage classrooms, grading and lecturing in a class,” he said. “I pay very close attention to what Ms. Garcia had mentioned to me, and by learning different friend groups while paying close attention to students’ different quirks and stuff.”
Not only do these changes in teachers spark questions for the students, it also sparks some concerns for their future education in those courses.
Junior Randy Li has four different classes with new teachers: Spanish 3, chemistry, AP Statistics and pre-calculus. He shared what he felt regarding the teachers.
“Ever since we entered the school in our freshman year there have been a lot of changes. With maternity leave and other reasons, four of the original teachers are out and this affects what we learn, and how we learn,” he said through a message. “Since I have to take the AP Stats exam and chemistry Regents, I don’t feel as prepared.”
Jocelyn Forman, an 11th and 12th grade math teacher, teaches AP Statistics and will be going on her maternity leave soon as her baby is due on Mar. 22.
She talked about her concerns and thoughts on leaving soon, plus the possible impact her absence may cause for her students.
“I do realize that changing multiple teachers in one year is really challenging and a bit unfortunate for students. I am of course worried that students will feel overwhelmed transitioning from their normal classroom routine,” she said. “I trust that my co-teacher Ms. Shum and the sub coming in will do everything they can to make sure my students continue to learn and prepare for their AP and Regents exams.”
Junior Junjie Lin touched on his experience with teachers leaving. He is going through a similar experience with the missing teachers.
“It’s a little weird adapting to the new teachers since the lessons are taught a bit differently, and it does make some of the work more difficult,” he said over Snapchat. “Although it is annoying, it does get manageable over time.”
