BTW, The area code for El Paso is 915.

EPISD, SISD to host job fairs for teachers
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/08/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

(Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)El Paso school districts are looking to fill hundreds of teaching vacancies created by the expected influx of students into Fort Bliss and the opening of new schools due to the Base Realignment and Closure process. And this time around they're looking for them in faraway places.
Although officials in the El Paso and Socorro school districts say they will, of course, look at recent graduates from the University of Texas at El Paso and the handful of alternative certification programs in the city, recruiters are traveling to places such as North Dakota and Oregon to look for future teachers.

"We're looking in places we had never looked before. We have no option but to do that," said Pam Onick, a recruiter with the El Paso Independent School District. "UTEP is producing some great teachers, but we have to compete with the other school districts in town for them, and there just aren't enough teachers for all of us."

To tap into the local teacher pool, the El Paso and Socorro school districts will host separate job fairs this week for people looking to get their first job or hoping to teach at a new school.
Krysta Kurita will graduate from UTEP this weekend and hopes to teach second grade in any local school district.

The job fairs "are a good chance to get some face-to-face time with principals," she said. "They can see your enthusiasm and vocation for the job. Not just the grades and certification on your résumé."

Onick said the district this year traveled to areas with traditionally low teacher salaries --Êsuch as Hunstville, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn. -- in hopes of attracting educators to El Paso.

The district is offering signing bonuses for math and science teachers, and educators coming to El Paso from farther than 150 miles away will also receive a relocation stipend.

"Our district is more marketable in those cities and the response has been great," Onick said, pointing out that several people from job fairs in Pennsylvania and Montana have already applied for a job at EPISD.

Socorro, too, is offering heightened stipends for math and science teachers, and Superintendent Sylvia Perez Atkinson said she hopes the higher salaries -- coupled with the area's reputation for innovative teaching -- will attract a good pool of new teachers into the area.

"El Paso is becoming more and more attractive to people throughout the state because schools here are known for their opportunities to grow as professionals," said Atkinson, who moved to El Paso this year from the Rio Grande Valley. "El Paso schools are allowing teachers to come in and try innovative programs, and that means a lot to educators."

EPISD estimates that they will hire 350 teachers this summer. Socorro officials said they might need about 250.

Both districts are expected to receive the brunt of military student growth at Fort Bliss during the next five years.

EPISD is also hiring teachers for the new Brown Middle School on the West Side, and Socorro will open three new schools in the fall.

Officials with the Ysleta Independent School District said their student enrollment -- and thus, their teacher pool -- is stable.

"Our teachers tend to stick around, so we don't have many openings," said Jerry Perez in Ysleta's human resources office.

Gustavo Reveles Acosta may be reached at greveles@elpasotimes.com; 546-6133.

Make plans
EPISD

What:"El Paso Independent School District teacher job fair.

When: 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: The main and auxiliary gyms at Franklin High School, 900 N. Resler.

Information: 779-3781.
SISD

What:"Socorro Independent School District teacher job fair for elementary school grades.

When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

Where:"Socorro central offices, 12300 Eastlake.

Information:"937-0000.