SPANISH LAKE, Mo. — One school in north St. Louis County is getting creative to recruit teachers.
It's all part of the Hazelwood School District's expansion into the "thematic school concept."
Hazelwood School District Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Middle School Education Eric Arbetter said the concept encompasses vocational and career technical education.
"There's a lot of different, exciting things that our kids get to engage in, in addition to their core curriculum," he said.
Right now, the pilot program is taking place at Southeast Middle School. Currently, teachers have a four-day workweek while students are still learning for five days.
The idea was dreamt up by Southeast Middle School's principal, Marsha Wallace, for two main reasons. First, she saw a need for additional social and emotional support help for her students.
Secondly, staffing shortages were increasingly impacting her school and she thought a four-day workweek would be a way to get more teachers in the doors, according to Arbetter.
"Two years ago, we had a great number of vacancies and we had to rely heavily on virtual instruction in several classes at Southeast Middle, whereas this year we have very few vacancies," he said.
Teachers will only be in the building Tuesday through Friday and only have to come to work 11 Mondays while students will have a five-day extended school week.
According to Arbetter, Mondays are called 'Mindset Mondays,' where students learn from community partners with lessons focused on careers and personal skills.
"We're providing them a lot of hands-on experiences in those areas to help them home in on those areas they're interested in," he said.
Arbetter said the concept of the school is to educate the child as a whole: spiritually, intellectually and emotionally.
"The idea is to really help engage our students into their learning more," he said.
While students are more engaged with the added curriculum, according to Arbetter, the teachers are too.
"They have actually, considerably more planning time at Southeast Middle than they do at the other middle school, so that's helped from a burnout perspective," he said.
The new concept also allows teachers to create a passion lesson every Friday. The classes range from the history of St. Louis to yoga to blues music and more.
All of this combined is why Arbetter believes the vacancies at Southeast Middle have dwindled dramatically and it's all thanks to one principal's idea that benefits the learners and the educators.
"It's always exciting to see how we keep stepping up, so to speak, to the changes and learning from the changes, adapting and putting new, systems in place," he said.
If you're interested in applying for a job at Southeast Middle School, you can apply here.
The Hazelwood School District is hosting a teacher recruitment fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, at Hazelwood East High School. The district is looking for teachers, counselors, librarians, administrators, social workers and nurses.