The interview was a warm, dynamic conversation that included a 10-minute demo lesson, real-time coaching, a reflective debrief, and values-based questions focused on equity, structure, and emotional intelligence, highlighting alignment with Uncommon Schools’ mission and culture.

Interview was interesting. They got back to me about moving forward with my application after a moderate amount of time (if I remember correctly it was like a week to ask for clarifying information and like a little questionnaire and then another month or two to let me know that they wanted to move forward with my application). Once you get past the questionnaire, they invite you to an interview day where you, with the other candidates, are put on some sort of block schedule rotation (like in high school). The components are as follows: a one on one interview with staff (which I felt went well for myself, I really connected with my interviewer on the basis of my age- I just graduated and was the only 22-year old invited to interview on my day. Everyone else was 25+). The second component is a demo lesson (which I definitely struggled with; if you've never given one, it's definitely interesting). Before this, they also provide you with sample lesson plans, which they do not want you deviating from too much(?) and they ask you to prepare ahead of time. I gave my interview to the principal, which definitely tripped me up and made me too nervous to deliver my presentation fully (I think this is what I bombed). He also conducted an interview following this demo. The next part was an observation of a classroom (they expected more of an interaction with the children- this part also was pretty good for me...some of the kids verbalized a desire for me to come be their teacher, but I also have work experience with early intervention and extensive childcare, so I figured this would be pretty easy). The last part was a written analysis test where you were given a prompt from the SAT and asked to write an essay analyzing the poetic devices employed etc. My advice is to definitely prepare as much as you can for the verbal part. It's definitely a little odd, and also because they are actively critiquing you while you are providing the lesson and will make you run through it as much as possible until you get it. For me, it was the nerves + having no experience with demo lessons or the culture of Uncommon + trying to think about implementing my feedback and deliver my lesson as I practiced that definitely gave me a lot of issue. Make sure to remember the big takeaways of what was requested of you too, because it will be important. The worst thing is probably how much you need to prepare (I didn't fully understand what was expected of me for preparation), and also how Time Consuming the hiring day is. I think I was there from like 9/10-past 3.