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OCPS Teacher Recruiting Team Heads for Puerto Rico

A team of seven experienced recruiters will travel from Orlando to Puerto Rico for a special two-day mission to hire classroom instructors. Members of the recruiting team were hand picked for this assignment based on their professional and administrative background.

The OCPS team will setup a temporary recruiting office in San Juan on May 29 and 30, 2006. The goal is to attract and interview as many qualified teacher candidates as possible during the two-day recruiting drive.

"This is part of a very aggressive recruiting campaign to get the best teachers available to instruct our students," said Superintendent Ronald Blocker. "Our school district will open nine new schools when students return to the classroom for the start of school in August. We have a pressing need for more teachers, especially those who have strong bilingual skills."

A special fax line (407.318.3100) will be activated so candidates can send their resumes and copies of valid professional certificates. All documents must be submitted no later than May 22, 2006, so that interviews in San Juan can be scheduled. OCPS recruiters want to have as many by invitation only, face-to-face interviews with candidates that can be scheduled during the two-day hiring drive.

"This special outreach activity is to attract fully bilingual candidates who hold valid professional certificates in Elementary Education, Exceptional Special Education (ESE), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), math and science," said Javier Melendez, senior director, Recruitment and Retention. "We have had very successful recruiting drives in Puerto Rico and I'm extremely optimistic that this two-day hiring mission will also be very productive."

Melendez says that the school district needs to hire about 2,400 teachers to prepare for the new school year starting on August 7, 2006.