UPPER GRAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD Employee Reviews
Job Title
All
Location
Canada45 reviews
Ratings by category
Sort by
Showing all 45 reviews
Indeed featured review
The most useful review selected by Indeed
I had more than 1 position within the upper grand district school board and after 10 years I still could not find even a permanent part time location. There are many staff that hold full time part time positions that have years to work before retirement .
Pros
good pay
Cons
no positions
Very competitive at the school level. Upper Admin is out of touch -- afraid to be innovative, slow to act. Principals/VPs spotty. One or two excellent VPs, but principals mostly there for the grazing. School culture is cut-throat. Support often lagging.
Pros
the kids, of course.
Cons
management, lack of support for front line teachers/EAs.
I worked as a technician for the Fox theatre. I received excellent training and worked as part of a team of technicians which made it fun, collaborative, and challenging.
If you showed initiative and kept business as business and personal as personal, it worked well.
Pros
Opportunities
Cons
can be stressful
Great opportunities for professional development.
Excellent leadership by the director.
Good benefits. Fair remuneration.
Very heavy caseloads.
Overall, a very positive experience.
Supportive place to work. Great professional development opportunities. Job advancement takes some time to achieve, average 2 years to get full-time. Great pay and benefits
I have never worked so hard. This is a labor intensive job. Lots of moving around school to school and being told what to chores to do. My supervisors were great.
Pros
Great supervisors and work environment.
Cons
Long days and very hard work if you are not use to it.
I enjoyed the work culture and conditions - gave me an opportunity to learn about different systems etc. As a school board they do support career studies and development.
Pros
summer hours option available
this was a great opportunity to have a job close to home while raising my children as my husband worked in toronto long hours. The culture was very relaxed and great opportunity for advancement.
A positive, friendly work environment with a predominately young, energetic, positive staff. Knowledgeable teachers, a wide variety of course selections, excellent additional support for those students who require it.
Help us improve!
Is Indeed your favorite place to learn about companies?
It's a fair system. You are a ghost in the wind but appreciated. Hard to get full-time contract, and the LTO's are hard to get as well with certain teachable subjects.
I did some LTO work and emergency supply teacher and I had a great overall impression of this school board. Overall they make the best of what they have. Like many Ontario school boards, class sizes are large, all of my sections were 30+ kids but the other staff were incredibly helpful lending me chromebooks, text books allowing group work in the hallway as long as students were quiet and respectful. Administration was very helpful as well.
Great for independent workers. Free to work at your own pace for the most part (assuming you get your work done). A consistent schedule of shifts with weekends off. For a summer student in this position, you can't really complain.
Cons
Inconsistent which school you will work at.
It is a pretty good place to work as an ECE. It pays well, but you don't get paid during the summer, so you need to go on EI in the summer months or find part-time work in the summer. As an ece, there is no room for advancement in the school board. once you have a contract that is it. The work-life balance is good, especially if you have school-age children. The benefits package is great. Overall it is a great place to work.
Working on keeping students focused, not a lot of support from other teachers or principals, not a lot of room for growth, very opinionated work environment and must fit-in to get ahead.
Pros
Good pay after 10 years.
Cons
Judgemental workplace, lack of support for unfocused students
I have had the privilege of working for Upper Grand District School Board as an Early Childhood Educator in the Full Day Kindergarten classroom since September 2014. This career has enabled me to learn valuable professional skills, such as classroom management (faced paced working environment), classroom safety (attention to detail and faety procedures), and adaptive teaching methods. In both my academic and professional life, I have been consistently praised as hard-working by my professors and peers.
Pros
Benefits, Pension
Cons
Far commute
They promise you 40hrs a week to get you in the door and give you next to nothing.very unorganized company.They lie to get you to get you in as a floater then abuse you until you drop.management needs to be replaced with fresh people.If your not blood related or a butt kisser your better off working for timmies as they dont give a rat for their workers.
Pros
none
Cons
management
Great place to work. Everyone is kind and willing to help you in all aspects. The students are lovely. Working with special needs students can make the day both interesting and difficult but it is definitely more rewarding than not. I love my job.
Pros
summers off
I loved working for upper grand. If I lived closer I absolutely would have stayed on. The only problem I had was that you never knew when you would work or where you would be working so if I got a call at 9:30 the night before I could possibly be working an hour and a half away- so it ended up being more taxing than I thought. However the staff and the students were amazing
Pros
Friendly staff and students
Cons
Far drive/not sure when working until night before
Joined the educational crew to modify studies and teach at different levels for diverse students. Was trained to facilitate learning for children with varying syndromes and disabilities.
The job description has now completely changed. We solely deal with children's behaviour. Runners, non compliant children, biters, violent and aggressive students of every age. Our hands are tied as we have to follow the instructions of people who make up and hand down theories of behaviour changes WITHOUT actually working in the classes or testing them first.
With the budget cuts and even before, we were understaffed and running from one "fire" to another, instead of supplying the support needed to help keep the sparks from igniting in the first place. (as we were taught)
Up side - School staff, for the most part, work as a team/family.
Hardest part of the job - not having a say in the plans for the children you work with daily.
Most enjoyable part - The days when the stars align, and you get each child to catch a glimpse of what a great day with friends and learning can look like. The days when they seem to understand that we are there to help them. The days when they say, "Thank you for teaching me that", and they feel a sense of pride in their own growth and journey.
Pros
Good hours, holidays, EA team support, times outside
Cons
Physical injury, emotional and mental exhaustion
I have had a great 14 years working here but its time to move on.I I have a quick walk to work and for the most part is an amazing place. I love working with the kids and most of my coworkers are amazing. This year however I have faced a bully and am feeling like im not being heard and not being understood so I feel I should explore other options.
Pros
good staff
Cons
nasty coworkers
good money
the hardest part was working afternoons
knowing that you have cleaned the schools for the kids to learn in the morning.
goes by pretty fast because your very busy and have a lot to do.
- Employee reviews