Chamblee High School has an assortment of teachers, some of whom have children who attend the school. Daily school life for these select children is different from the average day of most students.
With the responsibilities that come along with being an educator, come a constantly changing routine to fit around a demanding school schedule. Many teachers are required to adjust their schedules to arrive early for morning duty or leave late for faculty meetings, and most often their children must accommodate their routines to fit this schedule as well.
“The past two weeks I have had to come in earlier to school because my mom has morning duty and I do leave later than most kids—around four p.m.—because she has to stay until after a specific time,” said Annabelle Shim (‘26).
Despite conflicting schedules, there are many benefits to having a parent teach at the same school, most of the teachers’ children have found.
“I think it’s pretty great having my dad teach at the school, to be honest. He can get things done for me like changing schedules and heating up my lunch, and it’s pretty nice,” said Bella Avett (‘26).
Not only are there special benefits with having a parent teacher, but also there are many opportunities for them to assist with any work.
“I honestly like having him teach at the school because I get to see him more often, and he helps me with my math if I have questions and that’s very helpful,” said Aubri Stephenson (‘27).
However, it can be quite a shock for any teacher’s kid to see how their parent acts in the workplace compared to an at-home setting.
“To be honest, it’s very odd hearing kids talk about your parent, like ‘oh yeah, Dr. I is such a good teacher’ or ‘Dr. I did something I don’t really like.’ It’s just odd hearing them talk about her in a different light than I know her. I’ve just never had to deal with it before,” said Baylor Ingram (‘25).
Having a parent as a teacher can be an interesting experience and, in some cases, can provide many bonding experiences.
“Over the summer, I get to come into her classroom and put up posters and set up any equipment [my mom] needs. Sometimes she’ll ask me for help creating assignments, mostly just proofreading or what kids would be interested in,” said Ingram.
Although, in many other cases, there can be quite a lot of pressure on the student when their parent works in the same school as them.
“Sometimes there can be pressure from my science teachers because they know my mom, and she likes to talk about me a lot like ‘oh yeah my kid loves this subject you are teaching’ and ‘I’m sure she’ll do great in your class.’ She also talks to my German teacher sometimes, so it’s a bit of pressure to do well in my classes,” said Shim.
Teachers tend to inspire many of their students, and this reach isn’t lost on their own children.
“My mom has definitely shown me that it is possible to go through grad school and get a master’s degree and run a classroom while also having three kids at home, so she has inspired me in some ways,” said Shim.
Overall, having a teacher double as a parent is a unique experience only a select few students get to experience.
“Once or twice I was in my mom’s class because I had to get something for her from a chemistry teacher,” said Shim. “It was interesting because I’ve never seen her teach firsthand. I don’t see her as a teacher, I see her as my mother.”