First‑year DC Prep teacher Rob Mallard praises junior teacher program supports

Rob Mallard, a first‑year junior teacher who teaches sixth‑grade math, spoke about his experience in the junior teacher program and credited it with helping him navigate his opening year. "First year of teaching is known to be the hardest year of teaching in your life," Mallard said, adding that the program "publicizes itself as taking the stresses" of that first year by working to reduce workload.

Mallard said he sought a career change and found the junior teacher program to be "a wonderful opportunity." He emphasized two practical lessons he learned: new teachers must "advocate for yourself" and "ask for help when you need it." He also said instructors should develop their own teaching style rather than trying to be someone else.

Mallard credited his pilot teachers and colleagues with helping him find a workable teaching approach. "Being a junior teacher, my pilot teachers have helped me find my style of teaching and made my job a whole lot easier," he said. He named Nikki Ann Rich as a co‑teacher in sixth‑grade math and said they work together to make even routine lessons engaging for students.

He described the junior teacher cohort as a "nurturing community" that connects staff across campuses through shared online courses and peer support. "We don't get to see each other all the time because we're all different campuses, but we do take the same online courses together... Let me help you," Mallard said, summarizing the mutual assistance he experienced.

Mallard also praised school leadership and the broader workplace climate at DC Prep PCS, saying, "The welcoming atmosphere that DC prep offers anybody who comes to work here is incredible." He listed vice principals, principals, coaches and pilot teachers as people who "want you to succeed" and said that support reflects the program's purpose.

The comment concluded without a request for formal action; the remarks were personal testimony about the program and its supports for new teachers.