Leaving a teaching job is never easy. No matter the circumstances, here are some things art teachers need to think about.

Submit Your Letter of Resignation
Leaving a job always calls for giving notice. Be mindful of any stipulations or constraints in your contract. Most districts require a certain amount of notice (e.g., 30 days) before a resignation is effective. Some teaching jobs won’t let you resign at set times of the year, particularly in August.

It’s best not to burn your bridges when you leave a position. Even if it was the wrong school or a miserable experience, it’s not your job to make them see the systemic problems the school may have. They are either already aware or blissfully ignorant. Maintain a respectful and positive tone throughout the process of resigning. If you have a new job, simply stating you have new professional opportunities is reason enough. There are many templates for teacher resignation letters online. I recommend delivering your resignation letter to your principal and keeping your department chair involved so they aren’t caught unaware.

Consider References
The teaching profession is an anomaly in the job world because they often ask for written references. When parting ways with a school, it’s a good idea to ask for a written reference before leaving. Every school has a different policy regarding references, so if a letter is not possible, ask someone if they would be willing to be a job reference in the future. Then, keep in touch with your references. Schools are constantly churning, and you’ll be surprised how much can change in a few years. People you thought would be there forever leave. So, keep tabs on what is happening and where people go. Social media can be a great way of keeping in contact with your references. Don’t forget LinkedIn, a professional social networking platform where individuals and companies connect, build networks and find job opportunities. It’s a space for professionals to share their work experience, expertise, and career goals, facilitating job searching, networking, and career development. 

When I ask anyone from a school for a written reference, I provide a list of accomplishments from my time working there. Examples include starting a gallery, taking on teaching AP at classes, starting an art club, giving a professional development session for the school, etc., and I tell them to feel free to weave in any of those accomplishments they see fit. This strategy allows the reference to hit the easy button and assures that I don’t receive a bland generic letter.

Saying Goodbye
It’s never easy to say goodbye; your choices and decisions on how to do it are personal. Many factors may affect your options, such as whether you leave at the end of the school year or midyear. Some people prefer to go without fanfare, while others wouldn’t imagine leaving without the opportunity to say goodbye. In a couple of instances, when leaving a school, I knew in advance and told a class when it came up naturally towards the end of the year and then the information spread naturally around the school. You don’t want to tell students too early, as it can be distracting to youer teaching and their learning. Other times, opportunities came up in the summer, and I never had the chance to tell students and colleagues. and that is OK, too- students are resilient. One colleague said something that stayed with me. “It’s hard to imagine how a school will manage without someone, but somehow, the school manages. It’s like how the ocean and waves will fill even the deepest hole a person may dig.”

Gather Your Physical Materials
Few other teachers have as much stuff asart teachers do. I recommend taking everything you own from your classroom that you might need in the future. This includes things you brought in from home and anything you paid for with your own money. This might include books, supplies you bought, still life materials, plants, posters, etc. Also, it may include project examples you made for your lessons. Writing your name on your personal materials is always a good idea.

Gather Your Digital Materials
Transfer anything you need from district accounts (Google Drive, email, school computer, etc.) to personal accounts as soon as possible so you don’t lose your digital resources. Download your files and transfer them to a personal drive before you lose access. If your school uses Google products, you can find information that may help you transfer those materials, here. If you go on to teach elsewhere, you do not want to be recreating your sub plans, handouts, etc from scratch again.

Be sure to change your emails in any accounts/apps/subscriptions you registered using your school email since you will lose access to that email. It’s much harder to verify changes when the email account is closed. When leaving a teaching position, you may want to download your email data for personal use or archiving. Why? Your email may contain Your email may include professional contacts and documents like evaluations, or performance reports. You can exporting your email to a file format like PST (for Outlook) or by using a tool like Google Takeout for Gmail.

Get Your Classroom in Order
Do a deep clean and purge when leaving a school. Regardless of how the classroom came to you, I suggest the campground rule; leaving things better than you found them. Not only will that signal yoiur professionalism, but a deep clean will also allow you to decide what you want to keep, what can be tossed, and remind you what is yours to take home. I’ve moved into two clasrrooms where the previous teachers left a mess. One was a packrat and one was fired and just let the classroom go.

If you’ve left an art teaching job, what advice to you have? Share in the comments!