Mrs. DeRosa is a long term staff member who has been teaching in New York City Schools for almost 17 years now. In her 17 years of teaching, DeRosa has simultaneously been an assistant principal for nine years as well as an AP biology teacher here at Pace High School.
This Interview has been edited and condensed.
Could you describe what you do?
My primary role is to focus on instruction so I can observe and evaluate teachers on instructional practice. I also work together with the rest of the administration to help make things run smoothly at Pace.
Since you’re simultaneously working and being a mother, do you find it difficult to maintain your work? Why or why not?
A lot of times when I leave work, I have more work than I actually do when I’m here because being a mom is a lot. I have to help Dylan, my son, with his homework, make lunches, wash dishes, cook him dinner, and give him a bath. There’s just still so much that has to happen in the hours when I’m home, and that’s just with my older child. And then, I also have a newborn who I want to spend time with and get to watch her, Anneliese, grow and learn new things. And I’m missing out on that a little bit. There’s a lot that goes into being a “new mom,” even though I’m not a new mom. The workload is hard, you know? I’m trying to accomplish everything I would normally do in five days in three. So the time I’m here, I’m doing triple time just to make up for the times that I’m not going to be here and so that’s pretty stressful.
Though you’ve already been a mother, do you find it hard to be a part time parent to your newborn?
When Dylan was born, it was Covid. I was home with him for two years, so I got to experience everything. I didn’t miss his first time rolling over, his first time sitting up or his first crawl because I was
home with him all the time. It’s very different having to leave Anneliese and not being able to experience all those moments. It’s very different this time being a part time parent. It’s challenging, feeling like I’m missing things. But,I also want to be here because I do teach an AP class and I know that my students are relying on me in my classroom. I want to make sure that I’m here enough to give them the knowledge and necessary skills to be successful as opposed to not being here for six weeks straight. At least if I’m here half the week, I can provide some knowledge and then give them things to practice while I’m not here just to keep them going. That’s been really stressful for me because I’ve been working really hard to design activities that can be done without me present that still gives them the opportunity to learn.
How is it balancing your work life and personal life?
I’m really stressed about that. I realized the stress that my absence puts on the school community because there are things that I’m responsible for every day that I’m not present for two days a week. Things such as checking phones in the morning and being in the hallways; the rest of the administration has to pick up the slack on the days that I’m not here, so it’s a lot of guilt. I feel guilty because I’m not home all the time but I’m also not at school all the time. I’m constantly pushing myself to go above and beyond in the small amounts of time that I have in either place, and it’s exhausting.
