With 15.9 percent of AHS’s teachers having 0-2 years of experience, you might wonder about their perspective on Anderson High School.
When entering the new school year, many people won’t recognize most teachers at AHS. AHS has hired many new teachers with how many have retired or resigned from the previous school year. For some people who are new to the Anderson area, the environment might be a drastic change from where they’re from and just like with new students, many teachers coming from different schools can be quite overwhelmed by the atmosphere at AHS.
“I feel like the environment could be better,” JAG teacher DeCoriey Tilford said.
With AHS’s track record of multiple fights, the environment can feel threatening at some points in time. With the state average of in-school suspensions being 3.9 percent, Anderson High School’s In-school suspension rate is 14.3 percent. This can be seen as a lot higher than the other high schools in the surrounding area.

“My previous school didn’t have as many fights and students went to school,” Tilford stated. The one thing that can surprise a new teacher is the attendance rate at AHS. According to the Indiana Department of Education, the state average of absenteeism is 11.4 percent while AHS’s chronic absenteeism rate is 21.2 percent.
Tilford added, “The amount of school kids miss is crazy.”
Something that can be thought about is “How can AHS have a safer environment?”

Many have thought of this question before. With past years having more conflict, the administration has set more rules; Not being able to leave class ten minutes after class starts and ten minutes before class ends, regular bag checks, hall monitoring during passing periods, and color-coded lanyards for certain hallways.
“Eliminating cell phones and being more approachable” is what Tilford said about making AHS a safer environment.
With AHS’s thriving staff and students, newer teachers can feel more welcome in many years to come.