At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, Archer welcomed 22 new faculty members and 95 new students to the community. The new faculty members include teachers in every department, ranging from English to visual arts to science.

The Oracle sat down with new faculty members Agustin Pacheco, Monique Sim and Sara Gil Sáiz to get to know more about their first weeks teaching at Archer. Pacheco teaches Conceptual Physics, Accelerated Conceptual Physics and Advanced Study Physics. Sim is a long-term math substitute and Gil Sáiz is also a long term substitute who teaches French 2 and Spanish 3. 

Why did you decide to teach at Archer?

Agustin Pacheco [AP]: The simple answer is the community. When I was in my interview with your principal, she really highlighted the importance of community within Archer. I also happened to meet the students and saw that reflected [in] the way they communicated with the adults and the other students. That was something that was very important to me.

Sara Gil Sáiz [SGS]: I didn’t know the school before coming here, but I love this community. I love the mission of the school. I love the environment. I love everything.

Monique Sim [MS]: The mission statement really resonated with me. If I had the power to create my own school, I would design it to be exactly like what our mission statement is. I think upon first glance, I was like “[there’s] no way there’s an actual school like this.” That really drew me in, and I’m really happy to be here.

How has your teaching experience at Archer been so far?

[AP]: Amazing. I love it. It’s amazing to have so many resources to be able to teach as well as students who are really excited about learning some of the topics. I love physics. It’s something that I can talk [about] for twenty four hours, so it’s really cool to have students where you see that excitement.

[SGS]: This is the first time that I’m teaching two languages in a school — and it’s really great. Sometimes there’s one word in French that comes to mind in my Spanish lesson, but it’s really quick. I can switch to both languages.

[MS]: I think it’s important for every member in the classroom to be able to have a voice, whether it’s [by] sharing their ideas, asking questions [or] making mistakes. I really try to uplift that and make it a comfortable environment so that everyone feels open to sharing whatever it is that they have in their minds.

How would you describe your students and the community at Archer?

[AP]: It is very friendly [and] very open. Also very empowering, too. I really love to see how empowered students are; they take responsibility for their own education, and that’s something that is very amazing to see.

[SGS]: They are amazing so far. I hope that will continue [for] the rest of the year, and I’m really happy. They are engaged in [the] classroom with me, they participate a lot, they try hard and when I ask something and they have questions, they talk to me so I can help them.

[MS]: So great. Everyone has been so wonderful. Everyone is really, really respectful and kind, and I can see so much collaboration among students. That’s really impressive to me. It’s like an automatic instinct to lean on each other.

Additional reporting by Allie Yang, Claire Doyle, Olivia Hallinan-Gan, Sydney Tilles, Emily Paschall and Oona Sepala.