Rolling Into the School Year: Cape’s New “Cart Teachers”

Ella Walker ‘24

Editor-in-Chief

This school year, both students and teachers are trying to beat the bell. To accommodate the ever-growing student body, now pushing 2000 students, Cape has had to hire 28 new staff members this past year. With minimal classroom space available, a few teachers have been designated to teach off rolling carts, moving from class to class with their materials.

Instead of teaching from one classroom, cart teachers occupy other teacher's rooms for designated class periods. This system was previously implemented before the J-Wing addition. However, the building has already hit max capacity, giving the high school limited options to combat overpopulation. Thus, the cart system was reintroduced. Principal Kristen DeGregory explains that she has chosen to use a “partner system,” in which two teachers share one classroom so they can have a designated space on an odd or even day.

Spanish teacher Greg Berman recalls his first time hearing about the new system, to which he immediately volunteered his classroom. “I know what it's like to be a new teacher and have to bounce around on a cart, so I thought I would do it,” he says. Social Studies teacher John McCormick, who is going into his second year at Cape, expresses his gratitude for having a classroom last year, “I was new to the building last year and I can tell you how nice it was to have a set location.” McCormick—no stranger to cart life—compares his past experience, saying that the situation has been handled much more thoughtfully at Cape with the rotating classes being relatively close to each other. 

English and art teacher Drew Johnson has taken a humorous approach to the situation. With a clown horn proudly anchored to the side of his cart, Johnson is embracing what he refers to as “cart-personism”.  Johnson explains that cart teaching gives him new ways to become a role model for his students. “Students have to move from space to space so I don’t think it's the end of the world for teachers to do the same.”

Despite his positive outlook on the situation, Johnson contemplates how teachers were chosen to give up their classrooms saying that, “you would think that having a room would fit more into the profile of seniority.”

DeGregory explains the preference given to new teachers, emphasizing the importance of making new teachers “feel like they have a home.” She also considered the location of each planning period and the proximity to nearby classrooms. The principal reflects on her times as a cart teacher when she taught in middle school, ultimately saying that her experiences have helped her sympathize with the needs of teachers.

DeGregory went on to explain that although the district has already applied for a certificate of necessity—which allows the school to undergo expansion—building will not begin for another few years. Until then, cart teaching will become the new normal for Cape teachers.