As the 2018-2019 school year comes to an end, several teachers have decided to depart The Columbus School community and seek a new path.

Every year teachers come and go, but when they leave, there is a void in the community that must be filled. Those who have taken this decision, were influenced by multiple factors. This year, three high school teachers; Andrew Ambron, Getulio Brasil, and Agata Prymicz decided that it was beneficial for their careers to move on.

“The school didn´t try to force me to stay, (but) they definitely allowed me to make my own decision,” Andrew Ambron, middle and high school English teacher, said

As the teachers leave, they must be replaced as quickly as possible for the upcoming school year. Replacing teachers tends to be a challenging task, this is why the school often encourages them to stay an extra year, so they can decrease the turnover rate.

“I felt really fortunate and appreciated by a lot of my co-workers, principals, and vice-principals. They said they wanted me to stay and they appreciated the things I have done for the last three years, so that made me feel really good,” Ambron, said.

As teachers form strong bonds in the TCS community, they are still responsible for their personal lives and look towards what is more profitable for their families.

“I am getting married in July and I want to have babies and my wife is changing careers and as a proud man, I wanna make more money to sustain them,” Getulio Brasil, 10th-grade teacher, said.

Most of the teachers in the school are working abroad, meaning they are working in another country other than their home. Some teacher expressed that this can be hard since their families and friends are elsewhere.

“The reason I am leaving is mostly that I have been living outside the US for 5 years, it has been a great experience, I have learned a lot, met great people. But at this point, I miss my family, my home, the state of Colorado,” Ambron, said.

Some rumors have been spread, claiming that the teachers are leaving because they have something against the school, the staff, or the student body, but this is not the case.

“I have nothing against the school or the city, I love Medellin I love the paisas and the culture,” Brasil, said.

Teachers said that leaving is not always painless, as they have to leave many of their new friends behind.

“The toughest part about leaving is the friendships that I’ve made,”  Ambron, said.