Tong to start new position at Brookfield High School
AP stats teacher moving on for better opportunity
James Tong goes over two equations for his statistics class.
January 19, 2018
In every person’s life there comes a time when the greatest experiences have to end to bring about a new era of opportunity and self improvement.
James Tong recently faced the arduous decision to conclude his time here at Danbury High School for a new teaching position at Brookfield High School as of Jan. 29.
Tong has been a statistics teacher at DHS for the past two years. Despite students’ love for him and his own passion for teaching and DHS, he has chosen to leave right before the end of the first semester with his last day scheduled for Jan. 26.
“Leaving DHS was a very difficult decision. However, I could not pass up the opportunity that was presented in Brookfield.” Tong says. The starting BA annual salary at BHS is approximately $500 more than the starting BA annual salary at DHS.
Tong says that his students were the most troubling factor in his decision to leave.
“There is no question that I will miss my students most of all.” He mentioned a letter he received from a former student raving about the quintessential quality of Tong’s statistics class.
It’s clear that Tong is popular among students. Many remain in contact with him outside of the classroom.
One of these students, senior Julie Carney, says she not only enjoyed him as a teacher but as a person as well, noting his character.
“[Tong’s] kindness makes him very approachable; it’s always great to talk to him.” she says. “I will definitely miss his great advice and funny stories.”
Despite his likability, his current students — especially the ones in his AP classes — remain upset with him over his decision.
Senior Robbie Barletti believes that this will greatly hinder his ability to succeed during his AP exam. “We won’t pass [the exam] without a teacher and it’s unfair that we still have to pay for a test that we will fail.”
Barletti says that the school should ensure that the replacement teacher will be qualified to teach the students the remainder of the information they need, or allow them to opt out of the exam if they feel unprepared.
“The school needs to do something,” he says, “or I will fail.”
Olivia Alessandro — also a senior in Tong’s AP Statistics class — is optimistic, though concerned about replacement teachers, as well. “Mr. Tong is a very understanding teacher. He uses a great method of teaching … I will miss the way he teaches and how helpful he is with the material. Since it is an AP class, most other teachers won’t spend the time helping each student that he does.”
She spoke about how rare his teaching ability is and the difficulty the school will have in finding a suitable replacement. But, she is confident in Tong’s promise to his students that he will keep in touch to answer any questions they may have.
“Mr. Tong told us we will learn about 75 percent of the material that will be on the AP exam before he goes and that he is always an email or remind message away,” she says. “I know Mr. Tong can always help.”
Aside from student concern, Tong’s leaving brings about other issues.
Tong says that the school community has always been encouraging and supportive of he and his family. This will be especially difficult to walk away from.
A benefit to working at Danbury High for Tong was that he got to work alongside his wife, Katie Tong. This helped his comfort for being a part of the DHS community as well as allowed him to get to know students better as he saw them from his and Katie Tong’s perspective, making it easier to teach these students.
Staff, faculty and students have also been notably supportive of his family, specifically his son, James Tong Jr., who was diagnosed with Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, or PANS.
“Each of the past two years students have organized fundraisers and events to raise awareness for PANS, the condition my son has. It says a lot about the school community that people will go out of their way to support us,” James Tong says.
His decision to accept the position at BHS will certainly leave a hole in both the Danbury High School community as well as Tong himself. He knew, though, that the time had come for him to move on, and he is looking forward to the new opportunities and experiences that Brookfield will provide for him.
“I will be forever grateful to my colleagues and administrators at DHS,” Tong says. “It is these relationships [built at DHS] and experiences that I will miss most of all.”
