Clayton’s newest teacher isn’t exactly new to the school.

Alex Schwent, a first year teacher in the math department spent most of the second semester of the 2013-2014 year as a student teacher in Katelyn Long’s Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry (HAT) class.

In the 3rd quarter of 2014, Schwent sat in the back of Long’s room and watched as Long taught. He observed silently, but his presence was noticed by the students.

“Mr. Schwent sat in the back of the class for a few weeks watching,” said sophomore Victor Xie, one of Schwent’s student students. “From the first time he walked in the classroom, I could tell he was cool.”

During the final quarter, the teachers swapped, Schwent taught the class while Long watched.

“I had a great time watching him start his career in teaching,” teacher Katelyn Long said. “Through the short time he spent in my classroom he earned respect and admiration from each class.”

During the time he spent teaching, Schwent graded tests and taught HAT lessons completely on his own.

“Mr. Schwent taught me a lot last year,” Sophomore Ben Schneider, a student in Long’s HAT class said. “He taught me about the unit circle, conics, and trigonometry.”

After May, however, most students expected to never see Schwent again.

“It was kind of crazy,” Schwent said. “We got into the summer and there wasn’t a position available. As I understand it, Mrs. Felps moved into the instructional coordinator role, which opened the door for a math position.”

As soon as he found out about the open math position, Schwent applied and interviewed for a job. When he was then offered the job, Schwent also had a pending offer from another school. He chose Clayton.

“I realized I really liked Clayton through my student teaching, and I thought it would be the best fit for me,” Schwent said. “I really like everyone in the math department, and I love how independent the students are allowed to be.”

What set Clayton apart from other schools for Schwent was how the open campus lets the students be independent and gives the school a college campus feel, which he feels is positive for teachers and students.

Schwent has wanted to be a math teacher since 2010, his senior year of high school at Lindbergh. “I liked math, so I wanted to be an engineer, but when I started tutoring, I realized that helping and teaching was what I liked, and was what I wanted as my career.”

Since starting his new job, Schwent has done pretty well adjusting from being a student teacher to a real math teacher. He now teaches five classes a day: three college prep geometry classes and two algebra classes.

“Teaching all these classes is a lot of work,” Schwent said, “but luckily my student teaching went well and I knew how much work there is to put into it. I haven’t had any major issues yet. I try to make sure my class knows what to expect.”

So far, Schwent’s students know to expect a good and calm teacher, and they’re looking forward to the coming year.

“I’m very excited to be here and I hope I have a bright future ahead,” Schwent said.