GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — In Dr. Michelle White's classroom, she may count in Spanish to help students learn math in English.
It's part of Gwinnett County Public Schools' strategy to reach its growing student population who speak Spanish as their first language. Their strategy starts in Puerto Rico.
The district took its recruiting efforts to the island to help find top teachers looking for a new challenge. White was one of them.
She now teaches at Beaver Ridge Elementary School.
"I love my kids and I know that they love me," she said.
With more than 20 years of teaching experience, she says moving from Puerto Rico to Gwinnett made sense.
Her future there became uncertain when the Puerto Rican government froze teachers' retirements in 2022, cutting her retirement in half.
"I was amazed at the quality of the teachers that they have in Puerto Rico. They are highly educated, were masters and even doctorates," Principal Martina Luna-Liranzo said.
Luna-Liranzo says about 70 percent of the students at her school are Hispanic. She traveled to Puerto Rico in search of a special education teacher - a position she says can be hard to fill.
"At our school, she was able to just fit right in, assist our students and with their interventions in their small group by communicating with them in both English and in Spanish," Luna-Liranzo said.
White said transitioning to her new job in Georgia hasn't been easy. She was hired in July with a start date in August. Now a month into the job, she says the positive relationships she's already developed with her students make the challenges worthwhile.
"The opportunity I have now to help other Latino people is a blessing for me," White said.