Take Five with Ty Scaletta: Middle School Teacher at Alcott Elementary

Take Five is a series that highlights members of the CPS community who are going above and beyond for our students. All throughout the 2024–25 school year, we will be spotlighting our amazing CPS teachers! If you know a teacher who is making a difference, nominate them to be featured here.

Meet Ty Scaletta, a middle school teacher at Alcott College Prep Elementary School! Ty is in his seventh year of teaching and fifth at Alcott. In his current role, he teaches Makerspace classes on crafts like sewing and woodworking, as well as a timely elective course on elections. Ty also serves as the sponsor for Alcott’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA).

As an educator, Ty sees himself as co-exploring topics alongside his students. A top priority for Ty is thinking about what students will find interesting enough to engage in, helping them discover their vision of what they want to create, and guiding them as they turn that vision into reality. 

Ty is known as an excellent mentor for middle school students within the Alcott community.

"Ty has been an amazing teacher, mentor, and counselor to my son during his transition from tween to teen over the last few years," said Malia Huff, an Alcott parent. "He has been there for both my son's intellectual and emotional development, and he is beloved by my son and his classmates for his approachability, listening skills, sound advice, and overall empathy. I will always be grateful to him for making a difference in my son's life."

Read more about Ty below!

Why do you like working with middle schoolers? What’s special about this age group?

Every child is different, so it’s hard to characterize them all together in one big group. But I have a lot of empathy for the way that middle schoolers are positioned. Even the name “middle school” suggests being caught in an in-between space. They’re at an age when they are really developing their sense of self and their sense of the world. There’s a sense of displacement that I’ve experienced myself, so I find that I get along with middle schoolers pretty well!

How do you create a safe and trusting environment for your students?

Years ago, a colleague and I were trying to figure out how to approach a certain situation, and my colleague said: “We need to treat kids like people.” It sounds banal and easy, but it has really stuck with me. Childhood might be different from adulthood, but it’s not inferior. Sometimes I fail, but I always try to approach interactions, planning, and conflict by thinking through how to respond in an ethical way, and how to respond in a way that affirms the personhood of the kid that I'm working with.

What are your favorite parts of your job?

I love the work I do as sponsor of Alcott’s GSA. Our GSA meets once a week during the school day, which is great, because we get a lot of students who wouldn’t have the time to join if it was outside of regular school hours. We’re currently getting ready to create opportunities for discussion during LGBTQ+ History Month in October. I also love teaching woodworking. It’s a beautiful craft, because the effort you put in directly rewards you with a tangible outcome.

What is something you wish you knew during your first year of teaching?

That it’s okay to take time to explore rather than making sure everything is scheduled super precisely. Also, that it’s not wise to approach situations based on a fear of what could go wrong.

What do you like to do when you’re not teaching?

I like to bake, because I don’t have the improvisational skills needed for cooking! I also like to read—I keep coming back to Kathryn Stockton’s work, and I’m also reading a lot about democracy and voting right now. And I always try to say yes to as many occasions as possible for being with my friends and family!