Quitting Teaching Mid-Year- Should You Do It?

Thinking of quitting teaching mid-year? There are a lot of things to consider before making this big decision.

School teaching is a unique job in that it typically follows a school year calendar. There could be a number of reasons why you don’t want to stick it out the rest of the school year.

If you’re wondering whether or not to quit teaching mid-year, then you must be either:

unhappy, or stressed in your current role
are struggling with teacher burnout or mental health (no shame in that – teaching can push our buttons)
have another obligation, such as caring for a family member, or are pregnant and need time off to care for themselves
have come across another opportunity that you don’t want to turn down

These are some of the most common reasons why teachers quit, but yours could be totally unique.

Regardless of why you want to leave teaching mid-year, the decision is likely not one that you take lightly.

Leaving our students and coworkers can come with a lot of guilt and shame, and there are lots of things to consider before cutting a contract before the end of the school year.

I officially quit teaching in mid-September, after the school year had started. The year before that, I left in the middle of the school year due to a medical leave of absence.

So, I have experience quitting teaching before the end of a school year, know firsthand about the pros and cons of teaching, and can provide advice on what kinds of things you’ll need to consider and do before making this big (and often irreversible) decision.

So, let’s jump in – is quitting teaching mid-year the right decision for you?

6 Reasons to Quit Teaching Mid-Year

Here are some reasons to pull the plug on teaching, regardless of the time of year

1. You feel unsafe at work

If you’re facing violence in the classroom, teacher-targeted bullying or other issues beyond your control that you’re not getting support with, then that’s very much a reason to hit the pause button mid-year (temporarily or permanently.)

2. You’re unhappy in your role

If you’re miserable as a teacher and dragging yourself in every day, then you likely aren’t doing yourself or your students any favours by just ‘sticking it out.’

3. You want to quit (for any reason)

If you want to quit, and don’t want to even stay until the end of the year, then you likely aren’t doing yourself or the students any favours by sticking it out.

Teachers should generally want to be there and feel like they’re a good fit for the job. There’s no shame in admitting that maybe this isn’t what you want to do after all.

4. Mental health

Quitting mid-year might be the right decision for you if your mental health is a big factor in it. You are not useful to the students if you’re struggling to do your job, or are in distress. If you:

Feel like its a struggle to bring yourself in every day
Feel that your job is having a negative impact on your mental health

If these things sound familiar, then you should consider seeking treatment for your mental health, from your doctor or a therapist.

Click here to read about the signs that you should look into getting help for mental health.

5. Poor school leadership

A bad principal can have devastating impacts on a teacher’s career. If you hope to have a career in teaching, but have a nightmare principal (and its impacting your mental health) then it might be a good idea to consider a short-term leave, even mid-year.

Poor school leadership can mean:

serious issues not being dealt with that put teachers and students at risk
stifling the confidence of teachers who otherwise have potential
an unsafe work environment, and poor staff morale

I am not recommending that you leave just because of a principal necessarily. But, if your mental health and well-being are suffering as a result – then that’s a reason to call in quits (temporarily or permanently.)

6. Another opportunity has come up

If something else that you want more has come up, then I wouldn’t turn it down simply because it’s the middle of the school year and you feel you have to stay.

Teaching is a unique career in that it follows a traditional calendar. But at the same time, things come up – and committing to September to June isn’t in everyone’s best interest.

7. You don’t see a future in teaching

If any of the above reasons are true and you don’t see yourself teaching in 5 years, then maybe these are signs that you may want to pull the plug now.

Every career has its challenges; teaching is no different. If those challenges make you not want to be there anymore, then it may not be the career for you.

Things to Do to Help You Process Your Thoughts and Make the Decision

Here are some things to do to help you make this decision easier

Depending on how long you’ve been teaching for, quitting teaching at any time of the year (let alone mid-year) is a life-changing decision that may have a lot of different factors and things to consider for you.

You might need to think about:

an alternate income source
the long-term implications of your teaching career (if you hope to have one)
how you leaving impacts your students

Here are some things I’d recommend doing to help you decide if you should quit teaching.

1. Evaluate how you’re feeling

Take our teacher burnout quiz and our Should you quit teaching? quiz to get an idea of where you stand with your career.

You likely have lots of thoughts swimming around in your head. Simple answers to the questions in the quizzes above (all of which are multiple-choice) should help you gain some clarity.

2. Do some journaling

Grab a pen, and a cheap notebook from the dollar store. Journaling (especially pen to paper journaling) helps you process your thoughts and feelings, and gain more clarity.

Read more on the psychology behind about how journaling can support mental health and decision making.

3. Meditate

Meditation, like journaling, helps us quit our thoughts, and gain more focus and clarity. I’d recommend doing both meditation and journaling in the process of making your decision.

4. Therapy

A therapist can help you come to new conclusions that you may not have on your own. Never underestimate the power of an unbiased person can play. Read this article to find out if therapy is right for you.

When I was weighing the decision of whether or not to quit teaching, I did a lot of meditation and filled a few journals full of words, scribbles and thoughts, as well as consulted with a therapist for a while.

Each of these three things combined helped me feel more clear and confident about my decision.

5 Things to Do BEFORE You Quit Mid-Year

Quitting mid-year might be the right decision for you, but there are a few things to consider before making this big decision.

Before you pick up the phone to call HR and tell them you’re quitting – let’s chat about a few things to do before you throw in the towel.

1. Consider a temporary leave

If you’re thinking of quitting permanently – wait! There may be a few other things you could do instead, that will buy you some time to think about it first.

Medical leave

If the reason you’re thinking of quitting teaching mid-year is because of feeling burnt out or stressed out – then you might benefit from a stress leave.

Making decisions when you’re under a lot of stress isn’t a good idea, and there is no shame from taking the time to rest, reflect and consider what you want to do going forward.

Find out if a stress leave (medical leave of absence) is available to you.

Pro Tip: Most jurisdictions will require a doctor’s note in order for you to be off work on sick leave.

Unpaid leave of absence

Another thing to consider before quitting outright, is simply taking an unpaid leave of absence. Not all school districts will allow you to do this mid-year. However, it is worth considering, if a stress leave isn’t an option.

If you are considering quitting because another opportunity came up, then an unpaid leave allows you to take a step back while still having the door open to go back to your job if you want to.

3. Cover all your bases

Every area will be different, but where I live, teachers who are leaving mid-year are expected to leave sufficient evidence, notes and information for the teacher who will be taking over.

Ensure that when you leave, you will have all the information needed for the teacher who takes your place. Here are some things to make sure you have ready to go, before you quit mid-year:

a class list, and a current seating plan
student assessments, including copies of any report cards to-date
copies of what your schedule and day plans look like
any important information about special needs or accommodations for some of your students (where applicable)
parent contact information, as well as any documentation from your prior communication with parents

Pro Tip: The last thing you want is for your school to contact you for any of the above information after you’ve left, so its best to make sure you’ve crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s before quitting teaching mid-year.

4. Deciding what you want to take home from the classroom

If you’ve been working as a school teacher for any length of time, you know that us teachers spend a lot of money on ‘extras for our classroom, (which often is not provided if you’re working in a government-funded school.)

If you’re going to quit teaching mid-year, you have to decide what want out of your classroom and what you’re leaving behind.

This is probably the toughest, and most awkward part of about quitting teaching mid-year. Stripping the classroom completely bare will mean that your students will lose those items you brought in to make the classroom an inviting place for them.

But leaving your stuff in the classroom that you’re leaving means that you may not see it again (unless you can ask a colleague to kindly collect it and give it to you at the end of the school year.)

What you decide might be based on:

how much you spent on those items
if you can even use them going forward
how much use your students get out of them, and
how badly you want them back.

I decided to leave a few things for my students, such as the world map that I knew they loved looking at. I brought home the things that I didn’t think they would miss. I also asked a colleague to grab a few things for me at the end of the school year.

5. Consider a back-up income

A back-up income is probably the biggest no-brainer when it comes to quitting teaching mid-year.

You don’t have to necessarily have another full-time job lined up, but it helps to have some idea or plan of what you’ll do to earn money if it isn’t teaching.

When I left my job, I was earning a side income from freelance writing and tutoring, and soon started generating a passive income.

Interested in employing yourself? Read my guide on becoming self-employed here

The Bottom Line

If you’re anything like me, I know that you’ll probably be feeling a lot of guilt about quitting teaching mid-year.

Caring about how this decision impacts your students shows that you’re an empathetic teacher.

At the end of the day, its important to remember that you are not useful to your students if you’re miserable and not feeling like yourself. Teacher burnout has a negative impact on students.

Remember, that students need and deserve teachers who want to be there. Even the very tough students are in need of someone who has the energy and patience to help them with their needs.

If you don’t feel well suited to the role; you don’t want to be there and see yourself doing something else – then teaching might not be for you.

I would always recommend sticking it out for the rest of the year if possible. However, every situation is unique.

Generally, these might be good guidelines to follow when deciding whether to quit teaching mid-year:

If you’re quitting for another employment opportunity: find out whether your employer allows you to be employed while on a leave of absence from teaching, because not all of them do.
If you’re quitting because of being unhappy, then try the stress leave route first, because mental health can affect your body in a number of ways. If you don’t feel mentally that you can do it – then seek support from a doctor and look into taking some time off.
If you’re quitting for some other opportunity, such as to travel, or maybe care for a family member – then a leave of absence is your best bet, because it allows you to return to your job later on if you want to.

Final Thoughts on Quitting Teaching

You likely spent years qualifying to become a teacher. Quitting teaching mid-year is a big decision; one that affects you, as well as your students and admin.

However, the person you need to look after first is yourself. While I think its always important to consider how your actions affect others, you need to put your mental health and your family first.

It is likely that someone will be able to step in for you in your teaching role; hopefully someone who feels more up for the role and can navigate the challenges of teaching more than you felt you could at this time.

If you decide that quitting teaching is the right decision for, then you might be looking into alternative careers to teaching.

It would be ideal to stick it out for the rest of the school year, but I understand that sometimes; opportunities don’t wait and every situation is unique. If quitting mid-year is what is best for you, then you may have to do it regardless of how guilty it makes you feel.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck with this decision. I know how tough a job it can be and how important it is to look after yourself. Click here to read my backstory about why I quit teaching.

Quitting Teaching Mid-Year- Should You Do It?