Hite says district has reached 99 percent of hiring goal

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- School may be out for summer, but the Philadelphia School District has been hard at work filling teacher vacancies.

Superintendent William Hite delivered great news on the hiring front Wednesday morning at Roxborough High School.

Hite says the district has reached 99 percent of its hiring goal.

They are on pace to have a teacher in every classroom this fall.

The new hires include several district graduates who are eager to get to work in their neighborhoods.

"I'm so excited about becoming a Philadelphia School District teacher. I'm even more so honored to be teaching exactly where I attended school," said Courteney Jones-Moody of West Philadelphia. "I think that will be a good thing for students to have a teacher that actually sat in those same seats that they're going to be sitting in."

Earlier this year, the district said it was looking for 800 new teachers.

Hite says he expects to have just 45 positions left to fill by the end of this week.