In August of 2009 the inaugural cohort of 27 Residents of the Denver Teacher Residency (DTR) will report to their Host School Site at Denver Public Schools. The Host School Site is made up of five DPS elementary schools: Archuletta, Gust, McMeen, Montclair and Harrington. The 27 were chosen from a group of 260 qualified applicants and over approximately 1000 inquiries.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in any subject and be a legal U.S. resident or citizen. Of the 27 Residents over half are minority including five African-American, 11 Latino and one Native American. Furthermore, 22 percent of the Residents are bi-lingual. By 2011, DPS will grow the DTR program to 80 to 100 Residents per year.
According to Denver Public Schools, DTR is “an innovative, hands-on preparation program designed to cultivate and support exceptional teachers in high-needs schools…” which includes a rigorous academic program.
To accomplish this task, DPS has partnered with the Janus Education Alliance (JEA) and the University of Denver’s Morgridge College of Education (DU). The JEA provided a three-year, $3-million investment from Janus Capital Group to get the program off and running, while DU will provide Residents with an MA in Curriculum and Instruction after the first two years of the program.
During the first year, Residents will be in the class room with a master teacher four days a week and attend DU classes one day a week. After completing the first year requirements, Residents will earn their teaching certification. During the second year, the academic instruction will continue in the evenings at DU and Residents will be hired as full-time DPS teachers while continuing to receive mentoring and support. Residents commit to remain with DPS for five years (including their first year of residency), which enables them to receive full tuition reimbursement when they successfully complete the program.
Life by Design Ministries, along with the Greater Metro Ministerial Alliance, will be hosting an information session on August 15, from 3 to 6 p.m. Representatives from the DTR program will be available to answer questions and provide additional information regarding the 2010-2011 recruitment year which begins in September, 2009.
To learn more about the August 15 meeting at Life by Design Ministries, visit www.LBDM.org, or call Shirley Scott at 303-368-4093. LBDM is located at 1756 S. Chambers Road, in Aurora, Colorado (corner of Chambers and Mexico). Information regarding the Denver Teacher Residency program can be found at http://www.denverteacherresidency.org/.
Editor’s note: Linda Y. Brown is a 2009-2010 Denver Teacher Resident and will begin her residency at Gust Elementary in August.
