MPUSD Alder Teacher Residency Program Offered Another Year; Soliciting for Cohort 7
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2024
Contact:
Marci McFadden, Chief of Communications & Engagement
831-706-6971
MPUSD Alder Teacher Residency Program Offered Another Year; Soliciting for Cohort 7
Program includes residents’ living stipend of $40,000
Monterey, CA - The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is pleased to announce the continuation of its MPUSD Alder Teacher Residency Program for the 2025-2026 school year. This will be the seventh cohort of MPUSD’s build-its-own teacher workforce.
“Our residency program is critical because it creates a larger pool of effective, high-quality educators that learn the MPUSD way and allows the district to recruit teachers that closely mirror the racial, ethnic and linguistic makeup of our student population,” said PK Diffenbaugh, Superintendent, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.
Like many school districts across the state, MPUSD has seen the need to address the acute teacher shortage, in particular finding and keeping diverse, qualified and effective teachers in its high-need schools and in critical subject areas. In 2018, the district partnered with the Alder Graduate School of Education to launch its own teacher residency program to develop a pool of qualified and diverse teachers to fill gaps in its teacher shortage. The program has been extremely successful and has contributed to increasing the diversity of the district’s teaching staff. The district is now soliciting for its next cohort beginning September 1, 2024, through October 1, 2024, for the 2025-2026 school year beginning in late July 2025.
On average, MPUSD hires approximately 100 new teachers every year. Due to the ongoing nationwide teacher shortage, MPUSD confidently places all of its teacher residents upon graduation each year. One of the challenges has been recruiting a full cohort of residents for the subsequent year, and specifically because of the high cost of living on the Central Coast. In a recent survey of current cohort applicants, many indicated withdrawing their program application due to financial reasons, such as rent, supporting a family or making ends meet during the residency year.
The fact that MPUSD is able to offer a $40,000 living stipend will help support teachers in their year of residency.
“This stipend along with the fact that we put teachers directly into a classroom with a mentor teacher while learning the MPUSD Way helps us recruit more diverse teacher residents,” said Sarah Hudson, Director of Teacher Development, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.
“We have been close to meeting our recruitment and graduation targets each year of graduating residents thanks to the residency program,” continued Hudson.
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About Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is home to approximately 9,600 students in grades transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. The district also houses preschool and adult education. The district is built on a solid foundation of effective instruction, positive school culture, systems of support, and collaborative leadership. The district is nestled along the Monterey Bay, and stretches from the city of Marina to the north to the city of Monterey to the south, and includes the communities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside.