Supt. Tom Boasberg

Nearly a year and a half ago, Sarah Luckey had a goal: to become a teacher. At the time, she was a paraprofessional, or classroom assistant, supporting teachers at Fairview Elementary in Northwest Denver. Now, just 17 months later, Sarah leads a class of her own as a teacher at Fairview -- a dream made possible through the DPS Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline.

The program, funded through the generosity of community partners and Denver voters, is designed to help our teachers' aides become teachers themselves, attaining their teaching degrees at little to no cost with opportunities for full scholarships, all while working in the classroom.

Sarah is the first graduate of the inaugural Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline cohort, and Tuesday, her first-grade class threw her a graduation party, complete with balloons, party hats and handmade cards.

"Congratulations, Ms. Luckey," first-grader Elijah read aloud from his crayon-illustrated card. "Thank you for teaching me reading and writing."

For Sarah, it's a dream come true.

	Watch this DPS Features Video highlighting DPS' Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline. Watch it in Spanish here.

"I think it's a very important job," Ms. Luckey said of her role as a teacher. "I hope I'm doing a good job in giving them all the skills they need academically, socially and emotionally to get them ready for the world, because it's a pretty tough world out there."

Our paraprofessionals -- many of whom are DPS graduates, parents and community members -- bring a depth of experience and knowledge because they have worked alongside teachers and understand who our students are and what they need to be successful. The program is also an important way to increase the diversity of DPS' teacher workforce. Our current pool of paraprofessionals is made up of 65% educators of color, compared to less than 30% of the current teacher workforce.

"I am a mother of four, I work full-time and although I have always wanted to earn my degree, my time and resources have been limited," said Chavonne Henry, a teacher's aide at Bruce Randolph School in Far Northeast Denver and soon-to-be-graduate of the inaugural pipeline cohort. "When I heard about the para-to-teacher training program, I was ecstatic."

Currently there are over 120 paraprofessionals enrolled in the program, and active recruiting for the next cohort is underway.

If you are a paraprofessional interested in joining the Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline program -- or know a great paraprofessional at your school -- I encourage you to visit DPS' partner websites Guild Education, UNC's Center for Urban Education or the NxtGEN Paraeducator program from the University of Colorado Denver or to email teacherpathways@dpsk12.org for information on how to apply.

In order to reach our vision of Every Child Succeeds, our kids need great teachers -- and we can't wait to grow and develop more outstanding educators from right here in DPS.

 

Best,

Tom 

Pictured above: Sarah Luckey and her first-grade class at Fairview Elementary celebrate Ms. Luckey's graduation from DPS' Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline program. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's third annual Spring Home Visit Week! During the home visits, families had the opportunity to connect with their kids' teachers outside of the classroom to discuss their hopes and dreams for their child.

While visits were being held across Denver, Superintendent Tom Boasberg and Johnson Elementary educators Roberta Turja and David Shindoll had the opportunity to visit with first-grader Isaiah Alberts-McFadden and his family.

We believe these home visits are essential in creating stronger relationships between a child's home and school, and are proven to improve student achievement, attendance and behavior as a result. Thank you to everyone who made Spring Home Visit Week a success!