Hutto ISD apprenticeship program helping get more educators in classrooms

HUTTO, Texas - In fall 2024, Hutto ISD created it's own pipeline for aspiring educators by launching a unique teacher apprenticeship program for a multitude of positions that provides hands-on experience in K-12 classrooms.

The backstory:

"Last time we talked, we were just about to kick it off. We've had a fantastic year. We have 67 apprentices in our program, and they're incredibly focused," says Hutto ISD chief of schools Dr. Cara Malone.

School districts across the state have been dealing with a teacher shortage.

To address the issue, Hutto ISD launched their own teacher apprenticeship program. Hutto ISD has implemented a residency program for individuals in their last year of college for the past two years. The addition of an apprenticeship program will support developing teachers throughout their education, up to four years. Apprentices will receive on-the-job training, so when they enter the classroom, they will not only have a degree and certification but also have learned enhanced pedagogical skills.

"We're helping them make that transition. And it has been really awesome to take somebody who might be trying to figure out, what do I want to do in life? I know I like kids. I just don't know how to get from here to here," says Malone.

This legislative session lawmakers are pushing HB 2 to help pay for the cost of getting credentialed.

Leilani Lopez is currently working on getting her teacher certification through the Hutto apprenticeship program shares how the program is helping her get ready to teach.

" I'm really thankful that I get to experience that now, and I'm able to, again, gain that experience and go into my first year of teaching kind of already knowing what's going on instead of being thrown into it with no experience whatsoever," says Leilani Baizabal-Lopez, Hutto ISD apprentice.

Under HB 2 special education and emergent bilingual teachers would get their certification fees waived.

According to the Texas Education Agency there's a critical shortage in: bilingual, CTE, computer science, and special education teachers.
At Hutto ISD, the district is working to fill those vacancies.

"I think this is giving our apprentices a true vision of what special education can be and how fulfilling it is when you work with students that receive these services. So, it's kind of giving them an idea of what to expect," says Hutto ISD mentor, Wendy Ricke.

What you can do:

The school district will be hosting a teacher apprenticeship program workshop on May 9th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For those interested in learning more about the program, you can click here.