Teach for America will nearly double the number of its teachers in Colorado next school year to 270, sending its educator corps into five districts with an eye on adding even more.
The nonprofit organization, which places high-achieving college graduates in high-needs schools without traditional certification, is expecting to add 400 teachers a year by 2013 if the state wins a $175 million competitive federal education grant. A portion of the grant application is dedicated to hiring those teachers.
"Here in Denver and Colorado, you have an assessment system, student-centered focus and a state that has a lot of political will," said Sean Van Berschot, executive director of Teach for America Colorado. "That is a huge window of opportunity for us."
This week, TFA's 155 new teachers — recently graduated from 50 universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale — are meeting for the first time before entering a five-week boot camp in Phoenix to prepare for the 2010-11 school year.
The teachers sign up for two years and get as much as 400 hours of professional development their first year.
In August, they'll be placed in Denver, Aurora, Sheridan, Mapleton and Harrison school districts.
"I believe that it is a program that sets me up to make the largest impact, post-graduation," said Roland Shaw of Placitas, N.M., who just graduated with a political science and history degree from George Washington University.
Shaw, 22, will be a special education teacher at