Brevard Public Schools is getting ready for the school year by welcoming in hundreds to its New Teacher Academy.
The two-day academy began Monday and marks the start of a year-long support program for the new hires.
“For two days we’re going to give them all kinds of training and exposure to the support that they have here in Brevard,” Superintendent Mark Rendell said. “Even if you’ve taught before, if you’re new to Brevard or new to Florida you need to learn how all these systems work.”
According to the district, over 60% of the new hires do not have a background in education.
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Rendell said those new teachers come with expertise in their respective fields, but may lack educational coursework or internship experience.
“Most of our teachers are second career teachers,” Rendell said. “They had some other career or pursued some other degree and now they decided to try teaching. We have to kind of teach them how to teach a little bit as we begin the year.”
During the two-day event, teachers learn skills like classroom management, engagement strategies, and creating positive student relationships.
Each teacher also worked with a veteran in their subject or grade level to create lesson plans for the first week of school.
Thomas Bolanos was an instructional assistant and will begin this school year in his own classroom teaching algebra at Cocoa High School.
“All my life has been leading me to actually teaching and having my own classroom and everything,” Bolanos said. “This gets me more accustomed to the larger setting of having my own classroom, as well as learning the different methods of classroom management.”
The support program is part of an initiative to strengthen professional development in the district.
The first day of classes in Brevard County is August 12.
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