Newport News receives grant for ‘Grow Your Own’ teacher program

Newport News Public Schools received a second “Grow Your Own” grant from the Virginia Department of Education last week.

The division was one of 24 chosen for the awards, which totaled $1.52 million. Newport News’ share is about $114,000, and will help fund about 20 teacher apprenticeships in partnership with Averett University and Mary Baldwin University, according to VDOE officials.

The grants are a way of helping schools deal with recruitment challenges. The apprenticeship program helps future teachers work toward their bachelor’s degrees and fulfill all licensure requirements. The department previously awarded $1.78 million in July in a first round of “Grow Your Own” grants.

Newport News has already used the first, $200,000 grant from the state for its first cohort of eight future teachers, who all began the program in January. Five are attending Mary Baldwin University and will specialize in special education, and three will specialize in elementary education at Averett University.

Newport News school officials say the program allows apprentices to earn a free bachelor’s degree within two years and become certified in hard-to-staff positions, while still being full-time employees of the district.

Kimberly Hammond, a training and development coordinator for Newport News, said the apprenticeships are true “grow your own” programs — the participants in the first cohort have a combined total of 60 years serving the school division. Additionally, two of them were lifelong students and graduated from the district.

The new grant will allow the division to start a second cohort in the fall. Participants in the program commit to teaching at Newport News for three years after completing the program.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com