WAGNER COLLEGE, STATEN ISLAND, NY
New Teacher Academy
Given $10K For Scholarships
The UAU Capital Foundation, an arm of United Activities Unlimited, announced recently in a press conference at Wagner College that it has given a grant of $10,000 to provide scholarships for the New Teacher Academy, a partnership of Wagner College and Columbia University’s Teachers College. Twenty new teachers will be eligible to receive $500 each, covering half of the $1,000 tuition for the Academy, which starts next month.
The New Teachers Academy program is designed to improve new-teacher retention, develop teacher leadership and enhance teacher quality. Upon completion of the NTA program, participating teachers will receive 3 continuing education credits.
According to Maryrose Barranco Morris, director of the New Teacher Academy program at Teachers College, 20 percent of new teachers leave the profession after their first year; another 30 percent leave before the end of their fifth year.
“Wherever we have brought the NTA, 90 percent of new teachers stay beyond their first year to the second, third and fourth year,” Barranco said.
Louis DeLuca, CEO of United Activities Unlimited, parent organization of UAU Capital Foundation, said of the NTA grant, “In some circle, $10,000 might not seem like a lot of money, but it is to us. If everything goes well, there will be more next year.”
“Teachers’ academies—caring, supportive, professional learning communities—are the wave of the future,” said Stephen Preskill, chairman of Wagner College’s Education Department.
For more information about the New Teacher Academy, contact Carin Guarasci, NTA director, or Susan Rosenberg, associate coordinator of graduate programs, at 718-390-3464.#
