New educators at Albuquerque Public Schools are making the most of their summer break by preparing for another school year. Through the New Teacher Academy Program, dozens of teachers are honing and improving their skills. 

The Mentor/Peer Assistance and Review team hosts the academy, which is now in its 11th year. The program provides Level 1 teachers with hands-on professional learning to build confidence and strengthen instructional practices. It also prepares them for a successful year in the classroom.

The academy runs for three weeks each June. Teachers can participate one week at a time. Each week covers a different area of teaching:

• Week 1: Establishing a learning environment and classroom management
• Week 2: Teaching for learning and instructional strategies
• Week 3: Reaching all students through engagement strategies

The program supports educators from Pre-K through 12th grade across all content areas, including general education and special education. About 60 teachers participate each week. During the program, they receive compensation while learning, collaborating, and planning for the upcoming school year.

According to APS PAR Coordinator Stephanie Garcia, the academy has two primary goals. It aims to help teachers prepare for the school year and support teacher retention across the district.

“We’re here to help them have a more successful year coming up,” Garcia said. “We focus on what the basics of being an effective teacher are, and then help them take that information and actually utilize it. And by doing so, they become more successful, so we’re also working toward teacher retention.”

Teachers Share Their Experiences

Many participants said the academy provides practical tools they can immediately apply in their classrooms.

Naanibah Eddie said the workshops and planning time have helped her think differently about student engagement. She is a middle school special education math teacher entering her second year in the classroom.

“It’s a lot of help being able to go to the workshops and then having the planning time,” Eddie said. “I’ve gotten a lot of ideas about how to make math more student-based. I went to a lot of workshops about student engagement, so I really want to focus on that next year.”

Eddie said she looks forward to applying the new strategies she learned through the academy.

Erick Martinez is entering his second year of teaching third grade. He said the academy has provided valuable guidance on managing student behavior and designing effective lessons.

“It’s an excellent resource. The workshops are well thought out, and they give lots of valuable advice,” Martinez said. “They help us ensure that we’re designing our lesson plans to the Goals and Guardrails standards, while ensuring that they’re manageable for students. They offer a lot of support in that.”

Martinez said he especially valued the workshops on proactive classroom management and intensive behavior support strategies.

Survey Results Show Positive Impact

Garcia said the PAR team surveys participants throughout the program to ensure they gain the most from their experience. 

“We do surveys weekly to get feedback and adjust. We also do surveys at the end of the three weeks, and then we do a survey in March that gives us feedback on how it has impacted their instruction,” she said.

She said the feedback is encouraging, and continues to show the program is making a difference.

“The data shows that 100 percent of the teachers who attended last year said it positively impacted their decision to stay at APS. And then between 95 to 100 percent of them said it improved various areas such as student learning and engagement, to the teacher’s confidence, to their preparation, to their routines and procedures, to their classroom management,” Garcia added.

APS continues working to retain high-quality educators through programs like the New Teacher Academy. The initiative provides teachers with the knowledge, support, and resources they need to thrive, ultimately benefiting students across the district.