Two Decatur schools, Stephen Decatur Middle School and American Dreamers STEM Academy, will receive teachers from Golden Apple’s inaugural class of their Accelerator’s Program.
The Accelerator’s Program is a teacher residency and licensure program for expediting the preparation of highly qualified teachers in areas of the state most in need during Illinois’ teacher shortage. The inaugural class is made up of 30 teachers who were chosen out of nearly 300 applicants. Accelerators will earn their teaching license by the summer of 2021. They will then enter the teaching profession in the 2021-22 school year with a job in a partner school district. Accelerators are asked to commit to teaching in that partner school district for a minimum of four years.
The purpose of the one-year residency and licensure program is to provide immediate, additional teaching assistance to understaffed districts while helping to better prepare the new teachers through significant experience in active classrooms. Highly qualified mentors from Golden Apple will be overseeing the preparation.
