Friends School

The program starts in late summer, well before school begins. This is an essential time for building community, covering program expectations, and exploring foundational concepts to set candidates up for the year ahead. Following orientation week, candidates begin with their host school, working with their mentor teacher to prepare for the arrival of students later in the month. This involves setting up the classroom environment, preparing materials, and attending school and district trainings.

During the week teacher candidates are working a full-time schedule in their host classroom co-teaching alongside their mentor teacher. Two Saturdays a month, the cohort comes together for what is called “Saturday Seminar”. A typical Saturday consists of three presentations or lessons to cover various aspects of teaching and learning. These sessions are facilitated by Friends TPP program staff and a wide variety of teaching professionals including university professors, specialists, school administrators, teachers, retired teachers and other experts in the field. These weekly presentations in conjunction with four licensure core courses make up the required coursework for teacher licensure.

During the first semester, TCs will focus on foundational understandings of development and learning, teaching methods and skills, such as classroom management and planning. TCs will have three major assignments to complete: the Child Study assignment, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum paper, and ongoing written reflections that continue on into the second semester as a part of the Teaching as Profession course. 

In addition to Saturday seminars, the second semester consists of two major assignments: continued reflections and development of an “Educational Philosophy Statement” as part of the Teaching as a Profession course and the Thematic Unit project. The Thematic Unit involves designing and teaching at least 10 lessons around a theme. Beginning in as early as January, the TPP begins to provide support and resources around the job search. We hold “mock interviews” and support teacher candidates in developing resumes, cover letters, and other supplemental materials. Teacher Candidates graduate from the program around mid-May and finish out the last week or two with their host school. At that time, they are eligible to apply for their initial Colorado Initial Teaching License.

Friends School’s Teacher Preparation Program believes that teachers learn best through hands-on experience. The program is designed so that teacher candidates spend 4-5 days working alongside a mentor teacher in a classroom while learning about curriculum and pedagogy. Program instructors model excellent pedagogy so that teacher candidates can implement what they learn in their asynchronous and Zoom coursework in their classrooms the next week and then reflect on their practice. The program provides each teacher candidate with an advisor who meets with them regularly throughout the year to observe lessons and discuss their growth. The program is small, generally no more than 25 teacher candidates, so that candidates experience a tight-knit and supportive community in which to thrive.

We believe that all students have the right to high quality education that meets their needs and honors their potential. Friends TPP prepares teachers to work effectively with students of all abilities and cultural, linguistic, racial, and economic backgrounds. Through our program, teacher candidates learn how to engage in best practices for supporting various populations of students, including specific work around CLD and SPED practices, such as:

• Participating in several seminar sessions dedicated to best practices when working with emerging bilingual students.
• Working with diverse populations at their host schools. (With a variety of school placements ranging from a Title I school serving primarily students from lower income households to an independent school serving a much more affluent community, teacher candidates gain perspective from these varied educational settings!)
• Receiving instruction in several sessions on addressing the unique needs of students in poverty.
• Examining their own personal biases and have ongoing conversations in seminar about the roles of prejudice, racism and classism in the classroom. 
• Participating in ongoing seminar sessions focused on supporting students with special needs.

The Friends TPP provides teacher candidates with many layers of support throughout the program year, and even before you begin!

• Mentor Match Process: Our in-depth, personalized placement process allows you to meet with multiple mentor teachers before a decision is ever made about your teaching placement for the year. We have more than 12 different partner schools and a large pool of qualified mentor teachers. Your input and preferences are considered in this process as well so that you have a hand in this important decision. We believe that the match with a mentor teacher is critical to the success of the teacher candidate, mentor teacher, and, most importantly, the students they serve. This is why we put a great deal of intention toward this aspect of our admissions process!
• Mentor teachers receive initial training and ongoing systematic support through the program.
• An advisor is assigned to each teacher candidate to provide regular feedback, coaching, and support on all aspects of the teaching profession.
• Teacher Candidates are observed and given formal feedback and coaching by their advisor at least 10 times over the course of the year. They engage in goal-setting and growth conversations with their mentor teacher, advisor, and program staff regularly.
• We work to develop a strong and cohesive TPP community of learners and consider the camaraderie and collegiality of our group to be a beneficial support system as well!

The Friends TPP is committed to continuous program improvement and excellence in teacher education and preparation. To ensure that our teacher candidates have the best experience possible, we ask for feedback throughout the year. We elicit feedback not only from teacher candidates, but also from various other stakeholders such as: mentor teachers, advisors, alumni, school administrators, and program instructors through surveys, analyses of teacher candidate evaluations, consultation with our advisory council, and more. We work closely with our local partners and with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the University of Colorado Denver to remain current and focused on continuous program improvement in response to changes in education, policy, and society at large.