Rockhurst University and Teach For America Announce Partnership

Under a new agreement, Rockhurst University will partner with Teach For America to strengthen efforts to place effective first-year teachers in low-income public schools in the Kansas City area this fall.

Teach For America is the national corps of top recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.

A cohort class of 75 corps members from throughout the country will participate in a weeklong in-residence orientation session June 15-19 on the Rockhurst campus before heading to Chicago for a five-week intensive teaching and training session. In the fall, they will return to Kansas City to teach during the day and take education classes at Rockhurst during the evenings and on weekends.

“We’re proud to partner with Rockhurst University to ensure high-quality certification for our corps members,” said Alicia Herald, executive director of Teach For America-Kansas City. “Our teachers work relentlessly to ensure that all children in Kansas City have the opportunity to reach their full academic potential.”

Teachers will fill classrooms in the Kansas City, Mo., and Hickman Mills school districts and in charter schools.

The Rockhurst classes will allow the corps members to work toward becoming fully certified to teach in Missouri with the option to pursue additional coursework leading to a master of education degree.

“The education as social justice aspect of Teach For America perfectly complements the mission of Rockhurst University,” said Mary Pat Shelledy, Ed.S., campus TFA program coordinator. “This couldn’t be a better fit and we’re grateful to Alicia Herald with Teach For America for working so hard to help Rockhurst become their education partner.”

The 75 new Teach For America corps members join 50 second-year corps members who began teaching in the Kansas City area during the 2008-09 school year.