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New teachers welcomed to Marshalltown Schools

Training held last week, to continue at building level this week

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - The Marshalltown Community School District has added dozens of new teachers at various buildings ahead of the 2018-19 school year. The new teachers went through orientation this week to help prepare for the year ahead.

Each August, Marshalltown Schools welcomes a new crop of teachers and readies them to instruct district students.

“We start with an introduction to our district and we also talk about effective teaching strategies to use with the students in our district … what the initiatives are in our district to follow to best reach our students,” said district mentor coach Sue Cahill. “About half of our teachers have taught before and about half of them, this is their first teaching experience.”

No matter how much experience, or lack thereof, a teacher brings, she said it is important teachers arriving in Marshalltown get “on the same page” with the district’s nuances.

“We feel that we’ve discovered and we practice strategies to help us reach every student,” Cahill said. “We also want to give (new teachers) a mentor to help them with those ups and downs that any new teacher can have in a first year and to become comfortable with the culture in their building.”

Last week’s training saw the group of 25 discuss how to teach students according to their grade level, explore their new school buildings and classrooms, introduce them to more experienced mentors and more.

This week, Cahill said training will continue at the building level ahead of the start of the 2018-19 school year on Thursday.

District Director of Instruction Lisa Stevenson said the training not only allows new teachers a chance to get comfortable in the new environment, but is also state-required.

“We have a mentoring and induction plan just like every other school district in the state of Iowa … it also gives us a chance to personalize it a little bit to meet Marshalltown’s local needs,” she said.

Stevenson said the district has made keeping new teachers at the district a focus.

“We made some really nice gains,” she said of this year compared to the last two. She pointed to the fact that this year’s new group is much smaller than the groups in the previous two years, signaling fewer vacated teaching positions and better retention.

“I’ve been doing this for 24 years and there’s just nothing like meeting those new employees on their first day of work, seeing how excited they are and all the fresh ideas and their positive attitudes they’re bringing into our district,” Stevenson said. “It’s a great annual reminder for us who’ve been in it for a while why we’re here and not to lose that spirit — we need to be like that every day for kids.”

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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