CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The nationwide teacher shortage is a problem the Cherry Creek School District was determined to fix. Now in the second year of its Aspiring Educator Pathway program, apprentices are training specifically in special education.
The program is similar to a medical residency model, where aspiring teachers can earn a bachelor's degree from Community College of Aurora for under $20,000 and are paid a full-time salary while learning from a mentor teacher.
Denver7 covered the launch of this program in September 2024 and shared the success following its first year.
Superintendent Christopher Smith said a quarter of the district's students are in special education, which is based on varying needs. He stressed the importance of the program as it allows future teachers to experience a day in the life, and if their passion rings true.
"You're really going to have to want to be a teacher to make it through this program, and I talked to them about that," Smith told Denver7. "I'm honest. Teaching is hard, and you don't get summers off as everyone says; you work really hard over the summer to prepare yourself to come back to school, and so that's what we want, though."
The district received 130 applications for this year's cohort. There are close to 60 apprentices — quadruple last year's number — and 23 are training specifically in special education.
"One of the key components of the Aspiring Educator program is there's multiple entry points," Smith explained. "So yes, you can come straight out of high school, but what we've also had is we've had office managers, security guards, paraprofessionals who want to become educators as well."
Jill Allsopp, a moderate needs special education teacher at Trails West Elementary School, works with third and fifth graders to help them succeed better in the classroom. She is also a mentor teacher in the program.
"What really guided me in my decision to say yes is it really benefits everyone," Allsopp said. "It obviously benefits the kiddos because there's an extra adult in the classroom to support. It benefits the aspiring educator because they gain all this experience, and then it's really benefited me. Just in the few short weeks that we've been working together, my aspiring educator has helped me get prepped for the school year."
- Allsopp shares more of her experience in the video player below
Michaela Garcia Y Ortiz is Allsopp's aspiring educator and is an alumnus of the district.
"I have family in education, and so just watching their experience, I was like, 'There's no way I will never be an educator, ever,'" said Garcia Y Ortiz. "But then I started working as a special education [paraprofessional], and I fell in love and I realized that this is definitely my entire passion. This is what I'm put on this earth to do, I think."
Through the Aspiring Educators Pathway program, Garcia Y Ortiz is helping students learn and learning herself about lesson plans and student goals.
"I'm learning so much from [Allsopp], and I think it was very overwhelming to start, just with all of the information that was kind of thrown at us, and in special education, there's so many acronyms and so many different data collection points that we need to do," said Garcia Y Ortiz. "Jill has just been offering me so much grace and just given me space to learn all of this and to process it all and get there at my own pace, which is so amazing."
In turn, Allsopp said she appreciates Garcia Y Ortiz and having extra support in the classroom.
"She's eager to learn everything about this job, and she's building relationships already with the kiddos," Allsopp said. "Now I'm super confident with what we're going to accomplish this year and what she's going to accomplish once she is done with this program, when she steps foot into her classroom."
Smith hopes other school districts will be inspired by this program. The superintendent is touring the state to share this concept with rural school districts. Details for the program can be found online.
