WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Students in the Williamsburg-James City County School District will head back to the classroom on Monday.
But, administrators have worked for months to integrate dozens of new educators.
“We know that they come to us with a variety of experience and strengths. And so, we want to meet them where they are and then continue that professional growth with them," said Alaina Trott, the supervisor for organizational development at WJCC.
Trott helped start the new initiative for the division this year. It's called WJCC Launch.
The Launch program connects new educators with mentors, giving them additional support as they start at the school district.
“…Doing monthly check-ins with them, us providing them with personalized professional learning throughout the year that aligns with their goals,” Trott explained.
The hope is to recruit and retain teachers in the division.
“Throughout the nation, teacher recruitment and retention is a problem of practice for us," Trott said.
The nation has grappled with teacher vacancies since before the COVID-19 pandemic, which only exasperated the issue.
According to the state’s Department of Education, schools in Virginia had more than 3,500 un-filled teaching positions for the 2022-2023 school year.
Trott said the WJCC is one of the lucky ones.
She said this year, the division is welcoming nearly 200 new teachers, bringing the division to 95% fully staffed in those roles.
Alisa Smith has worked as a Spanish teacher at WJCC for nearly a decade. She’s now helping out incoming teachers as the lead mentor at Jamestown High School.
“They know that their lead mentor is someone in the building that they can go to and feel comfortable, you know, asking any question,” Smith said.
Smith said it’s not just about getting new teachers in the door, it’s keeping them.
“They’ve made this commitment to us. We want to make a commitment to them to really keep them here,” Smith said.
WJCC Launch is a three-year program for all incoming teachers in the division.