Montclair State University’s Red Hawk Rising Teacher Academy aims to increase the number of “homegrown” teachers in Newark, New Jersey. The dual-enrollment program is offered to inner city students who, upon earning their college degrees, return to their high schools to teach. 

“In under-resourced communities, there’s a common perception that the only way to make progress is to leave your community behind,” says Mayida Zaal, Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Montclair, New Jersey, U.S., institution. “We’re here to disrupt that message.”  

The academy provides an opportunity for students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, in Newark’s East Side High School and University High School to take college-level courses, at no cost, that will fast track them to a college degree. 

The teacher academy, named for the university mascot, is a partnership between Montclair’s College of Education and Human Services, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Newark Board of Education, the public school district representing the city of Newark. 

Another partnership supports the program, and it’s one that is unique in higher education, says Danielle Epps, Director of Teacher Education Admissions, Recruitment, and Diversity, at the Center of Pedagogy, who is co-administrator with Zaal of the Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy.  

“By partnering academia and administration together in this way, we bring different perspectives to running the academy. Sometimes that challenges us a bit, but it’s what makes our model so successful,” says Epps. “We’ve learned a lot from each other as we’ve built this program.”