39 Hampton educators accepted into Virginia Best Practices Network Academy

Posted: Mar 18, 2021 / 10:22 PM EDT

Updated: Mar 18, 2021 / 10:29 PM EDT

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Thirty-nine teachers from Hampton City Schools have been accepted into the Virginia Best Practices Network Academy (VBPN).

The VBPN is a collaboration that was established in 2018 and aims to “provide teachers designated as clinical faculty and new teacher mentors the opportunity to become highly effective clinical faculty and/or new teacher mentors,” according to a school division news release.

VBPN was established by members of the Association of Teacher Educators of Virginia (ATE-VA), selected institutions of higher education preparation programs, and hard-to-staff school divisions.

The teachers selected for the academy will get professional development and training through intensive innovative, scientific, evidence-based learning opportunities.

State grant funds will cover costs for speaker fees, registration for professional development workshops, incentives, and other materials.

“I am delighted that the VBPN has selected so many of Hampton’s qualified supervising teachers who were interested in volunteering to extend their knowledge further,” said Dr. Kimberly Richardson, HCS organizational development coordinator. “Virginia has one of the 10 highest teacher turnover rates in the nation. But in Hampton we have systems in place to support our strategic plan goal of attracting, recruiting, and retaining exceptional staff. Our ultimate goal is teacher self-efficacy and HCS practices what research has shown – our five-year induction plan which heavily emphasizes one-on-one mentoring relationships in teachers’ first year contributes to teachers experiencing connectedness and a sense of accomplishment that leads to increases in job satisfaction and teacher retention.”

The teachers include: