Background Information
Henrico County Public Schools is committed to providing a professional, continuing, induction program that assists all newly hired teachers. Much time, effort and expense goes into recruiting outstanding educators. It is imperative that these newly hired teachers have a rewarding first year and remain in the school system. The mentor program in Henrico County is structured to provide multiple layers of support to ensure that no newly hired teacher feels s/he is “all alone.” The division of Staff Development trains Mentor Coordinators from each building to work with the building level administration and mentors to ensure regular assistance and site-based training is in place to support new employees.
A mentor is assigned to each beginning teacher.
A mentor is a friend, confidant, and role model that assists with beginning teacher induction. A mentor provides enthusiastic, non-evaluative support while helping the beginning teacher learn the “ropes” of teaching in Henrico County. The mentor is available to share and provide assistance to the newly hired teacher.
A buddy is a friend, confidant, and role model to assist the new hire with her/his transition into Henrico County Public Schools. The buddy is available to share and provide assistance to the new hire as s/he learns the “ropes” of teaching in Henrico County. Understandably, the most important ingredient in the process is the relationship between the experienced professional and the teacher who is new to the county.
Throughout this site “beginning teacher” refers to a teacher with 0-1 years of experience and “new hire” refers to the teacher that is experienced but new to Henrico County. A buddy is provided for each new hire.
A resource site for mentor coordinators has been developed to provide activities for the suggested monthly calendar topics as well as notes and activities for the Tools for Teaching book. The site can be assessed by clicking on the link below.
Mentor Coordinator Resource Site