Teacher residency saves aspiring educators thousands while filling gaps in the classroom
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Since the middle of July, Axel Berrios-Reza, 28, has been getting ready for a new year of eighth grade students at Prairie Middle School.
Berrios-Reza prepared seminars, learning labs, course material and networked ahead of the first day of his social studies classroom on August 11. There’s only one catch.
He’s not a teacher. Not yet, at least.
Berrios-Reza is a first-year student in the Aspiring Educator Pathway (AEP), an apprenticeship program in the Cherry Creek School District for would-be teachers to gain thousands of hours in first-hand teaching experience in the classroom while earning their teaching degrees.
Now in its second year, the program is helping districts retain teachers while saving participants thousands of dollars on a bachelor’s degree.
“It’s really a good way to get the overall experience – I can be in middle school my first year, and then, year three, I’m working with elementary kids, teaching different grades,” said Berrios-Reza, who wants to one day teach world languages.
The Pathways program arose out of a 2023 Colorado bill providing an alternative path to teacher licensure. AEP works in tandem with the Community College of Aurora (CCA), where apprentices take college classes when they’re not participating in the classroom. Currently, the program has 57 teacher apprentices, with 22 of those teachers specializing in special education all throughout the Cherry Creek School District.
Whereas a traditional educator program might equip teachers with an average of 750 hours in the classroom, AEP provides more than 4,000 hours on the path to a teaching license through its structure.
Paired with a full-time teacher as a mentor, student-teachers work with kids in the classroom every day for the full school year while also taking classes towards their bachelor’s degree. They’re then paid through a salary schedule created by the district in which they’re working, similar to a teacher’s salary schedule. Typically, Colorado compensates student teachers through state-issued stipends.
Apprentices end up paying less than $20,000 over four years because they work as they go to school and the program’s exclusive partnership with the Community College of Aurora (CCA) – a cheaper alternative than traditional four-year institutions.
Retaining new and qualified teachers drives much of the program because Colorado schools lose teachers due to burnout, isolation and lack of experience, said Brenda Smith, chief human resources officer at Cherry Creek Schools.
“We’re stealing from other school districts,” said Smith, adding that Cherry Creek filled 99% of its roles for the 2024-25 school year at the cost of other school districts with 280 of the district’s new teacher hires last year coming from other Colorado school districts.
“This is less about just Cherry Creek but more about how do we increase the number of teachers in the state of Colorado, so that we have enough teachers to fill these positions,” Smith said.
“It’s about creating additional teachers inside of the teaching profession versus taking a teacher from one district – making a vacancy while filling another.”
Last year, Sam Turner, who has taught at Prairie Middle School in Aurora for 11 years, had one of his former students serve as his apprentice. This year, Turner is mentoring Berrios-Reza.
“The process for apprentices is that you just want them to observe what’s going on,” said Turner, who teaches eighth grade social studies.
“Over time, [apprentices] do individual check-ins with students, start building relationships, which lead to times where they start to work in groups, building up that confidence,” he said.
When Turner was out of class and had to get a substitute teacher, his former apprentice, Jordan Cox, would still be the lead in the class.
“We built up the confidence in her that she knew she could give kids the same education even when I wasn’t there,” Turner said.
Many current Cherry Creek teachers are also adjunct professors at CCA, providing students with the opportunity to learn from their college professors in multiple ways.
Turner doesn’t teach at CCA but says that many teachers don’t make enough to make a living and support their own lives, leading many to take up second teaching positions, such as adjunct teaching at CCA.
While the average teacher salary in Colorado is $68,647, the starting salary for teachers in Colorado is $42,421, the 41st lowest in the United States. The national average salary for a starting teacher is $46,526.
Denver County’s estimated living wage for an adult with no children is $54,490, making it difficult for new educators to keep up with teaching and afford living in the Denver metro.
Even with salary challenges, Turner continues to teach because of his experience with an administrator when he was in middle school.
“He was the first person to tell me that I had the potential to be more – he inspired me to see more in myself,” he said. “He was the first black male that I’ve ever seen in my school besides my coaches.”
Turner says retaining teachers and bringing new teachers into the district is the best way to cultivate an environment and teaching culture that reflects the diversity of the students.
“I want to make sure that kids grow up having teachers who look like them,” Turner said.
Berrios-Reza was also inspired to teach by his Spanish teacher.
“She was a welcoming person, treated me like a son and told me that I might have potential to be a teacher, and I actually believe that,” he said.
Following his graduation from Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver in 2016, Berrios-Reza became an English coach in Chihuahua, Mexico to kids of all ages. When he returned to the United States his former Spanish teacher reached out to him and offered him a position as a paraprofessional for newcomer students in Denver Public Schools.
Three weeks into the school year, Berrios-Reza works alongside Turner, learning how to manage a classroom with a new cohort of students.
Berrios-Reza admits that the program pushes him outside of his comfort zone. He used to feel timid when approaching groups of students who had formed their own cliques.
In the classroom, he’s tackling his internal fears straight on in his daily interactions.
“I have had the opportunity to lead a class a day [when] my mentor was out,” he said. “ And have been able to get a new point of view on how teaching is.”
Whereas a traditional educator program might equip teachers with an average of 750 hours in the classroom, AEP provides more than 4,000 hours on the path to a teaching license through its structure.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.