Instructional assistants and other paraprofessionals with Isle of Wight County Schools who hold associate’s degrees will be able to earn a bachelor’s degree in education from Old Dominion University at no cost while maintaining full-time employment under a new grant-funded program

IWCS Human Resources Director Laura Sullivan shared additional details at the April 10 School Board meeting on the Virginia Department of Education’s “Grow Your Own” grant, which will require that those who complete the program commit to teaching at Isle of Wight for at least three years. The program is intended to address a regional shortage of certified teachers.

Isle of Wight had 16 teaching vacancies, or 4% of its nearly 400 full-time instructional positions, as of Oct. 1 according to the staffing and vacancy report the VDOE releases on that date annually for each school division.

IWCS previously announced its participation and named its first cohort of enrolled paraprofessionals on April 4.

Grow Your Own began in 2021 when the U.S. Department of Labor approved K-12 teaching as a job that can be covered under apprenticeships, which traditionally have been reserved for skilled trades like welding. Teacher apprentices will be able to “learn and earn at the same time,” Sullivan said.

“Teachers going through typical, traditional educational programs typically have to avoid working during their student-teaching period,” Sullivan said.

That often means a 12- to 18-week commitment without pay while simultaneously paying for a college education.

“It really puts a hardship on an individual who wants to be a teacher,” Sullivan said.

Following the change at the federal level, The Virginia Department of Education applied for – and in 2023 received – a $1.78 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to launch Grow Your Own apprenticeship programs across Virginia. IWCS announced on April 4 that the funding had since expanded with an additional $6 million.

ODU, which is acting as the fiscal agent for the grant, has launched its teacher registered apprenticeship program, or T-RAP.

“These individuals will be working full-time, getting job-embedded experience with us and also being under the guidance of a strong mentor,” Sullivan said.

Per the terms of the partnership, ODU has agreed to accept applicants from IWCS. The first cohort of five paraprofessionals who will complete the program by June 30, 2027, are Riley Holding, an instructional assistant at Carrollton Elementary, Katelyne Jones, an instructional assistant at Hardy Elementary, Claudia Sheor, an instructional assistant at Smithfield Middle School, and Heather Jordan and Lexis Brinkley, both instructional assistants at Windsor Elementary.

Two years from now “we will have five teachers who will have completed this program that started out as paraprofessionals,” Sullivan said.

The grant also pays bonuses of $2,000 per mentee to certified IWCS teachers who agree to serve as mentors.

ODU received enough state funding to support 45 teacher apprentices through 2027, of which five will come from Isle of Wight, Sullivan said. The other 40 will come from eight other school divisions that competed with IWCS for program slots.

“They’ll take coursework all summer and then continue through practicums and coursework over the next two years,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said there are three available sub-grants under the Grow Your Own initiative. IWCS has applied for one that would pay up to $37,347 to create a pathway for high school students interested in careers in education to earn their associates degree from Paul D. Camp Community College and, upon completion, become an instructional assistant at IWCS. 

The division already operates the “Little Sprouts” program that partners high school students enrolled in the division’s early childhood education career and technical education program with preschoolers to allow them to gain experience while providing child care services.

IWCS had seven, or 6.4%, of its 109 full-time aide and paraprofessional positions vacant as of Oct. 1 according to the VDOE staffing and vacancy report, up from six vacancies the prior year and two out of 106 during the 2022-23 school year.