Hackley Receives Funding Gift for its Teaching Fellowship
[July 2022 | Tarrytown, NY]
Born out of the School’s strategic plan, Redefining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries, Hackley’s Teaching Fellowship Program strengthens a culture of professional development, promotes life-long learning and collaboration, and affirms Hackley as a national leader in teaching excellence. Now in its second year, the Teaching Fellowship has been made possible in part by a generous gift from Hackley parents Annie Zaldastani and John Griffen in recognition of the positive impact Hackley's teachers had on their children Bailey '18 and Winslow '21. This donation allows the school to support the program, which seeks to build a robust and diverse talent pipeline of independent school educators.
“I can’t think of a better way to give back to independent schools than to pour into the next generation of teachers. Teachers that embody all that we aspire for our students,” shared Cyndy Jean, Assistant Head of School for Community and Inclusivity. “The Fellowship is doing so much more than giving new teachers a chance to learn the craft. The Fellowship promises to create new partnerships, strengthen existing ones, and promote diversity within independent schools. I feel confident that through this Fellowship we are making a good faith effort to ‘spread beauty and light’ in the world of independent schools.”
True to the School’s core value, United, we help one another, Hackley believes the Fellowship will be beneficial to the wider independent school community by providing opportunities for new teachers to gain experiences that can be difficult to come by when seeking a first teaching role. Support of the Fellowship will benefit Hackley’s students by bringing various backgrounds and perspectives to campus, and will help the school achieve one of our strategic goals—to build for the future.
“Our children and we have been blessed to have known and been inspired by many wonderful teachers over the years, at Hackley and elsewhere,” shared Annie and John. “It is a noble and important profession and we are very happy to help a few aspiring teachers as they begin their careers at Hackley.”
By identifying and supporting promising early career educators through the Fellowship, Hackley can train new teachers who might later find full employment at Hackley or other top independent schools.
# # #
About Hackley’s Teaching Fellowship
Hackley’s Teaching Fellowship is designed to attract a small cohort of talented early career educators, including professionals looking to change fields and gain experience in education prior to seeking a full-time role. A rotational program, Fellows have the opportunity to discover different areas of a K-12 school over a 12-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30.
Once accepted into the program through an application process, the Fellows are mentored by experienced Hackley teachers and participate in the School’s Hudson Scholars program, creating important support structures and positioning them for success. Teaching Fellows observe experienced teachers, work with mentors, and have the opportunity to pick up valuable teaching and supervisory experiences.
Beyond the classroom, Teaching Fellows are welcomed to coach and/or support non-academic functions, depending upon their background and interests. Fellows have access to professional development as a part of the program, including attendance at conferences hosted by outside organizations. Additionally, Hackley provides a robust program of career services to Teaching Fellows.