RESIDENCY AND CLINICAL STUDENT TEACHING

Residency Program

In the Spring of 2022, Texas State and Hutto ISD partnered to begin a residency program in Hippo Nation. A residency is a year-long student teaching placement that offers future teachers a rich and in-depth learning experience to prepare them for their own classroom. Residents earn a stipend while they complete their year-long student teaching. They also participate in our monthly half-day trainings with our apprentices to gain various skills that prepare them for their future classrooms.

Since starting the residency program in August 2022, we have welcomed 31 residents to Hutto ISD to complete their student teaching. In the spring of 2023, we offered seven letters of intent to hire. Those residents committed to working in Hutto ISD are now in their second year of teaching! In the spring of 2024, we offered seven letters of intent to residents, and they are now in their first year of teaching! We would have offered letters to all of the residents but some have decided to move closer to their families or work closer to where they live. We are so excited to offer letters of intent to our current residents in the Spring.

Our host teachers play an integral role in the success of our residents. Without them, the residency program would not be possible. Host teachers provide modeling and mentorship for creating positive classroom environments where students thrive. They are very complimentary of the hard work the residents continue to put in and the value they add to their classrooms and campuses. In turn, our residents speak highly of their host teachers and their campuses. They consistently share how they feel part of the staff and how welcoming both campuses are. They have also shared how much they have learned–especially about classroom management, planning, and all things Hutto (curricular and other programs). Additionally, our residents have shared how much they look forward to building relationships and interacting with our students.

The residency program adds so much value to teacher preparation and ensures we place well-trained and effective teachers before our students. Our residents will have already worked through many of the challenges that first-year teachers struggle with by serving in a classroom for a year under the guidance of a supportive and experienced host teacher. Research states that teachers are the number one indicator of student success, and ensuring the success of teachers through intentional recruiting and retention of our residents helps guarantee a successful year for future teachers, and ultimately, our students. 

Clinical Student Teaching

Along with our residency program, we partner with local universities and colleges to welcome clinical student teachers. These are semester student teachers who have chosen to complete their student teaching in Hutto ISD and earn a stipend. They begin before other student teachers and end the semester later to see things from beginning to end and learn from their cooperating teacher. While we cannot provide every student teacher a stipend, we prioritize stipends based on hard-to-fill positions (i.e., bilingual, Special Education, secondary math, and secondary science). 

Like host teachers, cooperating teachers play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of our student teachers. They model effective teaching strategies and mentor the student teachers while they are in their classrooms. Student teachers continually share how welcome they feel!

We also invite clinical and semester student teachers to our "Signing Days", where we offer letters of intent to hire. In the spring of 2024, we offered seven letters of intent where clinical and semester student teachers joined Hutto ISD. They are currently in their first year of teaching. In the fall of 2024, we offered three letters of intent to hire, and they will begin teaching in the spring of 2025. We are so excited to welcome these new teachers to Hutto ISD!