Rockwall ISD's Mentoring Program designed for First AND Second Year Teachers
The BEST program is designed to support first and second year teachers in addition to select new teachers as recommended by campus principals in their initial stages as classroom teachers. The district structures of support include professional learning throughout the school year for both BEST educators and their mentors and planned check-ins. The learning sessions and check-in meetings are a blend of in-person full-day training, afterschool check-ins, or quick virtual sessions via Zoom. Additionally, BEST educators and mentors will participate in instructional rounds in the fall and spring semesters. All BEST Mentors have participated in a comprehensive Texas Mentorship Training to develop their understanding of mentoring and provide them with tools and resources to support them throughout the year.
Year 1 Participants learn through a New Teacher Academy and regular check ins with their campus alike mentor. Year 2 Participants learn through a campus-embedded learning model with smaller cohort structures based on similar roles. Year 2 participants also have regular check-ins with their content/grade alike mentor.
starting strong with routines and procedures
classroom environment design
communication development
building relationships with students, families and co-workers
classroom management
understanding and addressing student behavior needs
proactive pre-teach focused on new experiences such as grading, parent conferences, lesson design, evaluations, and more
understanding the data and what to do with it
instructional clarity and feedback
stress management
celebrating growth
connecting with other new teachers and district support staff
New for the 2026-2027 School Year!
smaller cohort meetings
deep dives into data
classroom environments
instructional clarity and feedback
student discourse and questioning
celebrating growth
connecting with teachers that teach similar content and age-levels
instructional rounds on campus classroom visits
Katie Braden, Executive Director of Assessment, Accountability & Professional Learning
Magen Jacks, Coordinator of Assessment and Teacher Support