CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System’s teacher residency program continues to grow as a pipeline for local educators, with 205 former residents now teaching in district classrooms.

District leaders shared an update on recruitment and the residency program during Tuesday’s CMCSS School Board meeting.

On recruitment, Director of Certified Employment Patti Koloski told the board the district hired 194 new employees for the 2025-26 school year, including 38 teacher residents.

The district’s overall teacher retention rate for the 2024-25 school year was 87.11%. “You can see that there was a dip in 2021-22, but since then we have seen an upward trend,” Koloski said, adding the district expects retention to continue improving.

School Board member Carol Berry said the district has made “wonderful progress” with recruitment efforts, but asked how many classrooms were left without qualified teachers.

Koloski said nearly all positions were filled before the school year began, with a 98.67% first-day fill rate for teaching positions.

Teacher residents share experiences

Director of Opportunity Culture Lisa Baker presented an update on the district’s Teacher Residency Program and shared a video featuring current and former participants.

Carla Peterson, a Spanish Immersion teacher resident at Barksdale Elementary School, said she decided to join the program after a car accident nearly left her paralyzed while she was working toward her education degree. “It kind of just lit a fire under me,” she said. “And once I heard I could finish my degree for free through Austin Peay and Nashville State, I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ This was the best decision I could have made.”

Peterson said she was named Classified Employee of the Year last year.

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Lina Horton, a second grade teacher at Northeast Elementary and former resident, said the program helped prepare her for the classroom through mentorship and hands-on experience.

“I was able to be around so many professionals that really know … their field,” Horton said. “I was able to be mentored by the professionals. And then a lot of our professors also work for CMCSS. So it’s like we got a double dose of all of the education to prepare us to actually have our own classrooms.”

Horton was named Teacher of the Year at her school this year.

Another resident, Jennie Maughan of Ringgold Elementary, said the program’s hands-on training helps aspiring educators grow in the classroom. “I think the on-the-ground training is amazing,” she said. “It really offers the educator an opportunity to grow within those three years.”

Maughan was named Classified Employee of the Year at her school this year.

Baker said four teachers who previously participated in the residency program were nominated for Teacher of the Year awards this year.

Teacher residency pathways

The district currently has 104 teacher residents enrolled in the program, including 88 in the three-year pathway and 16 in the Lipscomb pathway.

The program partners with Austin Peay State University, Nashville State Community College and Lipscomb University. It also works with the National Center for Grow Your Own, CMCSS and Workforce Essentials.

Participants in the three-year pathway work in elementary or middle school classrooms alongside mentor teachers while completing college coursework. Residents spend their first two years earning an associate degree through Nashville State before transferring to Austin Peay to complete their bachelor’s degree in education.

“It’s a very rigorous, accelerated program,” Baker said.

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A separate pathway through Lipscomb is available for candidates who already hold a bachelor’s degree and are seeking licensure or a master’s degree. Those residents spend one to two years working in classrooms while completing their coursework.

Residents sign an agreement at the start of the program committing to teach in the district for a set number of years after completing their residency.

Program results: 30,000 students served

Baker said the residency program has a 75% completion rate.

Teachers who completed the residency program had a 91% retention rate during the 2024-25 school year. 84% of former teacher residents are fulfilling their contractual commitments, while 74% continue to teach in the district beyond those obligations.

During the 2024-25 school year, 171 former resident teachers were eligible for a state Level of Effectiveness score, which measures teacher performance. Baker said 90% scored at or above expectation, including 58% who scored above expectations.

“Keep in mind, a large number of these teachers were first and second year teachers,” she said.

The district has also expanded early intervention to help residents pass required Praxis exams, which Baker said can be a barrier to licensure. During the 2024-25 school year, 90% of residents passed all required assessments before completing the program, compared to 46% in the previous cohort.

“We feel like that ongoing support … has made a difference, and we hope to see the same results with this graduating cohort,” she said.

Since the program began, Baker said teachers who started as residents have served more than 30,000 students across the district.

CMCSS holds information sessions each November for those interested in applying to the next cohort of teacher residents.

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