• The Newton Public Schools have been training and licensing high school teachers since 2007 through an innovative program called the Newton Teacher Residency (NTR). Designed and run entirely by teachers and administrators at the city's two high schools, the Residency program is a full time graduate level program that provides Massachusetts initial licensure in English, history, math, biology, chemistry, and physics. The program takes a full school year to complete, and charges a tuition of $6,000. A $5,400 fellowship is available to all accepted candidates.
     
    NTR is partnered with Lesley University to provide Master's degrees in Education. NTR License candidates have the option to pursue additional coursework at Lesley if they wish. The partnership with Lesley allows students in the Newton Teacher Residency to pursue a Master's Degree for a discounted rate, earning course credit for work done in the residency program.


    Teacher residencies are gaining attention nationwide as an excellent way to give prospective teachers the practical training they need to succeed in the classroom, and often at a lower cost than traditional programs. Newton Teacher Residency was held up as an example in a recent article in the Atlantic Magazine's online edition titled "There's a Cheaper, More Effective Way to Train Teachers."

    Newton Public Schools continues to support top quality teaching and learning, as well as policy innovation in public education.