Local community groups are working together to help improve under-performing schools in the Clark County School District, and they’re turning to teachers to get it done.

The program is called Lead Nevada Academy, and it will provide leadership skills for teachers who have demonstrated success in the classroom.  The goal of the program is to take the success and expand its reach beyond classroom walls.

More than 18,000 teachers work for the Clark County School District.

“My senior year teachers, they actually helped me out a lot,” said Justice Santiago, a student.  “I’m about to graduate, so they’re really trying to push us to graduate.”

In Lead Nevada Academy six teachers will be selected to undergo what is described as nine-months of ‘intensive training.’

“We’re starting this year small intentionally because we want to make sure that we’re making sure our leaders are equipped to do what they need to do,” said Tim Hughes, the site director of Lead Nevada Academy.

Lead Nevada Academy says it’s targeting educators at struggling schools.

“We have a particular focus on low-income communities that serve a high population of minority students because that is where we typically find our schools that are underperforming,” Hughes said.

Leadership training for teachers will begin this spring, and by the summertime, teachers will serve as mentors to newcomers.  To complete the program in the fall, educators will have to come up with a final project they will introduce to their respective schools.

“They’ll have a leadership coach that will work with them to implement that project and to regularly reflect and help provide them additional support to make sure that they’re able to effectively impact change at their local school sites,” Hughes.

Another goal of the program is to make a big impact, with a small group of motivated teachers.

“It’s not a joke,” Santiago said.  “You want to graduate and do better in life.”
   
Teachers interested in the Lead Nevada Academy can apply through Jan. 20.

For more information on Accelerate Institute go here.

For more information on the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship go here.