Teach For America - Milwaukee announced today the start of its first Milwaukee Regional Institute to prepare incoming corps members for the 2017-2018 school year. In partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) teachers from Teach For America (TFA) will help expand capacity during MPS' Summer Academy by delivering rigorous instruction to nearly 450 summer academy students in K–12th grade.

“We are very excited to have the support of Teach For America—Milwaukee to extend learning opportunities for our students,” said MPS superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver. “It’s important to offer learning opportunities during the summer that will keep children learning and prepared for success each year. This expanded partnership will provide professional development opportunities for veteran teachers and ground new talent from Teach For America in our mission and work earlier in their journey.”

Thanks in part to support from community leaders and donors like the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Herb Kohl Foundation, and We Energies Foundation, Teach For America teachers will conduct summer instruction at Greenfield Bilingual and Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education. The Milwaukee Regional Institute will take place from June 12 to July 28 with MPS Summer Academy running from June 26 until July 28.

During the Milwaukee Regional Institute, new Teach For America corps members will experience an intensive seven-week training that focuses on effective instructional techniques and setting rigorous standards for student achievement. The in-service educators will also be taking part in evening classes, to assist in developing the skills needed to be successful in the classroom. The new TFA corps members will live on campus at Marquette University, learning about and investing in the city while building important relationships with local educators, community members, and families of the students they teach.

“After eight years of corps members working out of state for their summer training, we were thrilled to learn Teach For America - Milwaukee was designing their own summer institute for 2017. With the graduate education program leaders at Alverno and Cardinal Stritch, we jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with TFA-Milwaukee to assist in designing curriculum for new teacher leaders that will support growth and success for Milwaukee students this summer,” said Tyra Hildebrand, Assistant Director of the Teach For America program at Marquette University. “We look forward to corps members living on our campus this summer while they are completing their Summer Institute program.”

Read the full press release.