Tarrytown Schools Partnering To Increase Future Teacher Diversity

TARRYTOWN, NY — The Public Schools of Tarrytowns is embarking on a three-year partnership to help better prepare and diversify future educators.

The district is partnering with Mercy University and Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity to focus on diversifying the teaching profession and intentionally addressing critical issues of educational equity for all students.

The three-year-long program will allow the district to access enhanced resources and professional development, network with others, share data and learn from each other to move forward with sustainability and innovation.

Dr. Raymond Sanchez, Tarrytown’s superintendent, said the district was excited about the partnership, adding that it was an opportunity to enhance efforts to recruit and retain the best educators.

He told Patch the data is showing that there are few individuals pursuing the field of education.

“As a result, it is becoming critical that we work alongside teacher preparation programs to support future educators,” Sanchez said.

“This includes aligning needs within the Tarrytown school district and completers at Mercy University,” he said.

Together, Sanchez said the district can make sure there are highly qualified candidates in our schools.

He said that through the Branch Alliance partnership, “we can begin to create pathways to support our needs” and continue to find ways to provide clinically rich experience for future educators.

Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity is the first and only nonprofit organization in the nation dedicated to strengthening and growing educator preparation at minority-serving institutions, broader goals of both diversifying the teaching profession and intentionally addressing critical issues of educational equity for all students, according to a spokesperson.