New Partnership With Texas Wesleyan
Jumpstarts Teaching Careers for Students
MISD Superintendent Dr. Jim Vaszauskas shakes hands with TWU President Frederick G. Slabach after signing the agreement.
M
ansfield ISD high school students who want
to become elementary school teachers will be
able to get a head start in their career through a new
partnership with Texas Wesleyan University. such a great university will provide the students a
strong foundation to be able to acquire the necessary
skills and hopefully come back and serve the
Mansfield ISD community.”
Texas Wesleyan’s Early Childhood - Grade 6 (EC-
6) Teacher Education Program will allow high
school sophomores to enroll in dual credit courses.
The selected students have the opportunity to earn
52 of the 127 college credit hours by the time they
graduate high school. “We are very excited to bring our ‘Smaller. Smarter.’
approach of personalized attention and dedicated
faculty directly to MISD students,” said Texas
Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach. “Our
education program has a long-standing reputation
of developing and graduating the best and brightest
teachers in North Texas.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education,
school districts across the nation face significant
teacher shortages. The district’s partnership with
Texas Wesleyan is a way to help improve that
shortage. MISD hopes the program’s graduates will
apply for EC-6 generalist and EC-6 general bilingual
teaching positions in the district.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to allow our students
earlier access if they are set on pursuing a career
in elementary education,” said Jennifer Castrillo,
MISD post-secondary coordinator. “Partnering with
As with all MISD dual credit courses, students
will need to maintain an 80 or above grade point
average and meet the Texas Success Initiative (TSI)
requirements.
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Mansfield School & Family 7