Team-based school staffing models at Mountain View High School are helping students succeed and attracting educators to the Arizona high school.
The approach “tucks” freshmen into a smaller cohort within the larger campus, “to give them a better sense of community, a connection between all of their curriculum. We plan together, so if they’re reading something in my class, it’s gonna align with what they’re learning in world history and things that they’re learning in biology. It’s just our way of helping them to transition.”
This is how Erin Tarwater, a 9th-grade English teacher at Mountain View, which launched Next Education Workforce™ strategic school staffing model in the 2022–23 school year, described the impact of teams for her students.
“I came to Mountain View especially because I believe in what’s happening here. … I was on a teaming model in my other school and would only ever work in a teaming model, and I joined an amazing team. I’m so excited to be here,” added Lara Ellingson, a kindergarten-turned freshman seminar teacher.
Hear more from Tarwater, Ellingson and members of their team on how this model is helping their students succeed and develop a greater sense of community, and provide more support for the educators in this short video from 12News.