Limited time offering: Rowland Foundation New Teacher Co-Teaching Residency with Kia'Rae Hanron

WHO

This free professional development opportunity is for full-time Vermont public school teachers with 4 years or less of experience, in any subject area and at any grade level — General Education, ELA, Social Studies, Math, Sciences, Art, and everything in between.

Not sure if you qualify? If you're a full-time educator at a Vermont public school and you're early in your career, you likely do. Para-educators, support staff, and teachers at independent or private schools are not eligible.

WHAT

A visiting expert educator of color (me, Kia'Rae Hanron) works side by side with you in your classroom for one full school week, co-teaching all of your courses each day. We will use Vermont's IRIS Ethnic Studies Standards to design a week-long lesson that meets the updated Educational Quality Standards (EQS 2120.1) set forth by the State Board of Education. 

The week is bookended by two planning meetings: a half-day the week before to set learning goals and map out instructional strategies together, and a half-day the week after to reflect, debrief, and identify follow-up goals to extend the work.

WHY

Many Vermont school districts have sought to diversify their educator workforce for several years now, without great success. Even as our state's population becomes increasingly diverse, teachers of color in our educator workforce are still underrepresented. Unfortunately, this means that our students of color may never have a teacher who looks like them during their entire PK–12 education. Meanwhile, there is a growing body of research that shows that white students benefit greatly from having a teacher of color.

The Co-Teaching Residency Model provides the opportunity for an expert educator of color to partner with a new teacher in order to:

• Position educators of color as experts in Vermont schools, and ensure they are represented at the head of the classroom for the benefit of our students
• Provide a focused professional learning opportunity for new teachers (four years of experience or less) to learn from teaching alongside an expert educator of color
• Help schools implement culturally sustaining instructional practices by providing targeted support for implementation of Vermont's IRIS Ethnic Studies Standards across different subject areas

WHERE

Your school. All five consecutive days (8am–3pm), plus two half-day planning meetings, take place right where you teach.

Ideal candidates are within a 1.5-hour drive from South Burlington — this generally includes Chittenden, Grand Isle, Franklin, Lamoille, Washington, Addison, and parts of Caledonia and Orleans counties. Outside that range? Reach out anyway — I'm flexible depending on timing and need.

TIMEFRAME

Residencies are being scheduled for the 2026–2027 school year.

COST TO PARTICIPATE

This program is free to teachers, generously funded by the Rowland Foundation's New Teacher Fund. Schools are responsible for any classroom materials needed during the residency week — for example, art supplies or student journals for a specific project — but there is no cost to participate in the program itself.

HOW TO APPLY:

Keep it simple: send me a message at kiasartroom@gmail.com. We'll set up a 30-minute Zoom to meet each other and figure out if we'd make a good team. From there, we'll find a week that works for both of us.

You'll need your principal's sign-off to participate — I'm happy to meet with them directly if they have questions about the program or my work. There are two short forms involved: a Memorandum of Understanding signed by you, me, and your principal before we begin, and a brief completion form signed by all three of us at the end of the residency. That's it.

To learn more about my practice as an educator:

• https://kiasartroom.com/about-kias-art-room
• https://kiasartroom.com/about-kiarae-hanron
• https://kiasartroom.com/why-the-art-room%3F 

Slots for the 2026–2027 school year are limited, and funding is not guaranteed indefinitely. The sooner you reach out, the better your chances of securing a spot. If this sounds like something you want — or even something you're just curious about — don't wait, let’s talk it through! Feel free to share this opportunity with other Vermont educators you think may be interested. 

Kia'Rae Hanron | kiasartroom@gmail.com