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Southern Maryland Summit spotlights teacher 'grow-your-own' apprenticeships
Summary
St. Mary's County Public Schools described a multi-county effort and Department of Labor partnership to create registered apprenticeship pathways for paraprofessionals and future teachers, and invited stakeholders to a year‑three summit April 24 to expand college partnerships and grant-funded pathways.
St. Mary’s County Public Schools officials told county leaders on April 14 that a regional effort is advancing registered apprenticeship and grow‑your‑own pathways to address teacher shortages across Southern Maryland.
"Year three of the Summit details are here for you," Sarah L., supervisor of reporting and communications for SMCPS, told the joint meeting. She summarized the Southern Maryland Summit’s aim to coordinate three local education agencies, higher‑education institutions and state agencies to strengthen the teacher pipeline.
Sarah said the Maryland Leads Grant helped SMCPS pilot a teacher‑apprentice pathway and, in 2024, SMCPS established a registered apprenticeship with the Department of Labor tied to paraprofessional career advancement. "A paraprofessional is able to work with a master teacher, a veteran teacher, and earn credits through their coursework, earn salary as being an employee of SMCPS," she said, noting some participants have transitioned into full teaching roles.
Speakers described partnerships with Towson University and other University System of Maryland institutions to create a two‑plus‑two pathway and to reduce coursework through credit for prior learning, and said MSDE is working on a grow‑your‑own grant to scale the model. Sarah urged continued college partnership recruitment and said the summit on April 24 at the Higher Ed Center will showcase cross‑county collaboration.
Why it matters: officials framed the program as a way to retain local educators and reduce reliance on out‑of‑state hires by creating on‑the‑job training and tuition support that make teaching a viable local career path.
Next steps: SMCPS will continue pursuing college partners, await grow‑your‑own grant results, and offer additional summit programming to expand apprenticeship pathways for future teachers.
