Carter Associate Teacher Program

List of 9 frequently asked questions.

• Q. What separates this program from other internships or fellowships I may consider?

  For one, the program is potentially a multi-year teaching experience, rather than a single year, and unlike many other programs, your work as a Carter Associate Teacher includes a full salary and not just a stipend.

   

  Year One Salary: $39,500
  Year Two Salary: $41,500
  Year Three Salary: 43,500
  Year Four Salary: $45,500
  Year Five Salary: $47,500

   

  The program creates genuine partnerships within the classrooms that go far beyond the “helper” or assistant type duties that characterize many such programs. In Years Two and Three and beyond, these partnerships between Associate and Lead Teacher evolve, with the Associate’s autonomy increasing dramatically over time.

   

  The program also has a 30+ year history of excellence and is known throughout the country as a top-notch training program that has launched the teaching careers of over 240 teachers since 1991. An additional, crucial component of the program is the professional development offered within the cohort in Years One and Two, which provides myriad opportunities for visiting other classrooms on campus and other schools around the region, the chance to engage in a case study of observation and documenting learning behaviors, and workshops on a host of other invaluable teaching skills. Associates engage fully in the teaching experience, including report-writing, parent conferences, faculty meetings, and committee service.

• Q. Do I need to have a degree in education or have acquired certification?

  All candidates have earned a Bachelor’s Degree, ideally with a focus in education and practicum experience, or a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood or Elementary Education. Teacher certification is a plus, but not required. We are looking for recently degreed candidates who have demonstrated a commitment to honing and refining their gifts for teaching young children. This is not a “gap-year” program for those looking for a service experience. Associate Teachers are not “kicking the tires” on a possible career in teaching. The Carter Associate Teacher experience offers young teachers the growth opportunities they need to refine their own sense of calling: this may be a process of deciding what age child, or what discipline, or in what type of school they wish to launch their teaching careers.

• Q. Why would I accept a position as an Associate Teacher rather than look for my own classroom?

  There is no substitute for support and carefully calibrated growth opportunities. Your first year in your own classroom is a year unlike any other, and no preparatory experience can change that, whether it is student teaching, assistant teaching, a teaching fellowship, or the first in a multi-year associate teacher program. That being said, experiencing your own classroom for the first time after having successfully completed the Carter Associate Teacher Program will significantly alter the confidence and wisdom with which you will lead that first classroom.

   

  The chance to work side by side with master teachers, learning the art and craft of excellent teaching within the “safety net” of the program, is an invaluable experience, a gift that many veteran teachers say they would love to have had. We have yet to hear a Carter Associate Teacher say afterwards that he would have traded the experience for a year with her/his own classroom.

• Q. Sounds like a great opportunity, but I think eventually I may want to teach older students.

  We are looking for talented young teachers who will pour themselves into creating excellent learning opportunities for students in early childhood and elementary classrooms and will dedicate themselves to the hard work of improving their teaching every day.

   

  Many of the most important lessons you will learn are transferrable to virtually any age level, and occasionally our Associates feel called to teach older students; some even see themselves eventually teaching at the high school or college level. A solid foundation as an early childhood or elementary teacher will never be time wasted for someone called to the teaching profession at any level.

   

  We have former Associates teaching in high schools around Dallas and the country, and several who are university professors. And all of them will credit what they learned teaching younger students for their understanding of the learning process and developmental stages of children, their sense of how to plan and teach a lesson, how to consider and accommodate different learning styles, how to develop fair and productive assessments and grading rubrics, and how to make genuine human connections with students. The chance to teach Pre and Lower School students will benefit you regardless of what level you teach in the future.

• Q. What if I’m not completely sure that I want to teach?

  This program is not for the faint of heart, but it represents a chance to do meaningful work in the service of honing your craft. The Carter Associate Teacher Program offers a life-changing, eye-opening commitment of 2-5 years of teaching, of learning about teaching, about schools, about students, and about yourself. The vast majority of our Associates continue teaching in schools around the country, but even those who do not continue to teach in a school setting will credit their teaching experience here as formative in their sense of calling. And ALL of them talk about working with amazing colleagues and inspiring students as a source of daily joy that propelled them into the next stages of their personal journeys. A common theme that we hear from our Associates: There is not a single day that I don’t look forward to coming to school! How many “work” experiences can boast that?

• Q. Does the Carter Associate Teacher position include benefits?

  Yes - our Associate Teachers are salaried and receive the same benefits package as all full-time faculty, including our retirement plan, medical and dental insurance coverage, short and long-term disability, and a free lunch daily.

• Q. What about professional development opportunities?

  And speaking of “benefits,” Associate Teachers often attend workshops and conferences (live and virtually) and may also apply for tuition remission for continuing education or certification courses. Our Associate Teachers participate in LOTS of professional development opportunities of all kinds, both individually and as a cohort.

• Q. What’s the timetable for applying for a Carter Associate Teacher position?

  We begin looking at resumes and cover letters in February and March for the following fall. The online application also requires two recommendation letters, official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work, and a personal statement/statement of philosophy. The search committee narrows its list to a group of finalists invited to campus for interviews in April and May, with positions offered (usually) in May and June. Orientation typically starts the first week in August.

• Q. So I have an amazing couple of years as a Carter Associate Teacher, but then I am looking for a job all over again?!

  This is, indeed, often the reality of the situation. However, we spend a tremendous amount of time - as a group and in one-on-one “counseling” sessions - discussing the job search process when you are ready to make that “leap,” and you will receive a great deal of support in this process. And though it should never be an expectation, over two dozen of our current lead teachers first came to Greenhill through this program.

   

  We will discuss the logistics of researching potential schools, assist you in defining the important criteria for you in your search, expose you to many different schools in the DFW area and around the country, and offer workshops on interviewing and writing “personal teaching statements,” show you how to compile your teaching portfolio, and serve as your advocate, official “recommenders,” and cheerleaders in your search for the next step in your teaching journey.

   

  So yes, you will be going through the job search process yet again, but by virtue of your Carter Associate Teacher experience, you will go through this search as a completely different candidate with an impressively bolstered resume. Our Associates leverage this experience to find exciting jobs around the country that challenge them and offer them wonderful growth opportunities!