The University of New Orleans School of Education has collaborated with Kenner Discovery Schools to create a yearlong residency placement program for its education majors with the aim of creating a certified “teacher pipeline.”

“Our first cohort of residents is graduating this month,” said Melissa Nunez, UNO’s coordinator of teacher education. “We had a total of nine residents at Discovery this semester.”

Eight of the nine are seniors, and all have been offered jobs, Nunez said.

Discovery is a charter network that includes five Louisiana schools with more than 3,000 students in grades pre-K to 12.

“They have been very excited about hosting our field experiences, hosting our residents and getting them into their school to develop them as future teachers,” Nunez said. “They have been very supportive, providing extensive mentoring to our residents and really just creating that teacher pipeline.”

Louisiana requires future teachers to complete a yearlong school-based residency program under the guidance of a mentor teacher. Nunez’s job is to help place students in schools to fulfill that requirement.

The partnership with Discovery offers more placement opportunities and an additional financial perk for students. Discovery Schools offers its own stipend in addition to what the Louisiana Department of Education provides, Nunez said.

“They are trying to make residency as comfortable as possible for our students,” Nunez said.

Another bonus is that Discovery School officials are very familiar with UNO’s education curriculum as the school employs more than 100 University of New Orleans alumni, Nunez said. One of whom is Patty Glaser, chief executive officer and founding head of Kenner Discovery Schools. Glaser earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from UNO.

“They want our residents, and they really value our program,” Nunez said. “They really value the education that UNO provides.”

Nunez and UNO President Kathy Johnson recently visited Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy and were presented with a painting created by UNO alumnus Peter Barnitz, who is the art teacher.

“They made her a painting with the signatures of the many alumni that are employed at the schools,” Nunez said. “There are 120 faculty and staff members who graduated from UNO.”

The painting features the dual mascots of the UNO Privateer and Discovery Swamp Owl connected by a large heart.  

“We are continuing to strengthen our partnership with the school and work with them as they establish a grow-your-own-teacher pipeline,” Nunez said.