SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Memphis-Shelby County Schools is continuing to roll out new initiatives that they say will better support teachers and staff under the district's 'Reimagining 901' plan.
The latest program is a new teacher academy that provides intensive, hands-on professional development for new hires. The program launched on Monday and a new teacher said parents will see better teachers at the end of the program.
"The teachers will be prepared," said Rhodney Ollison, a new Kindergarten teacher at Downtown Elementary. "It's very different than a regular orientation that you'll probably go to two weeks before school starts, so they are just trying to do things differently because there's always something that can be done in another way."
The district brings on teachers year-round and they still need substitute teachers. Earlier this month, the district changed the requirements and upped the pay for substitute teachers. Since then, the district has had more than 1,000 candidates.
This new program will also be extended to new substitutes.