Mansfield ISD Superindendent Jim Vaszauskas and Texas Wesleyan University President Fred Slabach sign the partnership agreement during a special ceremony in Mansfield on Feb. 22.

Texas Wesleyan University and Mansfield ISD announced a new partnership that gives Mansfield ISD high school students the opportunity to get a jump start on their teaching career and college education. 

In the spring of 2017, Texas Wesleyan School of Education professors will be teaching college classes in MISD high school classrooms for students who enroll in the program.

Enrolled students have the opportunity to graduate from high school with 52 college credit hours completed, saving them a significant amount of time and money toward their college education. 

“We are very excited to bring our ‘Smaller. Smarter.’ approach of personalized attention and dedicated faculty directly to MISD students,” Texas Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach said. “Our education program has a long-standing reputation of developing and graduating the best and brightest teachers in North Texas.” 

Texas Wesleyan’s Early Childhood - Grade 6 (EC-6) Teacher Education Program will allow MISD high school sophomores to enroll in dual credit courses. Texas Wesleyan will offer five courses or 11 credit hours of the 52 hours total that are part of the program. The program begins for MISD students in the fall of 2016, and Texas Wesleyan will begin offering its courses in the spring of 2017. 

“The college education landscape is rapidly changing to accommodate the time and money constraints that face students today,” Slabach said. “We couldn’t be more thrilled about this partnership with MISD and the opportunity it will provide to their students.”

MISD hopes to recruit teachers from the program 

According to the U.S. Department of Education, school districts across the nation face significant teacher shortages. MISD’s partnership with Texas Wesleyan is a way to help improve that shortage. MISD hopes the program’s graduates will apply for EC-6 generalist and EC-6 general bilingual teaching positions in the district. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity to allow our students earlier access if they are set on pursuing a career in elementary education,” said Jennifer Castrillo, MISD post-secondary coordinator. 

“Partnering with such a great university will provide the students a strong foundation to be able to acquire the necessary skills and hopefully come back and serve the Mansfield ISD community,” Castrillo said. 

As with all MISD dual credit courses, students will need to maintain an 80 or above grade point average and meet the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) requirements.