Author: Communications

Cityscape Schools is committed to growing staff, in order to provide a quality education to all students. For that reason, in 2022, district leadership created its own program to assist participants in obtaining their teacher certification, titled “Cityscape Empowering Rising Teachers (CERT). The CERT program was also a result of Cityscape facing a teacher shortage, as many other ISD’s and charter schools in the state and country were facing. The CERT program is a partnership between Cityscape Schools, TEACHWORTHY (an alternative teaching certification program) and Indiana Wesleyan University (for those participants without a bachelor’s degree).  Cityscape Schools offers this program to participants with or without a bachelor’s degree as a pathway to teacher certification in the state of Texas. Participants are able to work as teachers while earning a competitive salary. There were 18 participants in the program the first year. In order to complete the program, all participants must complete five local (Cityscape) courses taught by Cityscape district leaders, which equals 15 semester credit hours at Indiana Wesleyan University. The requirements to be a participant in this program are:  Cohort for non-degreed participants: Must have 30 college credit hours from an accredited institution Starting salary at $41,000 Complete 8 Teachworthy modules for 10 college credit hours Complete 5 Cityscape courses for 15 college credit hours Complete remaining hours for bachelor’s degree with Indiana Wesleyan University Pass respective teacher certification exams Upon successful completion of all certification requirements, salary will increase to $58,000 Must commit to 3 years of employment at Cityscape Schools  Cohort for degreed participants: Must have bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution Starting salary at $51,000 Complete 8 Teachworthy modules for 10 college credit hours Complete 5…

During the district’s TIA steering committee meetings, input was gathered on the development of the TIA spending plan. The steering committee is comprised of the superintendent, district chief officers, principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, and teachers, who all played an important role in decision-making processes. While each district makes its own determination on how to distribute TIA funds to teachers, Texas Education Code 48.112 specifies “at least 90 percent of each allotment be used for compensation of teachers employed at the campus at which the teacher for whom the district received the allotment is employed.” The remaining 10 percent may be used by the district for “costs associated with implementing (TIA), including efforts to support teachers in obtaining designations.” Districts will make individual decisions regarding how the TIA funds will be distributed between the teacher earning the designation and the other teachers assigned to his or her campus.  Cityscape's TIA steering committee determined that 90 percent should be provided directly to the teacher of record, who will earn their TIA distinction through a rigorous formula of excellence in the classroom combined with excellence in student achievement.  Therefore, Cityscape Schools will provide 90 percent of the TIA funds directly to the teacher who earned a TIA designation and reserve the remaining 10 percent of the funds to support the TIA initiative at the district level.  As the law dictates, district TIA funds will only be used for costs associated with implementing the TIA, including efforts to support teachers in obtaining designations. The steering committee wanted to utilize the entire 10 percent to financially support appropriate training, professional development, measurement tools, and all other necessary components to assist teachers in reaching a…

One of our seven pending TIA designees, Ms. Sol Acuña, has taught Pre-kindergarten classes for the district since for the past four years. Since last school year (2021-2022) was the first year of TIA eligibility for Cityscape Pre-kindergarten teachers, Ms. Acuña earned T-TESS scores and student growth percentages high enough to earn a pending TIA designation! When asked about her high marks on the T-TESS and the CIRCLE assessment (student growth), she simply replied that she likes a happy classroom. Beyond the curriculum, she teaches life’s lessons and teaches her students that mistakes are good when we learn from them! She allows freedom of expression for the little ones and truly understands their needs. Ms. Acuña was born in Caracas, Venezuela and came to the USA when she was 20 years old. She moved to Spain and taught young children there before eventually coming back to the USA and now has more than 30 years of experience in teaching. Ms. Acuna has one daughter whoworks as an art director and lives in Los Angeles. When asked what advice she would give to a beginning teacher, she replied, “Teaching can be difficult, but you will never regret laughing and having fun with your students. Let them know you love them, and that they are part of an important bigger community.” When asked to share what he admires about Ms. Acuña, her principal, Mr. Jose Lopez, stated, “her commitment to her students and her advocacy for the rest of the teachers.” When someone wished her good luck as we await final word on last year’s designations, she replied, “a (pending) designation with TIA is a nice honor, yes, but whether I receive…

Mr. Carlos Cupido Pending TIA Designee for the 2021-2022 School Year! One of our seven pending TIA designees, Mr. Carlos Cupido has been teaching at East Grand Preparatory since 2015.  He currently teaches 8th grade mathematics. Before coming to Cityscape, Mr. Cupido taught for Dallas ISD for seven years and before that, taught university courses in math, statistics, and marketing in Mexico.  Mr. Cupido has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in business administration.  Upon learning of his pending TIA designation, he was both proud and happy. When asked about his high marks on the T-TESS and the MAP assessment (student growth), he responded “I like to teach!” He added, “It is super important to enjoy what you do.  I like to convey knowledge and ensure my students understand the lesson content.” He also admitted that to perform well as a classroom instructor, one must master their content. “As a former engineer, I know my subject,” he added.  “How can one convey information to others if they do not know it, themselves?”     When asked what advice he would give to a beginning teacher, he replied, “Be professional! You’re being paid to perform a job.  You must expect the best from yourself; be responsible; get results; and focus on your work with your students.” When asked to share what he admires about Mr. Cupido, EGP Assistant Principal, Dr. Israel Garcia, said, “Mr. Cupido is so protective of his instructional time because he wants to ensure that every single one of his students shows growth. It is an honor to serve such a dedicated and passionate educator.” Finally, on a personal note, I taught a Spanish course…