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 Cityscape courses for 15 college credit hours
• Pass respective teacher certification exams
• Upon successful completion of all certification requirements, salary will increase to $58,000
• Must commit to 2 years of employment at Cityscape Schools

After completing the five Cityscape courses, participants without a degree can continue their education at IWU to complete their requirements for a bachelor’s degree in education. 

“The program is efficient by allowing teachers to work in real time as they take these courses taught by campus and district leadership”, said Dr. Lisa Lovato, Chief Schools Officer. 

Cityscape also brings awareness to participants on the importance of the CERT program and how it would benefit not only them but their students as well. 

“Teachers completing the program commit two to three years of employment to Cityscape Schools, which benefits the students by having more certified teachers in every grade level,” said Dr. Billy Ferrell, Chief Officer of Culture and Climate. 

The CERT program allows for participants to have an increase in salary. It’s also a fast -tracked program that is completely free of cost to all participants, thanks to Superintendent Leonard Brannon.

“It removes barriers for the teachers and it ensures that students have a caring educator in front of them,” said Dr. Lovato. 

Leslie Guerrero, a teacher at Buckner Preparatory, is a participant of the CERT program and became the first Indiana Wesleyan University program graduate. 

Ms. Guerrero has been part of the  Cityscape Schools’ family for the past four years. She began her career as a Teacher Assistant four years ago and has been teaching 4th grade for the past two years. She stated that the CERT program provided her with an opportunity to continue her education while working as a teacher.

“The courses helped me to obtain a deeper understanding of education and to be able to immediately apply the learning concepts in my classroom,” says Ms. Guerrero. “It not only helped financially but it gave me hope to believe in myself and better myself as a professional.”

Ms. Guerrero will soon be taking her teacher certification exams for the state of Texas. We continue to be proud of her work and thankful for her dedication to our Cityscape students.