Securing Your Teaching Position

Becoming a Teaching Fellow is your opportunity to give back to the diverse Saint Paul community, teaching students in the subject areas where your expertise is needed the most. Candidates accepted into the Saint Paul Teaching Fellows will be assigned to teach in a specific subject area.  The subject to which Fellows are assigned is based on teaching eligibility, district need, and—whenever possible—the candidate’s stated preferences. We are currently recruiting for math, science, bilingual elementary education, and special education classrooms. Eligibility is determined according to strict district, state, and licensure partner requirements which stipulate that in order to teach a subject, candidates must demonstrate competence in a subject. Fellows must pass specific Praxis examinations in order to begin the summer training institute and to start teaching full time in the fall. 

Fellows will work to close the achievement gap by securing teaching positions in high-need classrooms. The Fellows’ search for a teaching position with a specific school in Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is called the placement process. The program office will help to coordinate the job search by directing Fellows to schools with vacancies in their subject area and, where possible, arranging interviews with school hiring representatives directly.

The placement process can be challenging. Due to mobility within the school system, it is often difficult to predict exact vacancies until very close to, and in some cases just after, the beginning of the school year. The job search process is typically experienced in phases, and will therefore look different before, during and after training. Fellows may secure their teaching positions through job fairs, individual on-site interviews with principals and assistant principals, or through central district personnel. Fellows will work closely with the Teaching Fellows program and the SPPS Human Resources department to secure their teaching positions, and they will receive more detailed information on the placement process once they have been accepted to and have enrolled in the program.

It is the mission of the Saint Paul Teaching Fellows to work in SPPS schools with the highest need for teachers.  As a result, all candidates must be flexible about their teaching assignment and should be prepared to teach wherever they are most needed.  Teaching Fellows will embark on their new careers addressing inequities in education, by setting high expectations for the students in their classrooms and dedicating themselves to impacting these students’ achievement. We call on you to accept the urgent challenge to make a difference in schools in most need of high-quality educators.