The School of Education has built very solid partnerships in the community to ensure that the mission of this school goes beyond just the AU community. There's a great mutual benefit to the partnerships that we establish. They can serve as mentors for our interns as they go into the schools. And they get first-hand experience as they serve in these roles, and upon graduation, a lot of them are hired to serve in those roles.
The Teacher Pipeline Program is a pathway for DCPS students to become teachers with a guaranteed job at the end of the experience. And this is our way of helping the city create a new generation of teachers, who are credentialed, highly qualified, and that do not have the burden of loans and financial aid to pay back.
One of the issues around early childhood education in the city of DC, is the lack of early childhood educators that are credentialed and are qualified to move into what we call lead positions within early childhood centers. And our initiative with Trinity Washington University and with Martha's Table is to create a pathway that is affordable and accessible for DC residents to become early childhood educators. It's a wonderful opportunity for us again to give back to the community and to transform societies through education.
