Welcome to the JET website!
We are excited to share our work with you in this new electronic space. We hope this site will increase the awareness of the opportunities JET offers. Our intention is to help as many paraprofessionals as possible become licensed teachers in their home communities. We concentrate on urban schools. Right now we are working with Boston Public School paraprofessionals.
We are the only program in Massachusetts to work with paraprofessionals who still need to complete their bachelor degrees, which is the case for most paraprofessionals in urban schools. For too long this largest segment of the urban paraprofessional population has been overlooked as a potential source of licensed teachers. Why?
Because schools tend to focus on more immediate solutions to their teacher shortages and turnovers, which in urban areas can lead to the hiring of teachers with limited knowledge of the community and little prior experience with the student population. This strategy alone often turns out to be a short-term solution. JET focuses on the long-term strategy of building a community teacher pipeline, a "grow your own" teacher plan.
Here’s WHY JET chooses to work with non-degree paraprofessionals.
They represent the largest pool of local, diverse talent for recruitment into teaching.
They have valuable instructional classroom experience working with teachers and students.
They live or have grown up in the community and reflect the diversity of the student population they serve.
They are passionate about their work with students and are committed long term to the classroom.
They are eligible after 2 years of paraprofessional employment for the Massachusetts Paraprofessional Teacher Preparation grant, which will cover much of the costs of their undergraduate education.
It opens up the door for many more paraprofessionals to be supported in their goal to become licensed teachers.
We look forward to hearing from you and communicating with you through our JET website.