Building a Pool of Quality Educators in the City of Milwaukee

Monetary Donation

Date Needed By: 12/31/2024

Contact Name: Robyn Swernoff, Chief External Affairs Officer

Details on what is needed:

Milwaukee College Prep is the beneficiary of a qualified, mission-aligned pool of potential educators who look like and have shared lived experiences with their students. In fact, with a deep commitment to the long-term success of our alumni, we have been fortunate to hire and grow many MCP alumni. MCP has a long-standing practice of growing talent from within. MCP is able to hire entry-level educational assistants (EAs) to provide support to teachers in our classrooms. Our EAs show great promise, but some lack a Wisconsin teaching license. As such, we have created a pipeline program through a partnership with Concordia University, called Project Invest, providing tuition reimbursement each year to EAs who show promise and commitment to teaching.

Through Project Invest, MCP has successfully removed the financial barrier for interested EAs, 79% of whom are women, to help them to grow in their professional endeavors. (Note: 75% of our teachers are female.) Additionally, the scholarships that we are able to offer ensure that our teaching staff is fully trained and meets Wisconsin teaching standards. A qualified and dedicated teaching workforce further ensures that our scholars, 90% of whom are economically disadvantaged and 14% who are in our special education program, have access to the tools needed to be successful in their journeys to college and beyond.

Project Invest is made possible by annual grants. As we face growing teacher shortages, Project Invest has become even more critical, allowing us to support these valuable employees as they grow professionally and become master educators.

Beyond our EA-to-teacher pipeline, Milwaukee College Prep also relies on grant funding and donations to provide tuition reimbursement to help our teachers and staff pursue advanced degrees. MCP also offers every employee a $1,500 stipend each year for professional development. Our staff use these funds to pursue additional degrees, licenses, and specialized trainings and certifications.

We have already seen the impact of Project Invest on our scholars, our network of schools, and our community. This pipeline program is a win-win-win. Most importantly, our scholars are winning from having high-quality, value-added, diverse teachers. Our educational assistants, and now alumni, get the opportunity to grow as educators. And our community benefits from a larger pool of master educators.

MCP graciously requests $10,000 in total funding (approximately $2,500 per campus) to continue to support Project Invest with our EA’s and grow the program within our network of student alumni. No amount is too small to help us to raise the funds to support and grow this program!

To learn more about Milwaukee College Prep, visit: https://www.milwaukeecollegeprep.com/.