New Arts Teacher Mentoring Network

DESE Contract Manager: Dawn Benski Arts Content Support Lead, MA DESE Dawn.M.Benski at mass dot gov

A|L Program Coordinator: Dr. Erin Zaffini Phone: (508) 433-6325, ext.1 zaffini at artslearning dot org

Are you seeking to connect with others like you in your new arts teaching career?

Then great news! You can now join a community of peers and receive support in this FREE opportunity!

Second Cohort 2023-2024

Through a contract from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Arts|Learning will connect up to 80 arts teachers across Massachusetts who identify as novice-level in their careers with ten experienced arts-education mentors for this professional development opportunity. Eligible educators include:

• Music, theatre, dance, visual arts, media arts educators
• Other subject-area educators who teach at least one arts-based course (e.g. ELA teacher with a theatre class)

This is a DESE-approved, free induction and mentoring program, and fulfills 25 hours of new teacher induction and mentoring program requirements as found in DESE’s 2015 Guidelines for Induction and Mentoring Programs. New arts educators from across Massachusetts will have the opportunity to advance their skills in curriculum and instruction and receive support for the specific challenges visual and performing arts teachers face.

Call For Mentees

We invite all arts educators who identify as novice-level in their careers to join a free community of peers and mentors to support high-quality arts programming and strengthen their impact through reflective practice. Participating new arts educators from across Massachusetts will have the opportunity to advance their skills in curriculum and instruction and receive support from veteran mentors for the specific challenges visual and performing arts teachers face. The Arts Mentorship Network can be used to partially satisfy district-level induction and mentoring program requirements up to 25 hours.

Monthly meetings include two in-person meetings (dinner provided), and 6 virtual meetings (see schedules below).

A|L is accepting teachers new to the Mentoring Network, as well as 2022-23 participants who wish to further in-depth work on improving their teacher skills and effectiveness.

Enroll now!

Please fill out the Mentee Registration Form.

For additional information, Please click here.

Regional Cohort Schedules (Subject to Change)