District 21’s Peer 2 Peer mentoring program creates a comprehensive, supportive framework for teachers and support staff early in their careers. Each new staff member is an important addition to the District’s Professional Learning Community. New staff members are partnered with a mentor to individually guide the mentee who is either new to the profession or who is pre-tenured in CCSD21. Through this partnership, professionals engage in reflective conversations about instructional planning and practices, professional growth, and participate in non-evaluative classroom observations. The opportunity for professional growth and reflection in a non-evaluative environment benefits all members of the learning community.

The Peer 2 Peer mentoring program is designed to be collaborative with the success of the mentee directly tied to the success of her or his students. Over the course of the two-year mentoring program, the goal is to ensure that foundational knowledge and skills are in place and then shift focus to instructional leadership and higher levels of collaboration with colleagues for increased student learning. This process is coordinated at the school sites by each school’s lead mentor.

For more information on the Peer 2 Peer Mentoring Program, contact Janelle Hockett, Director of Professional and Community Learning.