Through a year-long resident experience, education professionals learn effective literacy instruction methods for teaching and supporting students with language-based learning differences. First introduced in 2012, over 60 resident teachers have served our program at the lower and middle school levels. 

As HRS has grown, so has the need for residents; expanding from only a few participants each year to almost a dozen this school year (pictured above). Resident teachers have the unique opportunity to work closely with a team of experienced educators for a full academic year. They receive direct mentorship, provide classroom support, and gain valuable hands-on and classroom experience to help them develop their teaching skills. Some residents enter the program right out of college, while others are further into their career. By the end of the school year, residents have robust experience that sets them apart from their peers and fuels their future in education. 

Jen Minear (pictured below) recently completed a year as an HRS resident teacher. Before this experience, Jen felt a desire to serve neurodiverse students in her classroom. However, without specific training, she knew she wouldn’t be as effective, so she connected with HRS Head of School, Stacy Turner, who advised her to research programs such as U-ACT at the University of Washington.

While working with the University of Washington to complete her master’s in teaching, she was hired as a resident teacher. She describes the students she taught at HRS as some of the most incredible students she ever worked with. She was frustrated when hearing about struggles her students had in school before HRS and motivated to see the authentic success they achieved as a result of explicit instruction. 

Jen experienced this first-hand; in partnership with existing HRS teachers, she was able to co-provide assessment and curriculum support throughout the year in both literacy and mathematics. She learned how to merge the worlds of literacy and math. Seeing how math is intertwined with literacy skills, she was able to understand that neurodiverse students need their unique learning strategies incorporated in math pedagogy. 

This experience strengthened her confidence in her ability to provide structured literacy supports to students outside of HRS and helped her become the teacher she is today. After completing her time as a resident, Jen is now a full-time teacher at The Bush School where she is able to apply the skills she learned at Hamlin Robinson. 

With dyslexia effecting 20% of the population, it’s no surprise she currently has students in her class with language-based learning differences. Thanks to her experience at HRS, she now has the tools she needs to serve every student in her classroom with effective instruction.

At Hamlin Robinson School, resident teachers are not just educators, they are building and developing specialized experience, and taking that knowledge and expertise into the wider community. They complete their tenure feeling fulfilled, empowered, and accomplished as educators. 

It is through the hard work and dedication of our resident teachers that students with language-based learning differences outside of HRS are receiving more support than ever before. Learn more about our resident teacher program here.