NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announced a partnership with MountainOne to support students, teachers and the education system in North Adams in obtaining permanent teaching licensure.  

 

The focus of the MountainOne Scholarship Fund will be to support current North Adams Public Schools (NAPS) teachers who are teaching under an emergency license they obtained during the pandemic. The Scholarship Fund is the first of several significant contributions that MountainOne has committed to MCLA over the next five years, or totaling $500,000. 

 

"As two enduring pillars of North Adams, we are honored to support MCLA with this donation," said President and CEO of MountainOne Robert Fraser. "Our shared commitment to drive economic growth and invest in our community's future inspires this contribution. We look forward to seeing how our donation will enrich student experiences and strengthen our community." 

 

A scholarship of up to $5,000 per teacher provided by the MountainOne Fund is an incentive to have these teachers enroll in a graduate program at MCLA to get licensed. The goal is to provide 8 teachers with scholarships over the next two years.  Thus far, six educators have been awarded funds ranging from $1,200 to $5,000 per person based on course load needs. 

 

"The MountainOne scholarship provides much-needed assistance for our teachers working under emergency licensure,” said Assistant Superintendent of the North Adams Public SchoolsTimothy Callahan. "These are dedicated new educators who are working hard in the classroom and in their own studies so they can attain full licensure and pursue their master's degree. With teacher shortages across the country, we are grateful to MountainOne for helping develop local educators who are already filling vital positions within our schools." 

 

The emergency license allowed those with a bachelor's degree to start teaching and move on to a provisional license in the future. Earlier this year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in Massachusetts established four regional centers across the state to facilitate the transition of emergency license holders to initial licensure.  

 

The MCLA Education Department, in collaboration with Westfield State University, serves as Western Massachusetts's Regional Center for Emergency License Holders to provide essential support to emergency license holders within Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire County public school districts. This includes Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) registration and preparation support, coaching, mentoring and access to resources such as classwork, and field experience opportunities. 

 

"This fund is centralized and localized. I think the combination of MountainOne, North Adams Public Schools, and MCLA is an example of how our local community can work together through innovative partnerships to come up with a solution that will support children and families in addition to individualized teachers,” said MCLA Associate Professor and Chair of the Education Department Margaret Clark.