Thomas Teaching Cooperative

For the first two years of your time at Thomas in the Thomas Teaching Cooperative, you’ll engage in a face-to-face campus immersion—your courses will be almost all face-to-face to build your network and get to know your Thomas College family. Your courses will include a variety of courses to help you get prepared for your teaching career, including psychology courses, courses in child and adolescent development, and foundational education coursework.

The last two years of your time in the Thomas Teaching Cooperative is an opportunity to take what you are learning and apply it to a real job in a Maine school while getting intensive mentorship from an expert in education. You’ll be paired with one of our expert educators in the Lunder School of Education who will mentor you weekly throughout your time in the classroom.

You’ll have the opportunity to take on a part-time or full-time position as a third-year student, then a full-time position as a fourth-year student—all the while, we’ll be here guiding you towards best practice in a research-driven, apprenticeship teaching and learning model. You’ll complete your degree in a blended format, with thoughtfully spaced blended coursework that will be offered at times that do not conflict with a typical school schedule.

Students are expected to go through the hiring process and we will support them through this. The GPA is 3.0 minimum to get in and throughout the program.

You’ll graduate with the first year of teaching already under your belt, a teaching toolbox full of innovative and research-driven practices, at least one year less debt, and a Thomas College mentorship and networking family that you can lean on for years to come.

That’s why we call it our cooperative—it truly embodies collaboration and cooperation among all education stakeholders.

Interested in transferring into this program? We happily accept transfer students as well and are excited to work with you.

If you are employed in the following districts, there are significant tuition benefits available to you upon hire. Check back often as this list continues to grow! If you do not see your desired school district, you can reach out to the School of Education chair to see if we can help.

Full-time employed ed techs and teachers who are partnered with the Thomas Teaching Cooperative receive a significant tuition benefit.