PSU programs, partnerships build Granite State’s teacher workforce

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth State University’s Holmes Center for School Partnerships and Educator Preparation is training the state’s future educator workforce and supporting K-12 teachers and schools in the Granite State — with remote and on-campus professional development programs and innovative partnerships in Franklin, Littleton, Moultonborough and Tilton.

For the fourth consecutive year, two PSU graduate education students will be embedded in the Littleton School District as resident special education teachers, gaining immersive, real-world teaching and work experience under the guidance of a licensed special education mentor and general education teacher.

This year’s cohort includes 2025 PSU graduates Jessica Falconer of Colebrook, who will co-teach in fourth grade, and Kacie Collins of Plymouth, who will co-teach in sixth grade. Both are graduates of PSU’s Elementary Education program; they have begun graduate coursework on the PSU campus and started working in Littleton in August.

“We are excited to continue this successful program in Littleton and we’re equally excited about the opportunities Jessica and Kacie will find there in continuing their careers in education,” said Holmes Center Director Brian Walker. “They represent the best that Plymouth State has to offer as part of our ongoing commitment to teacher education.”

Participants receive full tuition, a $1,000 monthly living stipend and local housing and utilities for the duration of the 10-month program.

After an initial three-year federal grant period for this innovative program concluded, the Littleton program continues this year with financial support from the Crotched Mountain Foundation.

Falconer and Collins will receive PSU’s newly updated curriculum, which is more efficiently aligned with New Hampshire state education standards. The new curriculum supports students and educators in New Hampshire on site-based licensing plans to help them meet state-required teacher competencies.

The program not only helps to cultivate the next generation of special educators, it also supports classrooms in Littleton, and in some cases, the program participants have become full-time additions to the district after they graduate.

The Littleton School District already employs two other Plymouth State alumni of the residency program. Elena Register, a member of the first cohort of program participants, now works in the Mildred C. Lakeway Elementary School, while Makenna Allen, a member of the second cohort, is now a fourth-grade teacher at the same school.

For more information, visit plymouth.edu/educator-preparation.