Patrick Henry Downtown Academy Elementary School

St. Louis Public Schools and Patrick Henry partner with many local universities to ensure we hire and keep the absolute best educators for our students. One of our most incredible partnership opportunities is for our staff to become certified while they are working full-time at Patrick Henry. If you are interested in starting your career with St. Louis Public Schools or with Patrick Henry, contact deborah.rogers@slps.org.

Sponsored Certification Pipelines:

St. Louis Teacher Residency: STLTR is a great program for those looking to get hands-on, intensive practice before becoming a teacher-of-record. Candidates work as residents in SLPS classrooms for one-year and then become teachers-of-record in their second year while earning a Master’s Degree from Washington University-St. Louis. Interested applicants must apply for the residency at stlteach.org. Contact Maggie Davolos at mdavolos@stlteach.org or check out www.stlteach.org for more information.

UMSL Two-Year Certification Program: Our UMSL program is an opportunity for current non-certificated employees to become teachers-of-record in prioritized subject areas immediately while taking two years of coursework to become certified. SLPS pays the cost of tuition. Contact Cassi Sweeney at cagcn2@umsl.edu for more information.

UMSL Reading Certification Program: Our UMSL program is an opportunity for currently certified employees to add a Reading Specialist Certification to their resumes in two years or less. This is a completely free program, including the cost of the text books, and is a hybrid of online and in-person courses designed to work with a full-time educator's schedule. 

SLU Two-Year STEM (Math or Science) Certification and Master’s Program: Our SLU program is an opportunity for candidates to become teachers-of-record immediately while taking two years of coursework to receive their certification and a Master’s Degree in either secondary Math or Science. This program is open to internal or external candidates. SLPS pays the cost of tuition. Contact Ryan Wilson at ryan.wilson@slu.edu for more information.

Teacher Assistant Certification Opportunity: This program allows for current teacher assistants to apply for funding for a certification program through a number of different local universities. Contact Dr. LaTisha Smith at latisha.smith@slps.org for more information.

Other Certification Options (Not Sponsored):

Harris-Stowe Accelerated Early Childhood Certification Program: Get your ECE certification in one year! Contact Dr. Nicole Evans at evansn@hssu.edu for more information.

ABCTE: This is a very cost-effective online certification program (under $5,000 total) for candidates who want a self-paced, self-directed program that they can do on their own time and schedule. Check out https://www.americanboard.org/missouri/ for more information.