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CCSD Announces First Members in Residency-based Special Education Program

The Clarke County School District has a new residency-based special education program. The district is working to help fill staffing needs by assisting aspiring special education teachers to achieve certification while they earn on-the-job training and bachelor degree course credit. The first four teachers in the inaugural group will begin in January 2025. The program allows current CCSD employees to complete a three-year bachelor's degree in special education while gaining hands-on experience in the classroom. They will continue to receive their salary from the district.

Participants have signed an agreement to teach in the district for at least three years in exchange for earning their degree through the program.

As a result, of the U.S. Department of Labor designating teaching as an apprenticeship area in November 2022, it is now eligible for federal funding and support similar to other skilled trades.

The inaugural cohort members are:

Patrick Bishop, special education paraprofessional at Clarke Middle School.

Harold Faison, academic interventionist at Fowler Drive Elementary School.

Blake Hancock, special education paraprofessional at Bettye H. Holston Elementary School.

Clarke Pattman, academic interventionist at Whitehead Road Elementary School.

Alexia Ridley joined WUGA as Television and Radio News Anchor and Reporter in 2013. When WUGA TV concluded operations, she became the primary Reporter for WUGA Radio. Alexia came to Athens from Macon where she served as the News Director and show host for WGXA TV. She's a career journalist and Savannah native hailing from the University of Michigan. However, Alexia considers herself an honorary UGA DAWG!