GREENFIELD — The Greenfield-Central Schools will soon offer an apprenticeship program to jumpstart the career of future preschool and daycare teachers.
Directed by the state department of education, the program offers high school students the chance to graduate with an associate degree in child development that would otherwise take two years to earn in college.
Known as the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Registered Teacher Apprenticeship program, it gives students the chance to earn money and workplace experience while still in high school.
The Greenfield-Central School Board voted unanimously this month to adopt the program starting in the 2025-26 school year.
The district will partner with Ball State to teach the coursework, for which students can earn both high school and college credit.
Students log hours in both the classroom and the workplace during the school day, with the option of working extra time outside of school hours.
The state requires that all apprentices be paid at least $11 per hour through the program.
Each student is paired with a workplace mentor as part of the apprenticeship. At Greenfield-Central, those mentors will be found close to home.
“Since we have our own preschool and daycare, our students will be able to work here in the district,” said Robin LeClaire, the district’s director of student services, referring to the Cougar Cubs and Cougar Daycare.
LeClaire said she’s excited about the apprenticeship program, which enables students to get a jumpstart on their careers as well as their earning potential, since preschool and daycare workers with a degree can earn significantly more than those without.
“The hourly lead teachers in our preschool make about $25 to $35 an hour, and (entry-level) assistants are more in the $15 to $17 an hour range,” she said.
The new apprenticeship program can also be a boon to preschools and daycare centers.
“It’s great for (our preschool/daycare) because it fulfills a need for the workforce pipeline that we need people to work in, especially in the opening and closing hours, which would be when the high school kids could help before and after school,” LeClaire said.
Incoming students were polled last year to see how many might be interested in a preschool apprenticeship program, she said, and more than a dozen responded they would.
While it may not fit into all students’ schedules the first year, LeClaire said moving forward, the district will be able to work with students as early as eighth grade to help build their high school classes around the apprenticeship program.
She said the new program is especially helpful given the state will soon require that high school students have some workplace experience and establish career pathways prior to graduation.