The University of St. Thomas School of Education announced its collaboration with Maxfield Elementary School on Jan. 27. It will introduce a way to create student-focused environments and prepare aspiring teachers enrolled at St. Thomas.
Though the program doesn’t officially start until next year, St. Thomas students already have a presence at Maxfield this semester.
First-year Jackson Gyurisin and graduate student Han Kim are cooperating on an after-school program at Maxfield, known as the Rational Numbers Project, which teaches elementary students about fractions.
“What we pre-service teachers bring to Maxfield is more of a diverse and different perspective [than] teachers,” Kim said. “The fact that we are actually planning this together, going to the training together, is better than one person thinking or planning as they each.”
As the first pre-service teachers to be working at Maxfield since the future partnership was announced, there is a lot of anticipation for what the future can hold for the students.
“I’m just excited to get out there and be with kids,” Gyurisin said.
The partnership was first brought up as a concept by the previous Dean of Education, Kathleen Campbell. Now Amy Smith has taken on the project as interim Dean of the School of Education.
After Campbell left the university in 2022, Smith was appointed the interim dean in June 2022. Though Campbell left the university, her vision for the future of education brought both professors together to bring the idea to life.
The professors hope that this opportunity will provide a way for the students in the School of Education prepare for a future as teachers.
During the spring of 2022, Smith met with Campbell and Superintendent Joe Gothard to bring this partnership into reality after almost 130 years of being neighboring communities.
The program will be an immersive learning experience for both students and faculty. It will also be a way for university staff to work alongside the school and provide Maxfield teachers with professional development, according to Smith.
“There’s this ongoing support for teachers at Maxfield,” said Smith. “In using the expertise of teachers at Maxfield alongside faculty from St. Thomas and research prospects, we really feel like we can move the needle on education.”
Students that participate in this program will be able to get field experience within a classroom at Maxfield. According to Smith, St. Thomas has established a practice classroom for students to work with Maxfield students and share the information they gathered within the class.
The partnership also allows students and faculty to conduct research and advise the teachers of Maxfield. This research will develop techniques that both student-teachers and elementary teachers can use within the school, according to Smith.
Campbell initially developed the idea for the partnership. Her vision was to prepare future teachers to work in schools and embrace collaborations with the community.
“The hope is that we start to develop some of the best practices that can then be spread through Saint Paul Public Schools through the metro, throughout the state, (and) throughout the nation,” Smith said.
With the start of a new year and an anticipated program, there are high hopes that the partnership will help students and staff from both schools learn from one another.
“What we envision is increased learning outcomes for every student at Maxfield,” Smith said. “That’s our hope, that’s our aspiration.”
Gwynnnevere Vang can be reached at vang5129@stthomas.edu.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.