Dear Cartwright Families, I am proud to report that we have an impressive 30 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) educating our scholars in 16 of our schools. We’re just four shy of having at least one NBCT teacher at each of our district schools! I am confident we will soon reach that terrific milestone.

National Board Certification is the most profound professional development experience a teacher can have, and it is recognized as the gold standard in teacher certification.

I recently had the honor of meeting and congratulating our most recently certified teachers, which consisted of one new NBCT and six others who renewed their five-year accreditation.

The teachers included Magnolia Neal, special education resource at Estrella; Joey Persinger, Move On When Reading at Downs; Shenny Pierce, Kindergarten at Spitalny; Vivian Montes, Instructional Support Specialist at Spitalny; Arlette Johnson, STEM at Holiday Park; Rebecca Brinkman, 4th grade at Starlight Park; and Diana Arciniega, SPED Resource at Castro.

Don’t think earning this certification is easy. It’s a rigorous, challenging process that requires teachers to analyze their work. While it’s possible to complete the process in as little as a year, candidates have a five-year window to achieve certification.

Cartwright candidates must demonstrate advanced knowledge, skills and practice in their individual certificate area by completing four components: three portfolio entries and a computer-based assessment.

National Board Certification is available in 25 certificate areas representing 15 disciplines and four developmental levels and is applicable to most teachers in U.S. public schools. As I alluded to earlier, it is the most respected professional certification available in education.

There’s considerable research that links National Board Certification with improved student achievement.

And, undeniably, our NBCT teachers are leading the District on our way to an A.

Sincerely,

Dr. LeeAnn Aguilar-Lawlor