This week, the Yale Teaching Fellowship welcomed its second cohort, who will embark on a course of graduate study and practical learning to prepare them to teach in the New Haven Public School system (NHPS).At a reception on Aug. 19, Yale President Maurie McInnis handed out Yale IDs to each of the 18 fellows, welcoming them as full members of the Yale community, with access to its many resources. “Teachers change lives,” McInnis said. “Certainly I can think of teachers who helped me discover myself, my passions, helped me pursue them, helped me become who I am today. Every student in New Haven should have such a teacher.“This fellowship is helping ensure that they will.”
Yale President Maurie McInnis with teaching fellow Nahla Ibrahim.
Photo by Allie Barton
Launched in May 2025, the Yale program offers full funding for graduate study and provides a living stipend to aspiring educators who commit to teach in the New Haven public schools for a minimum of three years in special education, math, or science — the district’s hardest to fill content areas, representing half of last school year’s classroom teacher vacancies. Participants pursue master’s degree coursework at Southern Connecticut State University and receive recruitment and application assistance from New Haven Promise.Yale University committed $10 million over four years to the Yale Teaching Fellowship, with a goal of placing up to 100 teachers with master’s degrees in the city’s public-school classrooms. The program supports the university’s larger mission to serve and strengthen the city of New Haven and helps address staffing shortages in city schools while promoting the long-term retention of highly trained teachers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Prospective teachers earn teacher certification in Connecticut and complete a Master of Arts in Teaching from SCSU, in subjects identified as a shortage areas in NHPS. Current New Haven public school teachers serve as mentors for the fellows. Current teachers accepted into the program work to obtain qualification to teach in special education, also known as cross-endorsement, while earning a Master of Science degree.The first cohort of 20 teachers — including 18 special education teachers — completed their preparation year in June; next week, they will start their first year of teaching in NHPS.This year’s cohort includes eight fellows focusing on special education, six on science, and four on math. A third of the fellows were themselves students in New Haven Public Schools, and half are first-generation, low-income college graduates.Applications for the third cohort will open September 2026 and close on Jan. 1, 2027; follow the Yale Teaching Fellowship on Facebook or Instagram for notification when the application period opens.
