S.U.C.C.E.S.S:
Cumberland County’s support program for New Teachers is called S.U.C.C.E.S.S. (Success Unlimited with Cumberland County’s Entry Support System). Through this program, support is provided for you in the following ways:

New Teacher Orientation Prior to School Beginning (Traditional)
CCS hosts a 4 day New Teacher Orientation (Traditional schools) during the summer. Since it takes place prior to school beginning, NCDPI and CCS will pay the new teachers who have never taught before or have less than 6 months of teaching experience to attend this training. More information is available through your school principal.

New Teacher Orientation Prior to School Beginning (Year-Round & Early College)
CCS hosts a 1 day New Teacher Orientation (Year-Round & Early College) during the summer.  Since it takes place prior to school beginning, NCDPI and CCS will pay the new teachers who have never taught before or have less than 6 months of teaching experience to attend this training.  More information is available through your school principal.

International Premier Professionals

CCS hosts new international faculty at our CCS Orientation during the summer. There are also support sessions scheduled throughout the year virtually and in person. More information is available through your principal. 

Mentor
CCS offers a 3 tiered mentoring program to meet the mentoring needs of beginning teachers:

PALS retiree mentor – A highly skilled mentor is assigned to most 1st year beginning teachers
Building mentors are assigned to all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year teachers.
ICARE retiree mentor – For those teachers in need of extra mentoring support, an ICARE may be assigned to work one-on-one with the beginning teacher in a consultative manner.  The ICARE may work with the teacher for up to 40 hours within a 6 week period.

A Lead S.U.C.C.E.S.S. person is at every school
In order to ensure that information gets to all new teachers in a timely manner, a lead person is designated in each school. The lead person is usually an assistant principal or lead teacher. He/she is responsible for meeting with the Beginning Teacher Support Coordinator and Professional Development Facilitator each month to take back information to new teachers and mentors regarding licensing requirements, professional development opportunities, available resources, etc.

Beginning Teacher Support Coordinator and Facilitator are available for support
The Beginning Teacher Support Coordinator and the Facilitator make two visits per year to beginning teachers in order to address individual concerns, and coordinate training, resources, and support for new teachers.

School-level and system-level beginning teacher meetings
Beginning teachers (and mentors) will participate in a school-level beginning teacher meeting every month.

System-level professional development geared specifically to grow the beginning teacher are offered on a regular basis.

Observations by administrators and peers to provide feedback on teaching
All beginning teachers receive 4 observations (3 administrative and 1 peer) with post-conferences over the course of the year in order to give the teacher feedback about his/her performance. Administrative and peer observations are intended to help you to be the best teacher you can be!