ST. LOUIS — Facing the 2024-2025 school year with more than 20 teaching positions to fill, St. Louis Public Schools had to think outside the box. The answer to the district's teacher shortage came from an international recruiting agency.
Jobs Connect USA, a no-cost recruiting firm, linked the district with teachers from around the world.
"We had a 188 applicants," said SLPS Chief of Human Resources for Operations Myra Berry. "Out of the 188 applicants, we were very selective."
Twenty-one educators from two countries made the cut.
"We had six different countries and it just so happens that we have two countries where all of our residents are from, they are from Ghana and the Philippines," Berry added.
The international teachers will be filling primarily 5th and 6th grade science and math positions.
"They are credentialed. They have actually been teachers in their home country for a number of years," explained Berry, "they come here to Missouri working with the Department of State and we are helping them get reciprocity so they will have full certification in the state of Missouri."
St. Louis Public Schools completed the process before the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
The Jobs Connect USA international teachers program is new to SLPS, but Riverview Gardens School District is going on its second year. Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for Riverview Gardens School District, Travis Ford Sr., told 5 On Your Side how their first year went.
He said the teachers "came in and they were instructionally strong and it went really well. They were able to support us in that area and we were able to support them in making the cultural connections and we had a great year."
Riverview Gardens was the first school district in the St. Louis area to utilize the services of Jobs Connect USA. Normandy Schools is also participating in the program this fall.