Welcome to the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher ProjectOperated by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project (SC/SVNTP) is a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing-accredited Induction program for both general education teachers and education specialists holding a preliminary credential.
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Our Mission Statement
Our Core Values
Our History
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The Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project (SC/SVNTP) believes that every student deserves a quality teacher. To achieve this goal, the SC/SVNTP collaborates with participating districts to partner highly trained mentors with teachers in order to earn their California Clear Teaching Credential.
The SC/SVNTP is built on the core values of equity, responsiveness, positive presupposition, reflective dialogue, and inquiry stance. Through an individualized goal-focused approach, the SC/SVNTP guides teachers and mentors in strengthening best practices within and beyond the classroom as outlined in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) to ensure the growth of all students. Our core values guide our work with all stakeholders:
The Santa Cruz New Teacher Project was initially established in 1988 by Ellen Moir, then Director of Teacher Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), in collaboration with Wendy Baron, Supervisor of Teacher Education at UCSC, and supported by the Chair of the UCSC Teacher Education Program, Eugene Garcia. In 1988, the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project was among the first 15 New Teacher Project pilot programs funded by the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).
In 1993, the legislature approved funding for new teacher support and created legislation for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA). BTSA set aside state funds to provide mentor support for new teachers in order to clear their credentials. The Santa Cruz New Teacher Project became one of California's initial projects jointly administered by the CDE and the CTC. In 1998, Ellen Moir founded the national New Teacher Center (NTC) at UCSC based on the successful work of the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project. Now a stand alone non-profit, NTC is dedicated to improving student outcomes by accelerating the development of new and veteran teachers and leaders. NTC provides high quality professional development for mentors, instructional coaches, and new school leaders as a lever for positive and collaborative school change. SC/SVNTP and NTC still work closely together as founding partners. The Silicon Valley New Teacher Project was established in 2000, joining with the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project to become the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project, and extending the Induction model into Santa Clara County. While BTSA funding no longer exists under the Local Control Funding Formula, Induction is still a required and valuable component of the teacher credentialing system in California. SC/SVNTP continues to partner closely with the members of its' consortium to provide high-quality support for mentors and instructional coaches. Today, the SC/SVNTP supports an average of 70 full-release mentors who serve approximately 600 new teachers in 32 partner districts and charter schools in Santa Cruz, San Benito and Santa Clara counties in the SC/SVNTP consortium. |
Our Partners
The following 40 districts and charters are members of the SC/SVNTP consortium. We also provide support for various charters and private schools within the districts listed below.
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Santa Clara County
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Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties
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Meet our Leadership Team
The SC/SVNTP is led by a team of highly knowledgable and experienced educators with a long history of work in Induction
Melissa Roberts
SC/SVNTP Director
Program Director, Santa Cruz
A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles, Melissa was a public school teacher for 13 years. Teaching in California, Louisiana and Connecticut, she worked with students in grades 5-8 and Alternative Education. Melissa has her National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts and is a literacy specialist. She has a Masters in Education from the University of Louisiana Lafayette and her clear administrative credential. For the past six years, Melissa has been part of the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project working with new teachers, instructional coaches, and mentors.
SC/SVNTP Director
Program Director, Santa Cruz
A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles, Melissa was a public school teacher for 13 years. Teaching in California, Louisiana and Connecticut, she worked with students in grades 5-8 and Alternative Education. Melissa has her National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts and is a literacy specialist. She has a Masters in Education from the University of Louisiana Lafayette and her clear administrative credential. For the past six years, Melissa has been part of the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project working with new teachers, instructional coaches, and mentors.
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Candace McIsaac
Program Director, SC/SVNTP (Silicon Valley) Candace started her teaching career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kaszahstan where she taught English to adults and students 3rd grade through 12th grade. She returned to the U.S. where she earned her teaching credential at San Jose State and started teaching in the Alum Rock School District. She worked in Alum Rock for twenty years as an elementary school teacher, instructional coach, SC/SVNTP mentor, and lastly as a district administrator. Her last three years with Alum Rock, Candace worked as Alum Rock's Academic Services Coordinator where she oversaw Induction mentors, designed and developed her district’s Instructional Coaching program, and provided principal support for curriculum implementation and coaching. Jamie Brown
Assistant Director, SC/SVNTP (Silicon Valley) Jamie began working with children as a YMCA childcare teacher. She continued working with kids as a summer camp counselor while attending Sonoma State University where she earned her B.A. in Liberal Studies in a unique program called Hutchins. After receiving her multiple subject credential from Sonoma State, she worked as an elementary school teacher for many years at a progressive education choice school in Mountain View (Stevenson) where her passion developed around inquiry, differentiation, parent education, Social Emotional Learning through Responsive Classroom, and Project Based Learning. She became a mentor and instructional coach in the Mountain View-Whisman School District for teachers TK-8th where she created and led various professional learning opportunities for new and veteran teachers. As a beginning teacher, she was mentored through SC/SVNTP and is now an excited member of the SC/SVNTP family, passionate about supporting mentors and new teachers. Marvilyn Quiroz
Assistant Director, SC/SVNTP (Santa Cruz) Marvilyn began her teaching career at Watsonville High School in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Throughout her tenure as an English teacher she taught a variety of classes and participated in a variety of professional development opportunities that shaped her vision of education and fostered her passion for teaching with an equity lens. She has a Masters in Educational Leadership from San Jose State University and continued her leadership development as a mentor and now as an Assistant Director with the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project. |
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InJin Jun
Department Coordinator InJin joined the SC/SVNTP team in 2017 where she oversees the business side of the project. She moved to California over two years ago from New Jersey, where she managed the summer and enrichment programs as the office manager for a private school. InJin graduated from Smith College and believes education is an essential foundation to reaching your pinnacle, which makes educators the cornerstones in supporting your lifetime achievement of constantly learning and ever evolving to become your better self. Her experiences range from working at a non-profit to managing her own restaurant. |
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Patricia Isaak
Senior Executive Assistant |
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Laurie Stewart
Administrative Secretary |
We are located at Santa Cruz County Office of Education
400 Encinal Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (2nd floor)
Office Phone: (831) 466-5840 Fax: (831) 466-5846
400 Encinal Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (2nd floor)
Office Phone: (831) 466-5840 Fax: (831) 466-5846