​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Program Information

​The Charter School Teachers of the Year (TOY) ​program is administered by the Orange County Department of Education Governance, Leadership and Community Partnerships division to​ select a nominee for the Orange County Teachers of the Year program from charter schools not participating through a local school district program. Each charter school may nominate one to three teachers (depending on school size).

The program's goals ar​e to:

• Create a​ccess to county recognition programs for teachers who cannot participate via their local school district.
  
• Encourage participation of teachers employed by charter schools in the Orange County and California Teachers of the Year programs.
  
• Identify one teacher to nominate for the Orange County Teachers of the Year program. ​
  

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to submit a nomination for consideration, applicants must meet the following criteria: 

• Teacher must be nominated by their charter school employer.
  
• Teach any pre-kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum to children or adults.
  
• Be a fully credentialed teacher currently employed to teach full-time at a charter school authorized by an Orange County school district or the Orange County B​oard of Education for the 2024-2025 academic year, with the intent to teach for the 2025-2026 academic year.
  
• Completed eight years of fully-credentialed teaching by March 2025.
  
• Not previously nominated to a California county or state level Teachers of the Year program.​ 
  

​Selection Process

Charter school nominees must submit an application via their charter school employer. Charter schools should establish their own processes for selecting exemplary teachers to nominate to the program. 

To evaluate the applications and select a charter school nominee to advance to the Orange County Teachers of the Year program for consideration as a county finalist, the Governance, Leadership and Community Partnerships division convenes a selection committee consisting of administrators, partner organizations and teachers. Each application received is reviewed and scored based on a rubric and selected by consensus of the selection committee.  

​Number of Teachers Eligible for Nomination per Charter School

​Full-Time Equivalent Teachers:​

Application Submission Information

A complete​ 2026 Charter School TOY application packet for each selected nominee must be submitted by the nominating charter school by 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, January 7, 2025, to jalderissi@ocde.us.​​ 
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Timeli​​ne of Activities​

​​Questions:

Rachel Carrillo​, Coordinator, (714) 966-4287

Jacqueline Alderissi, Executive Assistant, (714) 966-4381
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