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 are to:
- Create access 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 Board of Education for the 2022-2023 academic year, with the intent to teach for the 2023-2024 academic year.
- Completed eight years of fully-credentialed teaching by March 2023.
- 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:
1-49 teachers: 1 nominee
50-99 teachers: 2 nominees
100+ teachers: 3 nominees
Application Submission Information
A complete 2024 Charter School TOY application packet for each selected nominee must be submitted by the nominating charter school by 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, January 4, 2023, to atorres@ocde.us.
Timeline of Activities
November 2022
| - Charter schools submit an Intent to Participate form to the Charter School TOY program via email to atorres@ocde.us.
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December 2022
| - Participating charter schools select their school nominee.
- Charter school nominee completes a Charter School TOY application packet.
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January 2023
| - Sponsoring charter schools submit a complete Charter School TOY application packet for each nominee via email to atorres@ocde.us.
- The Governance, Leadership and Community Partnerships division convenes a selection committee to select a candidate to nominate to the Orange County Teachers of the Year program.
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February/March 2023
| - Charter School TOY nominee completes the Orange County Teachers of the Year application packet and submits it via email to atorres@ocde.us.
- The Governance, Leadership and Community Partnerships division submits the complete county application to the Orange County Teachers of the Year program for consideration as a county finalist.
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October 2023
| - The Charter School Teachers of the Year nominee is invited to attend the Orange County Teachers of the Year recognition banquet.
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Questions:
Teresa Johnson, Administrator, (714) 966-4071
Ana Torres, Executive Assistant, (714) 966-4381
