Seven educators were welcomed into Dartmouth Public Schools by the School Committee Monday night, Sept. 9 and while their positions may be new, many have walked these halls before.

Among the educators were several Dartmouth High School alumni and district parents, who said they chose Dartmouth because it’s home. 

To enhance this feeling, especially for those brand new to the district, and set them up for success as they “acclimate” into the schools, Directors of Teaching and Learning Catherine Pavao and Ross Thibault introduced a mentorship program they call “Project T.I.M.E.” 

This stands for Teacher, Induction and Mentoring Experience, said Pavao.

The Dartmouth Public School’s teacher retention rate of 92.2% speaks to the success of Project T.I.M.E, Thibault said.

He said the mentorship program, which is designed to provide advice and direction to the new educators, is a reason for this high retention rate.

For some of the new hires, joining the teaching staff was personal. Several went through the district themselves or have children currently in the schools.

This is a “common theme” among the new educators, Thibault said.

Logan Genereux and Linda Hamilton are the newest members of the elementary school staff. Genereux is a speech language pathologist at Cushman School and Hamilton is a third grade teacher at Quinn Elementary School.

Hamilton has lived in Dartmouth her “whole life” and has children enrolled in the district. She said this was why she wanted to work as an educator in the elementary school.

Jeffrey Carreao, a special education teacher, and Sarah Dury, a school guidance counselor, joined the Dartmouth Middle School staff.

“[I want] to support the community that supported me while I was growing up,” Carreao said when asked why he chose to teach at Dartmouth Middle School.

Erica Thibodeau, a school guidance counselor, Kristen Rose, a school social worker and Thomas Mayall, a computer science teacher, are new employees at Dartmouth High School.

“[As] an alumni who spent the first 18 years of my life in Dartmouth,” Mayall said. “You only get one hometown.”

Several other educators are new to Dartmouth, including Thibodeau.

“When I interviewed in Dartmouth the first time, I was welcomed,” she said. “I knew I wanted to be a part of this district.”