At Hemet Unified School District, supporting our educators—especially those serving students with the most specialized needs—is a top priority. Through a strong partnership between our Human Resources Department and Special Education team, the District has implemented a strategic, multi-departmental support system designed to help new special education teachers thrive.
This collaboration focuses on improving retention among teachers serving in regionalized programs such as BESTT, Autism, and medically fragile classrooms. Currently, 68% of new certificated staff in these programs remain in their roles, and the District has set ambitious goals to increase retention to 75% in 2025–2026 and 85% in 2026–2027.
To support these educators, the teams have implemented hands-on strategies including direct classroom resources, targeted professional development, instructional modeling, and structured reflection opportunities. So far this year, the initiative has provided:
33 individualized support visits
30 professional development trainings
34 instructional modeling sessions
10 guided reflection opportunities
These efforts are making a measurable difference. Surveys tracking new teacher confidence show an average increase of more than half a point (+0.53) on a five point scale across all domains between August and December, demonstrating growing confidence and preparedness among participating teachers.
Central to this success is the intentional collaboration between Human Resources and Special Education, which has created consistent systems of support and a coordinated plan to ensure teachers have what they need from their very first year.
Looking ahead, the District plans to expand its ADVANCE Team to ensure all support staff and leaders are aligned, using shared criteria and expectations to strengthen teacher support even further.
Through this partnership, Hemet Unified continues to invest in its educators—ensuring that those who support our most vulnerable students feel confident, prepared, and empowered to succeed.