Miami-Dade
About Us
Miami–Dade is a warm and vibrant community, thriving with diversity, culture, innovation, and opportunity. However, access to opportunity is disproportionately skewed between zip codes due to vast economic disparity across Miami’s neighborhoods. Teach For America Miami-Dade is proud to be a partner in the work to provide every student in Miami the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
We first came to Miami-Dade in 2003, responding to community members across Miami who came together to demand equal access to excellent education for every student. Nearly two decades later, 1,550 teachers have served over 250,000 students across Miami and made a measurable impact on academic growth.. This year, more than 600 corps members and alumni are teaching and leading in Miami-Dade’s highest need schools. They've reached more than 20,000 students. More than 700 local alumni are working across a range of fields in our city to address the root causes of educational inequity.
We are proud of what we have accomplished so far in Miami-Dade’s schools, and we know we have more work to do as we partner with our community to improve outcomes for every student.
Our Corps Members
Miami is a cultural melting pot that has been shaped by many Hispanic and Caribbean influences since the 1960s, making it one of one of the most diverse cities in the nation. More than three-fourths of Miami-Dade corps members share the background of their students, giving them unique insight into the challenges our students face.
Corps Members teach in the Miami-Dade County School District (M-DCPS), the fourth largest school district in the US and only one in four districts in the country to show improvement on reading and math two years in a row. Our corps members teach over 10,000 students each year across 35 public schools, located in the neighborhoods of Homestead, Miami Gardens, Little Haiti, West Little River, Overtown, Liberty City, and North Miami.
No-Cost Certification and Optional Grad School
Miami-Dade corps members have two options for seeking professional certification: the MINT 2.0 Professional Pathway to Certification or earning a master’s in education and social change through the University of Miami.
The MINT 2.0 program is a free program offered to educators in Miami-Dade County and takes roughly two years to complete. Learn more about MINT.
The optional master’s in education and social change through the University of Miami begins the spring of a corps member’s first year and completes the summer of their second year. Corps members may use their AmeriCorps education award for the University of Miami’s master’s program.
Local Leadership
LaKeisha Wells-Palmer
Executive Director
Teach For America Florida Regions
LaKeisha Wells-Palmer leads Teach For America's efforts as the Statewide Executive Director of Teach For America regions in Florida. With 22 years of experience in education, she serves as a champion for principals, teachers, and students. She has spent the last 11 years at Teach For America, serving as the Executive Director of Jacksonville, Central Florida, and Miami-Dade following five years leading Jacksonville’s programmatic efforts.
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Your generosity helps us build a diverse force of corps members and alumni serving Miami-Dade students and working from all angles to ignite the movement for educational equity.