Hudson University Blazes New Trail in the Granite State

Hudson University Blazes New Trail in the Granite State

HUDSON, N.H. – While schools continue to scramble with the challenges associated with a teacher shortage, Hudson School District has started to create solutions to the problem through its innovative program: Hudson University. 

Now in its second year, but first with fully in-person classes, the program is a site-based licensing plan (SBLP) that allows new district hires to be trained and earn their teaching credentials while on the job. Designed to create more opportunities for prospective teachers to join the field and expand the applicant pool for open positions, Hudson University is a trailblazer in New Hampshire. While Pinkerton Academy was the first high school in the state to host a site-based licensing plan, Hudson is the first public district in the state with K-12 offerings to have such a program. 

“Because we have this teacher shortage, the state has allowed us to hire people with degrees in a certain area,” said Hudson School District’s Professional Learning Coordinator, Sandie Johnstone. “Let’s say we have an opening in math and there is someone with a degree in that subject…we can now hire them with the stipulation that we’ll coach them on their plan.”

Teachers in the Hudson University program engage in a learning activity during a fall class. The process for those hires to become licensed teachers is thorough and has been carefully crafted over the past two years. “It’s very methodical with what they have to do in the three years,” said Johnstone.

Teachers at Hudson University must complete six classes over three years that cover their professional requirements. The classes are rigorous and include homework, deadlines, and work that has been approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education. 

Those classes have been held throughout the 2024-25 academic year, including the most recent edition on January 18. A pair of veteran teachers, Karyn Misenheimer and Jennifer Vesey, team up to instruct these classes. Misenheimer is currently in her 28th year in the district and instructs physical education at Hills Garrison Elementary School, while Vesey is in her 23rd year in Hudson and currently teaches fifth grade at Nottingham West Elementary School. 

Misenheimer and Vesey created the curriculum with help from Pinkerton Academy, New Hampshire’s largest independent school. They also worked to ensure the district was compliant with the state’s regulations to instruct the courses. 

“We ‘Hudsonized’ it by taking out the parts that we don’t necessarily follow and adding in the things that we do,” said Misenheimer, who also has experience as a professor at Plymouth State University and New England College. “We also added in material that pertains to pre-K through grade 12 and CTE. At the end of the day, good teaching is good teaching. It’s the best practices that matter and we’re trying to model that.”

As Misenheimer mentioned, Hudson had a unique challenge that Pinkerton did not have to face with acclimating curriculum for teachers that would go on to instruct students aged from 3 to 18 and older. 

“The biggest challenge was trying to find a way to present it to every level of teacher that was in the room,” said Vesey. “Right now, we have preschool, middle school, high school, and CTE teachers in the room and all content areas. We have English, but we also have welding, automotive, and computer science.”

While the pair of teachers had been together in the same district for years, they had not collaborated previously. Now, they’re looking to remain key cogs in the program as it continues to develop.

“I would love to see it get bigger and have people use it as professional development,” said Misenheimer. “Even as an experienced teacher, when we’re planning, we’ll go through everything and say, ‘oh yeah I forgot about that’ or ‘hey I’ve never tried that,’ so just being able to be in a room with other people that are doing the same thing as you and just take ideas off of each other has been beneficial. After the first day, I felt like I had eight new friends.”

--

If you have any questions about Hudson University, you can email Sandie Johnstone at sjohnstone@sau81.org.

Classes run throughout the academic year and can be started at any time. Classes for this academic year include:

1. Building Classroom Culture: Establishing Inquiry-Based Learning, Student Efficacy, and PLCs and Educator Resources 

2. Addressing Needs of Students with Disabilities Part 1 (Special Education for Beginners) 

3. Addressing Needs of Students with Disabilities Part 2 (Understanding and Meeting Student Needs)

4. Effective Practices of Instruction 

5. Assessment Design and the Competency-Based Classroom 

6. Educator Reflection, Growth, and Collaboration