National Certification

Linda Belnap Recognized with National Board Certification
Posted on 02/10/2022
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The Carson City School District is pleased to announce another National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Linda Belnap, English as a Second Language teacher at Eagle Valley Middle School, was recognized at the school board meeting Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 for earning her National Board Certification. Also recognized were Lacey Carey, Literacy Specialist ELA at Fritsch Elementary School, and Nicole Medeiros, Second Grade teacher at Bordewich Bray Elementary, for maintaining their certifications.

NBCT is widely considered to be the highest professional recognition for educators and includes a five percent state pay increase in acknowledgement of accomplished teaching.

Carson City School District, Northwestern RPDP and the Nevada State Education Association have partnered together to encourage educators to be a part of the National Board Certification program. National Board Certification was developed by teachers to retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide.

These accomplished educators earned the profession’s highest mark of achievement through a rigorous process, demonstrating their proven impact on student learning and achievement.

Belnap joins 19 other board certified teachers in the district (alphabetically by last name): Patricia Ababio, Graphic Arts teacher in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program at Carson High School; Katheryn Brown, Special Education teacher at Bordewich Bray Elementary School; Christina Bourne, Music teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School; Lacey Carey, Literacy Specialist ELA at Fritsch Elementary School; Jenny Chandler, Social Studies teacher and department chair at Carson High School; Rachel Croft, Fourth Grade teacher at Bordewich Bray Elementary; Debra Crozier, First Grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School; Jessica Daniels, Principal of Carson Montessori School; Leah Hampton, Math teacher at Carson High School; Jeff Hendricks, Special Education teacher with Student Support Services; Rhonda Holloway, English teacher at Carson Middle School; Alyssa Jensen, Kindergarten teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School; Amy Jensen, Fourth Grade GATE teacher at Mark Twain Elementary; Nicolas Jacques, Music and Band teacher at Carson High School; Joanna Kaiser, GATE Implementation Specialist; Molly Martin, First Grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School; Nicole Medeiros, Second Grade teacher at Bordewich Bray Elementary; Jennifer Palmer, Special Education teacher at Eagle Valley Middle School; and Pamela Shank, Fourth/Fifth Grade teacher at Fremont Elementary.

Certification is a one-to-five-year process that includes taking a series of content area assessments and assembling three pedagogy related portfolios. According to the NBPTS, each of these accomplished educators earned the profession’s highest mark of achievement through a rigorous, performance-based, peer-review process, demonstrating their proven impact on student learning and achievement. Completing the certification shows that each teacher knows and practices “the definitive standards of accomplished teaching.”

The Carson City teachers are among 1,188 National Board Certified educators in Nevada and nationwide, there are 128,500. In the next year, National Board is hoping to grow those numbers to over 150,000 educators. More than a decade of research from across the country confirms, students taught by Board-certified teachers are one to two months ahead of their peers taught by non-board-certified teachers. National Board Certification is considered one of the best professional development processes available.

The National Center for Education Statistics projected that more than 3.6 million teachers are employed in public and private elementary and secondary schools.

Carson City teachers interested in pursuing board-certification are invited to contact NWRPDP K-12 Facilitator Jaime Whisler, [email protected], or Candidate Service Providers Rachel Croft, [email protected], Jenny Chandler, [email protected] or Christina Bourne, [email protected]. Upcoming informational meetings for interested teachers are available on Wednesday, March 24 at 3:30 pm and Thursday, March 25 at 6:00 pm. Both meetings will be held via Zoom. Links will be provided via district email.