Internship
So, you want to intern with HCSD?
Well, we would love to host you!
Dear Intern:
Thank you for taking the time to think about joining a district that takes pride in Educational Excellence! In Hernando County we believe in the importance of teachers and the direct impact that they have in the classroom on a daily basis. We have made great academic strides in our schools throughout the district and now you have a wonderful opportunity to effect change as well! We expect our interns to grow professionally, help our students become better readers, regardless of their subject area, and to prepare students for their future.
We want to make sure that you experience success during your internship, as well as your future years in education. We encourage you to find creative ways to help our organization grow and to have an impact on the lives of our students. We know that you will provide the very best instruction to your students and we wish you the very best on a successful internship!
Please click on the links below for information and to access our Internship Application.
Field Experience and Internship Placement Policies
Purpose
Hernando County School District collaborates with colleges and universities to provide training experiences for students enrolled in teacher education and other professional programs. Our district supports a strategy of training for a diverse pool of student teachers from approved teacher preparation programs to teach in our schools.
HCSD Internship Placement Goal
It is a goal of the HCSD Internship Program to continue solidifying the relationship with our university partners to provide high quality field experiences for all aspiring teachers.
Agreement for the Placement of Interns
We believe that student teachers make a positive contribution to the education of our students and that the district contributes significantly to future educators by offering quality teaching experiences to university students each semester. By collaborating with our university partners, we hope to nurture the professional growth of interns, support the continued professional development of collaborating teachers, provide rich learning experiences in our classrooms and strengthen our partnerships with colleges and universities.
To this end all requests for internship placement are made through the Recruitment Office in conjunction with school leadership and our university partners. Only students registered at higher education institutions holding an HCSD affiliation agreement are deemed eligible for internship placement consideration. It is the stipulations on the placement agreement that serve as a guiding framework to support the professional development of the aspiring educators.
Prerequisites to Establishing a Placement Agreement
Currently our district has forged internship placement agreements with 13 university partners. We will consider adding new university partners based on our district’s hiring needs, the strength of the teacher preparation program, the capacity and the availability of school placement sites and supervising teachers. We will also take into consideration the prospective university partner’s commitment to provide direct supervision and assistance to its interns in collaboration with the supervising teacher, the school leadership and the Recruitment Office.
Placement Preferences
- In placing interns and field experience students, it is our desire to satisfy the interns’ placement preferences. However, we must balance a range of considerations described below:
- University partners are asked to deliver all their internship placement applications to our Recruitment Office. Students will be discouraged from seeking or arranging their own placement.
- Students requesting placements are asked to express their placement site preferences as part of the internship application process. We will attempt to accommodate their preferences however; it is not always possible or appropriate to do so.
- Placements are made with primary consideration of future teaching certification and subject content area requirements.
- The certification requirements take priority over placing students in a preferred grade level or desired situation.
- The Recruitment Office does not control decisions to re-assign teachers or teacher transfers, teachers moving out of the area, retirements, promotion, resignations, dismissals, illnesses or extended leaves of absence. So all placement are subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.
- If a placement change becomes necessary, we will make every reasonable attempt to identify a suitable alternate site promptly.
- Aspiring teachers can expect to be placed in a variety of school environments including Magnet, ESE, Title I and non-Title I settings.
- We avoid placing interns in situations where they have personal family or close associations with school administrators, faculty or staff. It is our intent to prevent any potential conflict of interest or allegation of bias pertaining to the intern’s performance. With this in mind, we make a concerted effort not to place interns in schools they have attended as a K-12 student. We also avoid placing an intern where a close relative is employed.
- When the intern reaches senior level status and is a HCSD employee, placement will normally be made in a site other than the employee’s place of work.
- The Recruitment Office must be notified immediately of any changes in placement, supervising teacher, or any incident involving interns. We reserve the discretion of final approval on internship placements.
Our Vision
To inspire and support the pursuit of individual greatness.
Our Mission
The Hernando County School District collaborates with students, parents and other community stakeholders to effectively prepare all students for a successful transition into a diverse and changing world.
Hernando County School District (HCSD)
Notice Regarding Student Intern Fingerprints
Fingerprinting is the last step of the internship application process. Once a complete internship application has been submitted to the Recruitment Office, the intern candidate may go for fingerprinting.
Fingerprinting is done at Hernando County Fingerprints Inc., the UPS Store, at 4142 Mariner Blvd., Spring Hill, FL 34609. Their phone number if you need to contact them is (352)-666-5486. You must bring the Fingerprint Information Sheet (provided in the Internship Application) with you in order to be fingerprinted. The fee for fingerprinting is approximately $82.55.
Student interns being placed in a classroom are held to the same standards as if they were employees under the Hernando County School District’s Hiring Guidelines. Your signature on the HCSD Intern Application and Acceptance Agreement indicates that you have read the Hiring Guidelines and have not been convicted (including adjudication withheld) of any charges listed therein. A pattern of behavior or an extensive criminal record may also render the student intern ineligible for placement.
Please note that if a student intern completes his/her internship and is hired as a teacher after graduation, the Florida Department of Education will not accept fingerprints older than one (1) year for purposes of issuing a teaching certificate. Therefore, if the original date of fingerprints is more than one (1) year old then re-fingerprinting will be required.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist you. We look forward to your internship with the Hernando County School District.
Matthew Goldrick
Direcctor of Human Resources
919 N. Broad Street
Brooksville, FL 34601
Phone (352)-797-7019
Fax (352)-797-7119
Email: goldrick_m@hcsb.k12.fl.us