Teacher Leadership Initiative
JPEF’s Teacher Leadership Initiative empowers Teachers of the Year to implement equity-focused best practices at their schools. Teachers embark on a world-class professional learning experience with leading experts on trauma-informed practice, action research in classrooms and restorative justice. Then, JPEF supports teacher leaders to implement the best practice through coaching with fellow teacher leaders in Duval County. Finally, teacher leaders share the results of their work by leading a professional learning session of their own, presenting their project to educators in their school as well as educators across the Duval County education system.
Apply for the Teacher Leadership Initiative
The School Leadership Initiative
Great schools can only exist with great leaders. Effective principals are more likely to retain high quality teachers, and they are also more likely to dismiss poorly performing teachers. According to a national study conducted by Stanford University, students in schools with high-performing Principals will have between two to seven months of additional learning gains. There are virtually no cases of a school being turned around without a powerful leader. While there are numerous factors that contribute to successfully turning around a school, strong leadership is clearly the catalyst. This is the reason for the JPEF School Leadership Initiative. Learn more about the School Leadership Initiative.
The Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellowship
The Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellowship is an unprecedented opportunity for K-12 Duval County public school teachers to elevate their teaching careers through a professional development activity of their choosing.
The Fellowship, launched in 2019, is intended to identify and reward excellence in teaching and support a program of professional development or research. Fellows can receive up to $6,500 per individual or $10,000 per team of teachers for approved expenses.
The Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellowship is an endowed fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, which means it will exist in perpetuity. The Jacksonville Public Education Fund administers the grants in partnership with The Community Foundation.
Learn more about the Edelman Fellowship
Wolfburg Fellowship for Social Justice in Education
The Wolfburg Fund for Social Justice in Education, based at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, exists to advance the work of educators committed to social justice.
As a component of the Fund, the Wolfburg Fellowship is a unique opportunity that provides up to $7,000 for teachers to deepen their knowledge around issues relating to social justice, diversity and inclusion, and to implement an aligned action research project in partnership with students.
The award is given annually as a named grant and announced publicly to recognize teachers who have demonstrated an interest in and talent for ensuring equitable access to supportive learning environments for students in diverse and low-income school communities.
LEARN MORE about the Wolfburg Fellowship
2021 Teachers of the Year
Congratulations to the more than 180 teachers who were nominated by their principals to be the 2021 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year. The school-level Teachers of the Year for the 2020-2021 academic year are listed here.
The EDDY Awards
The EDDY Awards, an annual event to celebrate Duval County's leading teachers, is a time-honored tradition that has grown into its new mission to elevate the role of Jacksonville's best teachers. Each year, we celebrate each school's Teacher of the Year and announce the winner of the Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year. This year, the EDDY Awards will take place in an exciting new format: the EDDY Awards: Live from Jacksonville! Learn more about the celebration and the live TV special.
How is the Duval County Teacher of the Year Chosen?
The Teacher of the Year selection process is truly a community-led process. Because of this, the EDDY Awards has evolved beyond an awards ceremony to a program that aims to build a network of exemplary teachers who are leaders in the community and who work to improve our schools, student performance and the teaching profession. Read on to learn more about the selection process and how you can contribute to elevating teachers in Duval County.