About the Fellowship

The Cotting Fellow is a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in the field of education or
special education who joins Cotting for a two-year teaching and learning experience. This individual will have full-time teaching responsibility. This experience includes participation in the Summer Programs immediately following each school fellowship year. This is an endowed position that welcomes one new Fellow annually to the school.

From President Bridget Irish

Dear Potential Cotting Fellowship Candidate,

Thank you for your dedication to the field of education and for your commitment to ensuring that America’s most challenged students have access to highly qualified teachers and quality education. And congratulations! As a qualified applicant for the Cotting Fellowship, you have already distinguished yourself in your field!

Established in 1893 as America’s first day school for children with a broad spectrum of learning and communication disabilities, physical challenges, and complex medical conditions, Cotting School has a rich history of meeting the multifaceted challenges of children with special needs. That tradition continues today with a faculty of bright, innovative, and dedicated special educators.

However, we understand that the measure of Cotting School in the years to come will be our ability to continue to attract, work with, and influence the highest caliber of teachers. The role of the teacher in a student’s life at Cotting School has the most profound impact on his/her success and ability to prepare for the future. Therefore, we created this two-year fellowship to provide an opportunity to work and learn with the top graduates in the field of education.

We appreciate that applying to the Cotting Fellowship is a significant commitment and we want to assure you that each application will be thoughtfully and carefully reviewed. We look forward to getting to know each applicant through his/her professional and educational experiences and, most importantly, through his/her writing samples. These essays offer you an opportunity to tell us your story, including the people and events that have shaped your decisions and teaching philosophy.

We would also invite you to learn more about us and our fellowship program by exploring this site. You are welcome to contact us as well with questions about our school or our Cotting Fellowship program at fellowships@cotting.org.

We enthusiastically await your application and thank you again for your commitment to the education of students with special needs.

With regards,

Bridget Irish
President, Cotting School