Urban Teachers and American Landmark Partner to Give Teachers Affordable Dallas Apartment Rates

No question about it: Teachers have had an especially tough go of it the last two years. The pandemic has uprooted traditional teaching methods, uncertainty has become the norm, and they’re having to balance their students’ emotional and educational needs with those of their own families.

Add to that the rising cost nationally as well as locally of gas, groceries, and rent—which, in the Dallas area, has soared close to 16 percent within the last year—it’s no wonder teachers are stressed to the max. Especially those just starting their profession and those in urban areas.

Which is why American Landmark Apartments is stepping in. The Florida-based company, which owns and manages around 16 high-quality apartment communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is partnering with Urban Teachers to provide affordable apartments for up to 128 of the nonprofit’s Dallas educators in the nonprofit’s residency program.

Teachers get apartment leases at a ‘greatly reduced rate’

Those selected into the program will receive priority placement in a one- or two-bedroom apartment at American Landmark’s Macallan on Ross apartments at a greatly reduced monthly rate for a one-year lease term.

Joe Lubeck, CEO for American Landmark, said the vitality and continued growth of the Dallas/Fort Worth area depend on the availability of highly trained teachers and high-quality homes for them.

“We’re delighted to play an integral role in this exceptional program for teacher recruitment and in the future of this area by making these aspiring educators feel welcomed, respected and connected to the community,” he said in a statement.

Urban Teachers Teaching Fellow Ashley Graves working with students at Uplift Wisdom Middle School in DeSoto. [Photo: Urban Teachers]

Making a difference for North Texas children

Peter Shulman, CEO of Urban Teachers, said that program participants come to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to make a difference in the lives of North Texas children.

“We’re grateful to American Landmark for supporting these educators on that journey,” he said in the statement. “Having access to reliable, affordable housing means our teachers can stay focused on learning to teach in a way that honors and celebrates all children in their classrooms.”

One such Urban Teachers resident is Quanis Freeman, who teaches reading to fifth graders. Freeman felt unsafe in her previous apartment and wasn’t sleeping well, she says. She didn’t feel as if she were giving her students her best.

“A lot of complexes wanted us to earn three times the rent, and it was just too much,” she said. “We didn’t have the resources to live somewhere better,” she said of her roommate and fellow Urban Teachers resident, Danae Austin.

Then American Landmark stepped in, helping Freeman and Austin to move into Macallan on Ross and setting up an affordable rent.

“Their people made me feel like my life matters,” Freeman said, “as if everyone who played a part in making this happen values me and what I do in the classroom.”

Urban Teachers’ 2022 cohort begins in June

Urban Teachers is currently accepting applications for the residency program that begins in June, at which time prospective teachers must earn their bachelor’s degree. They also need to have maintained a GPA of 2.5 or higher and exhibit such key core competencies as relationship building, valuing students and communities, and having a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Teachers can apply here.

Preparing ‘culturally competent and effective career teachers’

Urban Teachers has as its mission to improve educational and life outcomes of children in urban schools by preparing culturally competent and effective career teachers. These professionals accelerate student achievement and disrupt systems of racial and socioeconomic inequity. Participants complete a 13-month residency, during which they learn from classroom teachers and deliver one-on-one interventions to students, and lead lessons. During their second through fourth years, they are hired as full-time teachers in partner schools. Urban Teachers is a member of the AmeriCorps national service network.

American Landmark has 34,000 apartments across the Sunbelt

American Landmark Apartments, with approximately 34,000 apartment units, is one of the fastest-growing multifamily owner-operators in the United States. Based in Tampa, Fla., it specializes in the acquisition and management of value-added multifamily properties located in such high-growth Sunbelt markets as Texas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. The company is dedicated to creating outstanding service and outstanding living environments to residents as well as delivering consistent, attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors and partners.