Mentor training for preschool teachers
Train one great mentor. Grow teacher after teacher.
Mentor Success Academy trains your strong teachers to become skilled, confident mentors. Over 12 weeks, each mentor learns how to observe, give feedback and coach, and practices those skills right away with a colleague in your program. The skills stay with the mentor, ready for the next teacher, and the next.
12 weeks of mentor training, three focus areas
The mentor is the one being trained
MSA is training for mentors: experienced teachers who support other teachers. We teach them how to mentor, so your program keeps those skills long after the 12 weeks end.
The mentor learns
Each week, the mentor completes a short training module on their own time, with real classroom scenarios on coaching teachers with different personalities and working styles.
The mentor practices
The mentor puts that week's skills to work right away, meeting with a mentee for 30–45 minutes, observing in the classroom and reflecting together.
The skills stay
After 12 weeks, the mentor can earn MSA certification and is ready to mentor the next teacher, and the next, building a team that grows its own great educators.
Everything a mentor needs to learn, practice and grow
Most programs know mentoring works. What's hard is knowing how to mentor well and keeping it going week after week. MSA gives mentors the training, and gives mentors, mentees and directors a shared plan to stay on track.
Mentor training
The heart of MSA. Twelve weekly modules with real classroom scenarios teach mentors how to coach teachers with different personalities and working styles.
Weekly reflections
Mentors and their mentees each reflect on the week's focus, so every meeting starts from what's actually happening in the classroom.
Classroom observations
The Quality Interaction Framework gives mentors a clear, consistent way to observe teacher–child interactions and talk about them.
Director dashboard
Directors see each mentor's training and mentoring progress at a glance and can step in early when someone falls behind.
Mentor certification
Mentors who finish the training can earn the annual MSA Certified Mentor credential, with a printable certificate.
Coaching call library
Recorded coaching calls and resources stay available, so new mentors can catch up and experienced ones can revisit.
Mentors are trained. Your whole program benefits.
Mentors
The ones being trained. Experienced teachers learn how to observe, give feedback and coach, then earn MSA certification and keep those skills for every teacher they support next.
Mentees
The teachers your mentors support. They meet with their mentor each week and get steady, personal support while the mentor puts new skills into practice.
Directors
Choose the teachers to train as mentors, protect weekly meeting time and build a team that can grow its own great teachers.
Meet the co-founders
We're the co-founders of Mentor Success Academy, combining decades of experience in early childhood education and leadership development. Together, we created a mentorship-focused training program designed to help strong teachers become confident mentors who grow, support, and retain great educators.
Rebecca Munlyn
Rebecca Munlyn is the co-founder of the Mentor Success Academy as well as the founder and CEO of Inspired Growth, LLC, a consulting firm which partners with organizations to unlock potential and expand capacity of leaders and teams to support healthy organizational growth.
She integrates strategies with neuro-linguistic, data-driven, and research-based tools to facilitate self-awareness, communication, and increased performance. Rebecca is a leader and team development consultant with a proven record as a committed and passionate advocate for creating safe spaces for all voices to be heard and valued. Rebecca is gifted in empowering individuals to identify, access, and leverage individual strengths to create lives free of limits. Rebecca has more than 20 years of diverse coaching and consulting experience, within corporate and nonprofit organizations. Her innovative approach to implementing efficient systems, sustainable processes and navigating adult learning strategies are informed by her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Bachelor of Industrial Engineering (Georgia Tech) and Master of Education (Columbus State University), respectively.
Rebecca has a passion for connection and relationship, which is the foundation upon which the process of self-discovery and empowerment is explored, embraced, and facilitates transformational growth, both professionally and personally.
Mary Wardlaw
Mary Wardlaw is the co-founder of Mentor Success Academy and a lifelong advocate for excellence in early childhood education. Mary began her journey in the field as an assistant preschool teacher in 1992, advancing to lead teacher, program director, and eventually founding The Children's Center in 2002 with just three teachers and 17 students. Today, she leads three thriving locations in southwest Michigan, serving over 450 students with a team of 80 dedicated staff.
In 2019, Mary expanded her impact by founding National CDA Training, helping hundreds of early childhood educators earn their Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials. She holds a bachelor's degree in Child Development (2004), a master's degree in Business Administration (2006), and completed her Education Specialist Degree in 2025. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education.
Since 2023, Mary's research has centered on the training, mentoring, and retention of high-quality early childhood teachers—work that inspired the creation of Mentor Success Academy to develop the next generation of confident, capable, and resilient educators.
Two ways to bring MSA to your program
3-month research trial
Train your mentors free for 12 weeks and help build the evidence for mentoring in early childhood education.
- Full access for every participating classroom
- Mentor training valued at $1,200, free for participating mentors
- Mentoring pairs meet 30–45 minutes a week
- Classrooms not using MSA take the same surveys, for comparison
- For licensed, privately owned US preschool programs
Full program access
- Mentor training and annual certification for your mentors
- Tools for your mentors, their mentees and your director
- Built for mentors of preschool teachers (children 2½–5)
- Start any time, no research requirements
- Manage or cancel your subscription online
Join the 3-month research trial, beginning January 2027
This trial is part of Mary Wardlaw's doctoral research on the impact of mentoring in early childhood programs. Mentors in participating classrooms receive MSA's mentor training, valued at $1,200, at no cost, and use MSA with their mentees for 12 weeks. In return, the data gathered, including surveys before and after the program, is used in the research.
Who can take part
- A licensed early childhood program in the United States.
- A privately owned program.
- At least 2 classrooms serving children 2½ years and older.
- You choose which classrooms take part. Participating classrooms use MSA, and at least one classroom does not, so the research can compare them.
- Staff in participating and non-participating classrooms complete the same surveys before and after the program.
- The director agrees to provide 30–45 minutes every week for the full 12 weeks for each mentor and mentee to meet.
Application received
Thank you! We'll review your application and email you about next steps.
Frequently asked questions
Who actually takes the training?
The mentor. MSA trains experienced teachers to become skilled mentors. Mentees take part by meeting with their mentor each week and completing short reflections, but the training is for the mentor, so the skills stay in your program after the 12 weeks and can be used with the next teacher, and the next.
How much time does the program take each week?
Each mentoring pair meets for 30–45 minutes once a week, and mentors and mentees each complete a short reflection. Directors set aside that weekly meeting time for the 12 weeks. Mentors complete their training on their own time.
Why does a classroom not use MSA in the research trial?
Comparing classrooms that use MSA with at least one that doesn't lets the research measure what difference mentoring actually makes. Participating and non-participating classrooms complete the same surveys.
What happens after the 3-month trial?
When the trial ends, programs can continue with a paid subscription. There's no obligation to continue.
Can we subscribe without joining the research?
Yes. A subscription gives your mentors full training and your program full access, with no research requirements, and you can start at any time.
Our program doesn't meet the trial criteria. Can we still use MSA?
Yes. The criteria only apply to the free research trial. Any program can subscribe. The training is written for mentors supporting teachers of preschool-age children (2½–5).