Kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) teachers with less than 10 years of experience are leaving the education profession at an alarming rate nationwide and have created fiscal and educational hardships in the profession. The early departures of new teachers have vast implications on U.S. education systems at national and state levels. Specifically, it cost more than $146,750,000 to replace new teachers over a 10-year period in the state of Alabama. The state of Alabama is struggling to keep new teachers based on supply and demand due to student growth. New teachers hired in Alabama are only being retained at a 50% rate within their first 3 years in the profession. Mentoring, which is the act of training or advising a less experienced person provided by a more experienced individual, can help new teachers acclimate to their jobs. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore new teachers' perceptions of mentorship programs. This qualitative approach allowed exploring real-life experiences and perceptions to help determine if new K-12 teachers are receiving the mentorship they need and, if not, is the lack of mentorship leading to new teachers leaving the profession early. Study participants were K-12 teachers with 10 years of experience or less in northern Alabama, which includes the cities of Madison, Huntsville, and Limestone. The findings show that without a supportive school culture and administrator support, there cannot be successful mentorship programs to help retain teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]