Faculty Development is Essential
Targeted, ongoing professional development for our faculty is a real differentiator here; it’s one of the most distinctive reasons for our success.
True to our pedagogy that keeps learning at the center, we provide more learning opportunities for our faculty than any school of our size.
We believe that opportunities for teachers to keep their learning alive, fresh, and well-informed translate directly into a better experience in the classroom, producing students who are curious, self-directed, and invested in learning. Good teachers tend to be passionate learners by nature, and providing these opportunities has proven to be a key reason we have been able to attract and retain extremely talented teachers. To see what our teachers were up to on a recent professional development day, click here.
Just consider the range of enriched experiences our faculty has received over the last couple of years alone:
- For three consecutive summers, we have sent an average of 12 faculty members to the renowned week-long intensive teacher’s conference at Harvard Project Zero, where our Head of School has had a research and teaching affiliation for 25 years.
- We have sent faculty to the summer week-long conference at Teacher’s College in NYC on the teaching of reading and writing through the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, led by Lucy Calkins.
- We sent four teachers to the Reggio Emilia Study Tour, held at the famous preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
- When we made a school-wide change to adopt the TERC Investigations math program, we hosted a week-long training for our K-6 teachers and teachers from other schools so that our teachers would have an immersion program to ensure their preparation.
- In keeping with our commitment to diversity, we hosted workshops for faculty, students, and parents through Gender Spectrum, an organization that educates people on gender formation and identity with a specific focus on helping others develop appreciation for, and acceptance of, the fluidity of roles and the confusion that children may have related to their own gender identification.
- We sent several administrators to a local conference on creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for students of color and of different economic backgrounds;
- Also in keeping with our commitment to understanding the diversity of learners and the underlying learning processes, the school has retained consultant Dr. Chuck Ahern, Professor of Neuropsychology at Holy Names University, to provide workshops and consultation to faculty and parents on strategies for providing the optimal conditions for learning for most children.
- We have also retained the services of consultant Catherine Bronnert, who has done workshops for our faculty and parents on providing optimal conditions for creating responsive, positive classrooms along with strategies for positive discipline, parenting, and classroom management.
- A number of faculty have also participated in All Kinds of Minds training, workshops on brain development & its implications for learning; workshops on education for sustainability; Facing History and Ourselves history training for middle school; and workshops on science education.
