We place an enormous emphasis on professional development because we know that a school where adults are growing professionally and pursuing their interests is much more likely to be a place where students are also growing and learning with enthusiasm. Similarly, a school where adults are working together and learning from one another also becomes a more collaborative and exciting place for students.
To support such adult growth, Nashoba Brooks offers faculty and staff a wide range of professional development opportunities, both in-house and outside of school. In-house professional work takes many forms but is focused primarily on bringing teachers together to consider issues of pedagogy and/or curriculum. In recent years, our school’s focus on diversity and character education has been a particularly vital part of our in-house professional development, as has our expansion of opportunities to observe and discuss one another’s lessons. Out of school professional development opportunities include participation in local, regional and national conferences, as well as visits to nearby schools and mini-sabbaticals to pursue a particular passion over the summer.
Sample PD, On-Campus
Our three yearly professional development days bring to campus experts in a particular area or work together to advance a program goal. On a recent PD Day, humanities teachers explored the use of process writing with an expert from the Bard Institute for Writing and Thinking. On another day, faculty worked together toward the development of a cohesive, PS-8 Service Learning Program, creating more fine-tuned thematic service projects at each grade level.
Sample PD, Off-Campus
In addition to participating in/leading professional workshops and conferences, teachers are encouraged to extend their expertise in a variety of ways. Last summer, one of the World Language teachers participated in an intensive language course in Mexico as she prepared to teach a new Spanish class to sixth graders. Teachers are also encouraged to apply for our Mini-Sabbatical Program. Recipients have traveled everywhere from New Zealand to Belize, advancing their interest in a discipline or in a particular part of the world, bringing that knowledge and those experiences back to enrich the school.