Most students see Professional Learning Days as a welcome break from the monotony of school: an extra day to sleep in, catch up on work, or simply relax. However, on March 28th (the week before last), as classrooms sat empty, teachers and staff were hard at work. These days, occurring once per semester, are opportunities for educators across all divisions to come together, reflect, and improve their practice. From analyzing student data and refining assessments to participating in safety training and collaborating with colleagues, professional development plays a crucial role in the quality of education we students receive, even if we may not realize it. I have interviewed with the director of Teaching and Learning, Ms. Bobbi Netzel, to learn more about such days.
Although Professional Learning Days happen across the entire school, much of the work being done is specific to each division. However, before this, all faculty come together for a whole-school meeting, led by our superintendent, Ms. Jane McGee, which centers around feedback received from members of the Graded community. After this, teachers break off into lower, middle, and high school groups, along with FOE, or Foundations of Excellence, which are the non-teaching staff. They include departments such as communications, admissions, finance, and more. Each division approaches the meetings differently: lower school teachers may refine how they design and assess student learning, middle school teams work on tracking and responding to student behavior, and high school teachers analyze data to better support students academically. This helps improve the quality of education we students receive every day behind the scenes.
Additionally, faculty safety training is another important aspect of these days. It is mandatory for all LS staff to be certified in first aid training, and these days are a good way to keep up on these certifications with minimal disruption. Child protection training is another key part of safety training, in which teachers were taught how to recognize if a child is in danger and how to handle or report it. After all meetings are complete, the whole staff participates in a lockdown drill, which furthers their emergency preparedness. On the importance of these days, Netzel says, “I think these are really important days to have because research and education is always changing, and these are the days that give us an opportunity to train the teachers in aspects that might be a little bit scary for young kids, like a lockdown drill [and] keeping up on our first aid training.” This highlights our school’s ongoing commitment to student safety, ensuring that staff are consistently prepared to respond effectively in any situation.
Outside consultants were also brought in to help. Dr. Derrick Gay, who some may remember from MS assemblies, attended the Professional Development Day as a guest speaker. As Netzel explained, “[Dr. Gay] talked about how to facilitate students in co-creating rubrics. So how can a high school teacher work with their class and have the students help create a rubric?” This highlights the school’s focus on student voice and engagement, which could shape the future of how we learn in class.
In summary, Professional Development Days are more than just a day off. They’re a way for teachers and staff to think about the way they teach and engage their students, as well as do activities that would be more difficult on regular school days, such as safety training and lockdown drills. The mere existence of these days shows that learning is still happening behind the scenes, as our staff work to improve the quality of education even when students aren’t in the classroom.
