Professional Development for Educators Promotes Student Success

Most educators spend more time with kids than adults! Whether it is a workshop, a conference, or a meeting, it is important for our teachers to participate in some form of professional development to network with other professionals and grow in their craft outside of the classroom. Continuing education is an avenue for both career growth and academic growth for our students.

Research has proven that the more professional development educators get, the more likely students are to succeed. Just like any other occupation, it’s important for our educators to set career goals and to work with their deans to stay on track.

The list below highlights just a few of the many professional development opportunities our educators have participated in over the last six months:

-Many of our Upper School educators participated in Advanced Placement Summer Institute trainings and ACT workshops.

-All of our Early Childhood lead teachers and director attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference.

-Our administrators, development and admissions team members attended the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) Annual Conference.

-Our Learning Specialists participated in the Structured Literacy Institute at The Bodine School.

-Our SDS School Counselor attended the International Boys School Coalition Regional Conference.

-Our librarians took part in the Tennessee Association of School Librarians conference.

-Our campus was closed one day in November so that educators from every division (95 in all) could participate in and present at the Tennessee Association of Independent School (TAIS) Annual Conference.

In addition to these outstanding opportunities, each division holds weekly meetings and workshops to help us better utilize and evaluate existing programs. Faculty share their experiences and new knowledge, gained through outside courses and events, at these meetings as well. In this way, each professional development opportunity can have a sustained impact-far beyond the event itself.

Every member of our faculty and staff participates in webinars and workshops designed for their areas. Campus-wide, we all participate regularly in required health and safety trainings, both online and in-person.

Investing in our educators is an investment in our students. The generous annual fund donations from our community and the hard work our administrators put into aggressively pursuing grant money and title funding (Title IIa and Title IVa, both available to private schools for professional development) make these opportunities possible.

Professional development experiences are currently being planned for the remainder of the year, beginning in February with the SAIS Curriculum Symposium. We believe we have the best educators around, we support them, and we love to watch them take on new challenges, succeed, and grow our students!