•  

    District Professional Development Plan for the 2024-25 school year:

     

    As educators within the Verona Public Schools, our overarching goal is to continue to refine our classroom instruction and our professional practice in order to keep pace with the evolving expectations of the 21st century. Toward that end, we have established a framework for professional development that fosters the growth of professional learning communities within our schools.  
     
    A snapshot of our professional development for the 2024-25 school year is below:  

    Date

    Topic

    August 29

    Faculty Meetings, Prepare classrooms for students!

    September 27

    (full day)

    Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas/Social Justice 101 (select staff), FTEM Training, GCN Training, CPI Retraining, NetCE - Continuing Education Credits, DREAMS Training, Legal Session with Board Attorney

    October 14

    (two hours)

    Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas, English - Unit Revisions, Math - NJSLS Update, GCN Training, NetCE - Continuing Education Credits, AP Instructional Report Review

    October 31

    (two hours)

    Student Growth Objectives are due for NT, New Staff, Data Review (NJSLS, MAP, DRA, Acadience) - RTI, Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas, AP Instructional Report Review, GCN Training, NetCE - Continuing Education Credits

    November 7

    (full day)

    Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas, Social Justice 101 (select staff), Math Fluency Training - Grades 1/2, English Unit Revision - Grades K/3/4, Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas, HBW ELA Unit Revisions, HBW Math - NJSLS Revisions, VHS Math - NJSLS Revision, NetCE - Continuing Education Credits 

    February 8

    (two hours)

    Data Review (NJSLS, MAP, DRA, Acadience) - RTI, Unpacking Standards & Lesson Planning in Atlas, AP Instructional Report Review, GCN Training, NetCE - Continuing Education Credits

    March 5

    Ed Camp @ VHS

    March 27

    NJSLA Training @ Elementary & HBW, Unpacking NJSLS by departments @ VHS

     

    The district has also established a framework for monthly grade level and department meetings to foster collaboration across buildings.  The focus of these meetings will include such topics as:
    • Student test data analysis
    • Professional Book Clubs
    • Developing Student Growth Objectives
    • Unpacking NJSLS, creating learning targets, and writing lesson plans in Atlas
    • Reviewing, developing, and creating rigorous common assessments
    • Vertical alignment of curriculum
    • Development of collaborative units of study utilizing the UbD framework

    The goal of all of the aforementioned professional development initiatives is to enhance teaching and learning within the Verona Public Schools.