Professional Development

The following are professional development sessions scheduled for the 2008-2009 school year:

• July: Salvadori Architecture training in NYC for our new art/social studies architecture program (8th grade)
• July 30 and August 22: SmartBoard training (on site) for all interested staff
• August 25: Everyday Mathematics (Wright Group) for all grades 1-4 math teachers and assistants
• August 26: Teachers College Reading Workshop for English Language Arts teachers, grades 1-5
• August 29: Social Skills Workshop for all Early Childhood staff led by Dr. Rivka Kramer
• September 2: Presentation by Michael Katz, MD,  - a neurologist's perspective in dealing with children who are "out of the box"
• September 23: Handwriting Without Tears workshop through the East Ramapo School District for teachers grades Nursery through 5.
• October 29: Tovah Lowenstein, one of our middle school ELA teachers, will attend the Bureau of Education and Research Professional Development on Best Books for Teens. 
• December 2: Jennah Schuh, Resource Room Coordinator, will be attending the "Succeeding with the Difficult Child" with Gary Benton in Newark, New Jersey.
• December 17: Mrs. Karben, Mrs. Borgen, and preschool teachers attended the Special Behavior Management workshop at the East Ramapo District Building.
• February 10: Rina Gilden, Lauren Karben, and Liz Nieves will be attending in Newark, New Jersey the "Units of Study Across the Year in an Intermediate Writing Workshop, Grades 3-5" by Lucy Calkins.
• Summer of 2009: Lauren Walling has been awarded a scholarship from Alaska Geographic and the Murie Science Center to participte in a teacher training and field seminar course in "Landscape Painting" in Denali National Park and Preserve. Alaska Geographic offers 15 field-based experiential courses which are small group intensives that expose teachers to science, research, and educational opportunities using the Denali ecosystem as their classroom. Participants stay at a remote field camp in Denali and explore the park by vehicle and hiking excursions. Professional development credit is awarded through the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Her post program goal is to incorporate the ecosystem and landscape of Alaska into a "plein air" painting course for students entering grades 7 & 8. The 2009-2010 curriculum will include: the introduction of oil and alkyd painting techniques, stretching and working with a canvas, outdoor painting techniques, and two outdoor fieldtrips combining hiking with painting scenes of the Hudson Valley.