To facilitate effective pedagogy in a changing world, teachers must be lifelong learners. Trinity-Pawling faculty can find opportunities for Professional Development in various forms through an initiative put forth by the Trinity-Pawling Board of Trustees. Amy Foster holds the key to this funding — a generous budget — and sends almost all faculty to at least two opportunities for Professional Development every year. These opportunities include off-campus conferences and seminars, and recently, online databases.
Trinity-Pawling is a member of both OESIS (Online Education Strategies for Independent Schools), and NYSAIS (New York State Association of Independent Schools). The advantage of these resources comes in the accessible and collaborative nature of an online database. With both live video seminars and a catalogue of past objectives, a busy teacher can pursue Professional Development whenever they are able. Any Professional Development directly benefits the community as a whole; as one teacher learns they directly influence their students, and then other students as they share novel methods and ideology with Trinity-Pawling faculty.
Headmaster Taylor says that there is value in continued learning for any teacher, from those in their first year to those in their thirtieth. Highlights from this year include an annual Classroom Management conference held by NYSAIS at Trinity-Pawling School. New faculty at Trinity-Pawling attended the conference, where they learned and reflected with teachers from over 25 Independent Schools in New York. The LEAD Program cohort attended The International Dyslexia Association’s annual Dyslexiacon in October, and school administrators learned at the OESIS Boston Convention earlier this month. An innovative school must grow from the top down, thanks to Bill Taylor, the Board of Trustees, Amy Foster, and all of the hard work faculty give in and out of the classroom.
by Cyrus Rothwell-Ferraris