October is National Principals Month and the Portland Public Schools is taking this opportunity to shine a spotlight on our principals and also on our lead teachers at Reiche Elementary School, a teacher-led school. All of them are super. We celebrate and appreciate them not only this month but always! To showcase them, we have asked our principals and lead teachers to answer some questions about themselves and their leadership role. 
We're featuring each principal and lead teacher individually during this month. Read on to learn more about Super Lead Teacher Anne Dalphin:

Reiche Elementary School (a teacher-led school)

Lead Teacher Anne Dalphin

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I have been with Portland Public Schools since I became a teacher 20 years ago, after substitute teaching and working as an ed tech for many years. I taught third, fourth and fifth grade at Presumpscot Elementary School, where I fell in love with expeditionary teaching and service learning. I was honored to become a National Board Certified Teacher over the years I was at Presumpscot. When COVID hit, I stepped out of my classroom teaching role and became the lead teacher of the one-year-only online program called Remote Academy. We had over 600 students enrolled with us, and brought on many Portland teachers and ed techs to help teach remotely for the 2020-2021 school year. We all worked hard to build an online community through the pandemic. Once we all returned to in-person instruction, I became the lead teacher at Reiche School. This is my third year here, and I'm loving it!

2) What inspired you to become a lead teacher?

I was inspired by the teachers who worked with us in Remote Academy, pushing their limits and tech skills to try to reach students through the computers. I saw so much growth in each teacher, who knew what they wanted to accomplish, but had none of the usual tools they were used to. The way they innovated and created new systems to reach kids was an inspiration. I realized that teachers will do whatever works for kids, whatever it takes, and I was so proud to help support that work! I continue to be humbled by the great work the teachers and students do at Reiche every day, and I'm proud to support it all!

3) What do you feel most passionate/excited about in your job?

Hiring new teachers and staff to be with our students is the most important part of my job – I love onboarding great new educators and staff! I also love supporting teachers, connecting with families, and sharing the great work we are doing in our weekly communications.