Portland Public Schools administrators gathered for their fourth annual administrative retreat at Southern Maine Community College the week of Aug. 10. The professional development event focuses on enhancing school leadership.
The theme of the three-day gathering this year was transitioning from competition to collaboration. Highlights included SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) professional development training and a sharing of school success plans by grade level. There also were sessions on Visible Learning for Teachers, led by Becky Foley, the district’s new chief academic officer; on the Great Schools Partnership’s iWalkthrough, a collaborative, technology-driven system for collecting and analyzing data on schoolwide instructional quality; and on supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered staff and students.