While encouraging and supporting the guidelines of NCLB, Gloucester Township Schools has strived to move in a more positive and challenging direction in providing high-quality professional development in various ways. As the district embraces its movement from Good to Great, the Professional Development (PD) Committee, building administrators, and supervisors have worked extremely hard to provide more job embedded and sustained PD opportunities.
With so many new initiatives, we continuously plan for opportunities and collegial endeavors to assist our teachers. through In an Hours, workshops, Demonstration Classrooms, professional movies, Summer Institute, school wide book clubs, and our in-service days. Our staff has experienced increased content knowledge, improved classroom management skills, and improved instructional strategies. All of these opportunities have ultimately made a positive impact on student learning, equalized instruction for our diverse population of learners, and offered advancement toward district curricular needs.
With the addition of our seven Instructional Coaches, the bar has been raised even higher on professional development. The coaches provide workshops and lessons both in and out of the classroom using the latest research, offering many excellent PD opportunities throughout the district. Additionally, our teachers are encouraged to attend out of district workshops. Many times these teachers then turn-key what they have experienced by providing workshops to our staff. Gloucester Township prides itself on its extensive repertoire of professional development offerings.
Gloucester Township has been recognized both state-wide and nationally for its commitment to building a framework to support and retain highly qualified teachers. The district advocates an intensive induction process with the belief that this support will have an enduring impact on new teachers in Gloucester Township. It is the district vision to successfully guide, nurture, and assist novice teachers to reach their full potential by empowering them with support, skills, strategies and confidence to meet educational and collegial challenges.
During the last week in August, a three day ardent orientation program takes place. New staff receives information including curriculum, classroom management techniques and survival strategies as well as a guided bus tour around the district and a crash course on the “Way We Do It Around Here”. Additionally, the new staff has the opportunity to meet all district level administrators and supervisors. Newly hired teachers are broken into grade levels and subjects with time allotted for information on Special Education regulations, technology, and state mandated programs. On the last day of orientation, the new teachers meet their district trained mentors and enjoy a luncheon sponsored by the Gloucester Township Teachers’ Association.
In addition to the three day Orientation, the new Gloucester Township teachers meet with the District Supervisor of Staff Development three additional times during the year as a group. This encourages group and administrative support and promotes collegiality.
S.O.S., (Support on Site) is one more arena of support offered to new staff. S.O.S. is a monthly meeting facilitated by an exemplary veteran staff member. Discussions and guidelines include: Back to School Night, Parent Teacher Conferencing, Co-teaching, Differentiated Instruction, I & RS, and many other relevant topics pertaining to teaching. Instructional Coaches are also available for academic and management support.
Teachers who are hired in Gloucester Township proudly wish to remain in Gloucester Township.
