District staff reported that new staff orientation runs two to three days (three days for special education staff) and that fall workshop is a five‑day program divided between building and district time. The district said orientation and fall workshop together are intended to build networks of support among teachers, provide role‑specific professional learning and distribute key updates such as grading‑scale changes, guidance on AI and cell phones, and other policy items.
Presenters said the orientation program offered about 30 differentiated pathways this year and that fall workshop provided 68 options based on job role; staff said roughly 2,800 employees participated in fall workshop. The presenter credited teacher leaders, administrators and operational teams for logistics and singled out Doctor Janet Cook, Kim Rice and Laura Plas as leads on new staff orientation and Jody Grossi and Doctor Courtney Matulka for district workshop coordination.
The district noted compliance with Rule 10 professional‑learning requirements; staff said Rule 10 requires a minimum of 10 hours and that Millard routinely provides well above the minimum. The district also reported positive feedback from staff about the relevance of workshop content and described the kickoff that brought the whole Millard staff together as an infrequent but successful morale event. Board members praised the scale of planning and thanked the teams involved in delivering the week of activities.