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Quincy Public Schools outlines expanded professional development: 132 offerings, district math and literacy initiatives
Summary
Superintendent and district leaders presented a midyear professional development update Jan. 8, saying the district offered 132 PD sessions this year, hosted a Professional Day of Learning with 70 presenters and plans further math and literacy coaching, pilot curriculum reviews and parent academies.
District leaders presented a midyear update on Quincy Public Schools’ professional development program at the Jan. 8 meeting, highlighting a large Professional Day of Learning and ongoing initiatives in math, literacy and science.
Superintendent Dr. Perkins and the district PD team said the recent Professional Day of Learning included 132 offerings, 70 presenters and 30 Quincy educators who served as session presenters. The event brought together the district’s roughly 950 educators and included a keynote by author and teacher Matt Eicheldinger. Attendees completed feedback surveys; district staff said registration processes were adjusted this year to better match educators with sessions.
Math initiatives described include expanded support from consultants, a candidate review of middle-school core math programs (to potentially replace the existing “Big Ideas” program), continued rollout of ST Math in nine schools with foundation-sponsored PD days, pilot work with OpenSciEd in middle schools for science, and use of simulation platform Gizmos. Leaders described a multi-year approach that includes classroom observations, teacher coaching and site-based PD.
Literacy and ELA work highlighted a wide set of offerings: CKLA coaching and integration of writing strategies into content areas, morphology workshops for grades 3–8, leadership sessions on Amplify MCAS data for principals and assistant principals, and parent academies (upcoming parent sessions were listed for Jan. 21 and other dates). District staff also noted participation in national conferences (NCTE) and planned summer foundational math mini-courses for teachers.
Program leads said many PD activities are targeted (school-based offerings, grade-level teams) and include follow-up coaching, not one-off sessions. Staff stressed that PD planning is driven by a 24-member professional development planning team representing elementary, middle and high school educators and administrators.
Committee members commended the scope of work and asked whether social-emotional and DEI topics are included; staff said those topics were offered both at the Professional Day and as separate sessions (for example, Walker Therapeutics for middle-school staff). The presentation concluded with an overview of upcoming PD dates and a request that the committee continue to support staff attendance at conferences and professional learning.
No formal action or vote was taken; the presentation was informational.
