Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Professional Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Watchung Hills presentations emphasize professional development, AI and internship growth
Summary
District administrators described a year of professional development focusing on wellness, differentiation and AI integration, announced a shift to the Desmos online graphing calculator to reduce student cost, and reported growth in career-internship placements for special-services students.
District administrators presented updates at the board meeting on professional development, curriculum tools and student opportunities, saying the work is tied to the district's strategic plan and continuous-improvement efforts.
The presentations highlighted three shared professional-development priorities for the year: wellness, differentiation and technology integration, including artificial-intelligence training. A district presenter said wellness work included new-employee orientation and coaching, and named Janine Dunn as a continuing facilitator of professional learning communities.
On differentiation and inclusion, speakers described sessions for teachers on tools such as DIFIT, college-admissions trends, universal-design practices and an Inclusion 101 workshop run through a New Jersey inclusive-education grant led by Laura Dimato. The special-services update noted an expansion of the career-internship program from about 8 students last year to 13 this year.
Mathematics and business departments outlined plans to increase shared assessments and integrate AI for data-driven curriculum decisions. A department speaker said the district's AI work uses Gemini and NotebookLN to analyze historical student performance and inform curriculum adjustments.
The business/math presenter also announced a planned transition to the Desmos online graphing calculator next year, citing equity and cost savings for families: the speaker noted that switching to Desmos will obviate the need for a $130 handheld Texas Instruments calculator for many students.
Science and STEM-related presenters described field experiences (including a Sandy Hook marine-science trip), student science-fair recognitions and goals to align instruction with science-and-engineering practices while piloting AI tools to enhance lessons.
Taken together, speakers framed the updates as aligned to ongoing strategic-plan work and described sustained professional learning for staff. The board did not vote on policy changes tied to these presentations; the session consisted of informational updates and next-step planning.
