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Torrance Unified adopts "Portrait of a Graduate" framework to guide curriculum and skills work
Summary
After multi‑year community engagement, the board unanimously approved a five‑element Portrait of a Graduate intended to align curriculum, professional development and student work to durable skills such as growth mindset, communication, leadership, healthy habits and civic engagement.
Dr Stow presented the "Portrait of a Graduate," a framework developed through focus groups, business‑community outreach and district workshops, and the board voted to adopt the framework in open session.
The document outlines five essential elements — growth mindset and lifelong learning; communication and collaboration; leadership and character; healthy habits and life skills; and civic engagement and global citizenship — and proposes implementation steps including an August professional‑development launch for site leaders, slide decks for principals, and the eventual use of student digital portfolios to document development.
"This is a unifying vision for our curriculum and instruction," Dr Stow said, citing years of community engagement and alignment with regional practices. Board members praised the framework as a way to validate existing work and to highlight gaps to address across grade levels.
The board approved the motion to adopt the Portrait of a Graduate framework by unanimous voice vote and instructed staff to begin rollout planning for the 2024–25 school year, including communications to sites and integration into teacher professional development materials.
Next steps listed by staff include preparing materials for site leaders, producing a launch video, and monitoring early implementation to identify alignment gaps across grade levels and content areas.
