Our teachers didn't take a break from learning this summer. During June, July and August, faculty and staff pursued a wide range of professional development opportunities to bring new skills and fresh ideas back to their classrooms for the new school year.

Science and Environmental Education

Randi Schlosser spent June 29–July 1 at the Teachers on the Estuary: Georgia Sea Turtle Conservation Workshop. The hands-on experience included expert-led sessions on sea turtle biology and estuarine ecosystems, along with guided nighttime beach walks to observe nesting activity.

Richard Parks took part in the Tennessee Aquarium's River Teachers 2026 Program (July 21–23), an immersive look at aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. Educators collected and identified freshwater macroinvertebrates and fish, gaining classroom-ready standards-aligned resources for place-based watershed learning.

Literacy and Language Instruction

Several teachers completed the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education's (ISME) Orton-Gillingham training, a 30-hour, Science of Reading–based course covering phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding and fluency. Ashley Beck and Jessica McNeel completed the K–2 training in June, and Abigail Cuthbertson completed it in August. Jasmine White completed the related Morphology+ training (July 6–10), which deepened instruction in word structure, prefixes, suffixes and roots.

Math Instruction

Amy Boyanton attended Lindamood-Bell's On Cloud Nine Mathematics training (July 29–30), which focuses on building number sense and mathematical reasoning through visualizing and language-based instructional strategies.

Handwriting and Early Literacy

Julie Rickert and Laci Bartholomew both attended Handwriting Without Tears courses in Atlanta on July 30, covering PreK readiness and writing and the K–2 handwriting curriculum, respectively, both emphasizing multisensory, hands-on techniques.

Classroom Culture and Behavior

Responsive Classroom's Three-Day Institute equipped educators with strategies for building community, boosting engagement and establishing consistent routines. Julie Rickert, Emily Hon, Chandler Patrick, Karen Thompson, and Kaila Mandeville attended the in-person institute at Ensworth School in Nashville (July 7–9), while Jennifer Wood completed the virtual version later in July.

Carrie Whitaker and Sheila Cleek attended TAIS's "Preparing Your Classroom for Learning Readiness" workshop with occupational therapist Heidi Tringali on July 27, exploring how student, self and space factors influence learning readiness and self-regulation.

Writing Curriculum

A large group of teachers, including Cindy Womack, Kaila Mandeville, Lindsay Wyatt, Denise Hurlbut, Jasmine White, Abigail Cuthbertson, Karen Smith, Olivia Julian, Olivia Fine, Chandler Patrick, Jennifer Wood, and Kendra Reasor, attended the Being a Writer virtual course on August 12 to prepare for the rollout of the school's new writing curriculum.

Preparing for the New Year

As August closed, ECC teacher assistants, JPK/PreK teachers, and staff rounded out their preparation with a Beginning of the Year meeting, JPK/PreK licensing training and a "Big Feels" Social-Emotional Learning webinar led by Brittany Williams-Higgins '98 and Kendra Reasor, focused on helping young children understand and manage big emotions.

Staff Experiences

Sami Lord attended Independent School Management's advancement summer institute in Washington D.C. She spent a week learning about independent school fundraising from the nation's fundraising experts. 

Deanna Luna attended the Southern Association of Independent Schools' Small Schools Summit, a specialized event designed for administrators of small independent schools. Some of the key topics were financial stability, operational strategies and governance.

 

From sea turtles to sentence structure, this summer's professional development reflects our teachers' ongoing commitment to growth, ensuring students benefit from the very latest in research-based instruction this fall.