Exceptional teachers help create exceptional students. Research suggests that “teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling.” For this reason, Fairmont prioritizes on-going professional development to ensure our teachers are continually expanding their knowledge and skills, enabling them to bring their “A+ game” into the classroom each and every day.

During the weeks leading up to the school year, our faculty logged a total of over 2,000 hours of professional development! On average, each teacher received 12-15 hours of training to help prepare them for the start of school. Here are some of the areas they covered:

• Remote learning best practices and student engagement
• COVID safety practices
• Social-emotional learning and trauma-informed instruction
• Technology training, including Zoom best practices, SWIVL®, and Nearpod®
• School systems — Canvas, Seesaw and Blackbaud
• IXL personalized learning (differentiation) platform
• Positive discipline

Beyond this training, many teachers also took time out of their summer to pursue professional development on their own, and to participate in “lunch and learn” sessions offered by Fairmont.

Now that school is in session, our faculty meets each Friday in their campus-specific professional learning community to collaborate, learn, and plan together. This includes examining student data, differentiation, and making sure our students’ social-emotional needs are being met.

Fairmont teachers are exceptionally dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to educate themselves in order to better-educate their students. They are lifelong learners who seek to pass along a love of learning to their students. In essence, they are the embodiment of the saying, “Teachers have 3 loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two together.” (Scott Hayden)