After the Board approves the Instructional Calendar each year, our office creates this document to communicate professional development days, including optional Campus Time Equivalency (CTE) dates. A separate email outlines the CTE process for principals.
Our office posted the 2025-26 professional development days on the shared Outlook Professional Learning Calendar for your reference and convenience. You can easily access the Outlook Calendar for administrators in just a few simple steps. Here are the steps.
PHASE 3: REFLECT & EVALUATE GOALS
(EOY Conferences must be completed by May 2)
The final component of the continuous improvement process is an end-of-year conference that is held between the appraiser and the teacher. The intent of the conference is to provide an opportunity for the appraiser and teacher to discuss goal progress and how the professional development in which the teacher engaged supported the goal.
Pursuant to the TAC 150, an end-of-year conference shall be held within a time frame specified on the school district calendar, no later than 15 business days before the last day of instruction for students (May 2). The procedural timeline must be adhered to and may not be waived by the teacher or the appraiser.
CF-TESS appraiser calibration efforts help appraisers ensure fidelity and results for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA). With this in mind, we are offering an opportunity for appraisers to engage in districtwide calibration efforts, allowing evaluators and leaders to check their practices with one another.
CF-TESS Calibration Labs
Between now and February 28, campus appraisers have the opportunity to engage in Calibration Labs to help ensure inter-rater reliability across the district while fostering campus appraisal team discussions about how each appraiser rated the observed lesson. The calibration event will be facilitated through My Learning in CFPGS. Appraisers have been auto-enrolled in a Calibration Lab for their respective grade levels (elementary or secondary).
- Elementary Appraisers are enrolled in Session #60855
- Secondary Appraisers are enrolled in Session #60856
DATE: February 8 (9 - 11 AM)
DESCRIPTION: The emotional control center in the brain, also known as the amygdala, can hijack the prefrontal cortex of our students’ brains, negatively impacting their learning. In this two-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will calm the amygdala to facilitate higher-order thinking and start the process of encoding our content into long-term memory.
DATE: February 22 (9 - 11 AM)
DESCRIPTION: Do you find yourself telling your students over and over to “Pay attention!”? Guess what? They ARE paying attention ALL THE TIME…to the most exciting thing in the room at any given moment. Is it you? Your lessons? Your activities? If not, have no fear! In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will capture and hold the working memory of our students, so that their attention is focused on our content.
*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade”.
DATE: February 22 (1 - 3 PM)
DESCRIPTION: How often do you ask students to recall something that you taught a day or two earlier, only to hear them say, “I have no idea what you are talking about!”? The part of the brain called the hippocampus plays a critical role in short- and long-term memory retention. In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will help our students’ brains keep our content and remember it longer. In Quantum Learning, we call these strategies “feeding the hippo”.
*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade.”
DATE: April 12 (9 - 11 AM)
DESCRIPTION: Let’s explore how to create a more positive and engaging classroom atmosphere by creating a “home court advantage” and incorporating meaningful traditions. Traditions foster a sense of community, promote student participation, and help students feel valued and connected. Participants will leave with actionable ideas to introduce or refresh traditions in their own classrooms, ultimately strengthening the culture and deepening student relationships.
DATE: April 26 (9 - 11 AM)
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever had students respond to a situation with “It’s not my fault,” “I didn’t do that,” or some other statement that shows they may lack ownership of their actions? In this session, we’ll focus on a meaningful tool called “The Line” that can help students take responsibility for their choices and, therefore, inspire accountability. We’ll explore ways to teach “The Line” to students by establishing clear expectations and how to keep it an integral part of our classroom culture. Doing this will equip students with essential life skills for the future and create an atmosphere of increased trust and empowerment.
DATE: April 26 (1 - 3 PM)
DESCRIPTION: Are you interested in strategies that reduce behavior problems in the classroom, while also enhancing cognition? Then this is the session for you! Join us to experience effective strategies for capturing and maintaining student attention. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of practical approaches for not only getting students’ attention but keeping them focused, and actively participating. Whether you teach young learners or high school students, this session will provide you with ways to instantly transform classroom engagement – both behavioral and cognitive.
Principals and DIs
In an effort to ensure all professional development credits earned toward CTE/DTE are accurately reflected on teacher transcripts, the Office of Professional Learning is in the process of reconciling CTE/DTE credits for teachers who did not earn the required credits and who have not yet reconciled these credits.
