Professional Development for Education Partners

The School and Community Partnerships Department is committed to offering supports that build the capacity of community-based organizations and schools to align their work and effectively and authentically partner.

The planned supports are guided by our Professional Development Advisory Committee, which includes community-based organizations, the City of Seattle, Seattle Public Schools (SPSSeattle Public Schools), and feedback from partners. Some opportunities are designed only for community-based organization staff and volunteers, while others are open to both to school staff and partners.

Please note that we will continue adding trainings and partner check-ins throughout the year, and will announce those updates through our community partner email. If you would like to be added to this monthly email, please send an email to us at communitypartnerships@seattleschools.org.  

2021-22 Professional Development Calendar for Partners

Please register here for individual PD sessions!  At this time our workshops are remote. You can sign up for multiple workshops through this link. Please see the dates, time, and audience level below. Link for registration can be found here: Professional Development Registration 

Register here for individual PD sessions.  At this time our workshops are remote. You can sign up for multiple workshops through this link. Please see the dates, time, and audience level below.  

You will be sent a link and email confirmation within 48 hours of signing up.

Introduction to Mindfulness for Educators 

How can we create an environment for your students that is healing-centered and builds in mindfulness practices? In this workshop, we will present a framework around four ways to cultivate mindful environments by: Creating your own mindfulness and compassion practices, sharing with students authentically and focused on relationships, building in practices with rhythm and repetition, and providing space for regulating the nervous system.  
Date: Friday, January 21 Postponed to February 18
Time: 9:30 AM- 12:30 PM 
Audience: Staff at All Levels of the Organization  
Host: Space Between, Tai Mattox & Kim Armstrong 

Get into Leadership Lane (Rescheduled from Fall) 

Were you recently promoted? Are you struggling as a new manager? Do you want to better understand your leadership style personally or professionally? Does your team feel discombobulated? Has it been a while since  you dusted off your leadership manual or listened to a leadership podcast? Then it is time to take your best leadership skills out of park and put them in drive. 

If you said or thought yes to any one of these questions “Get into the Leadership Lane” is for you. Leadership Lane is a leadership expose’ that will discuss the basics of leadership, why core values are important to you as a leader, different leadership styles and tips for overcoming leadership difficulty. This timely talk on leadership is just what you need to reinvigorate your leader style, make course corrections and be the empowered leader you want to be. 
Date: Thursday, February 10th  
Time: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM 
Audience: Managers, Leaders, or people aspiring to a leader/manager role 
Host: Kimberly Lee, ReWa 

Social Emotional Learning & Educator Self Care 

Description to Come! 
Date: Thursday, March 10th  
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 
Audience: Staff at All Levels of the Organization  
Host: Liz Ryan, Education Facilitator & Coach 

More than Being Calm: Mindfulness for Implicit Bias 

Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment with compassion and curiosity, and a step towards a shift in our hearts and the way that we perceive the world around us. Research shows that mindful awareness practices help us uncover our implicit bias and unconscious ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. 
 
This session will include breakout groups for small discussions and two affinity groups led by Space Between facilitators, one for participants who identify as BIPOC and one for white identifying participants.   
Date: Thursday, April 28 
Time: 9:30 AM- 12:30 PM 
Audience: Staff at All Levels of the Organization  
Host: Space Between, Tai Mattox & Kim Armstrong 
 
Other upcoming opportunities, still in the works: 
Training from Family Engagement Department from SPSSeattle Public Schools 
Training from Department of Racial EquityRacial Equity is the condition that would be achieved if one's racial Advancement from SPSSeattle Public Schools. 

Workshop Topics

The workshops in Professional Development Calendar for Partners are aligned with the Seattle Public Schools strategic plan Seattle Excellence. You’ll find workshops in the following categories:

Guiding Questions for Selecting Learning Opportunities

As you review the professional learning opportunities, here are some questions to consider:

• What do I need to know to create a strengths-based learning environment for all students?
• What are my core beliefs and underlying biases about student learning, and in what ways do I need to shift my beliefs and practices to better serve youth?
• What skills will support me in building positive and caring relationships with every child?
• How might I support, facilitate, and contribute to partnerships that are centering students furthest from educational justice?

Registering Groups of Staff

Our professional development calendar is meant to support the rich diversity of community-based organizations serving SPSSeattle Public Schools youth, including organizations big and small providing services in schools and off site. We encourage each organization to limit your number of registrants to 5 or fewer so that we can be sure that many organizations have the opportunity to benefit from these trainings.

If you represent a large organization and are in need of training for more than 5 of your staff members , please contact Jill Leahy at jkleahy@seattleschools.org 

Leading a Workshop

If you or someone from your organization is interested in leading or facilitating a workshop please email Jill Leahy at jkleahy@almarkishtumseattleschools-org

Partner Resource Library

Our School and Community Partnerships team values learning and growing our practice, and we know you do too! Our resource library contains books that we would love to share with partners. Use this form to select a book that you would like to borrow and how to best get it to you, and we will reach out through email to confirm the details. Our suggested timeframe for a borrowed item is 6 weeks to accommodate others who may have interest in an item. 

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Thank you to the members of the Professional Development Advisory Committee, including representatives from the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, School’s Out Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Housing Authority, Seattle Public Library, Seattle Public Schools, Southeast Seattle Education Coalition, Youth Development Executives of King County, and youth-serving organizations that partner with Seattle Public Schools who informed the development of this calendar.