A Simple Practice Fueling Our Unending Pursuit of Academic Excellence

Every Friday, our teachers dismiss students early so they work on their craft.

At ICS, we take our mission seriously and boast of being a Christ-centered learning community that equips and inspires students to thrive in God’s world. As educators, we know we, too, are lifelong students who must continually seek to learn and grow. With this mindset, we enter our professional development times on Friday afternoons.

What Happens on “Early Out Fridays” anyway?

Once Carline is over and the upper school students have wrapped up chapel time, our teachers gather to learn. With laughter and a few snacks, we assemble to equip and inspire each other intentionally so our teachers can thrive in their educational vocation.

Our professional development time often begins with an Opening Circle, a teaching protocol designed to help build connection and community. We share encouragements, struggles, surprises, and successes with each other. In doing so, we connect as professionals in our shared devotion to teaching.

The rest of the hour is spent in a variety of educational activities. We might explore the concepts of Teaching for Transformation (TfT) a bit deeper:  discussing FLEx, Throughlines, and Deep Hope. We may take an online instructional course, like CPR or suicide prevention. We may tackle writing student surveys. The best is when we learn from the experts:  each other! We visit colleagues’ classrooms; we collaborate on projects, brainstorm ideas, and improve our craft. We feed our growth mindset.

Recent Topics For our Teacher Professional Development:

• CPR Training

• Suicide Prevention Training

• Mentorship Time

• Teacher Evaluation Practices

• Student Surveys

• TfT: FLEx

• TfT: Throughlines

• TfT: Instruction for New Teachers

• Protocols: Gallery Walks, Reflection, Tuning Protocols, etc.

• Curriculum Work

• How Not to Lose Your Mind with your “Challenging” Class

• Transforming the Classroom Through Multimodal Teaching

• Teaching and Work-Life Balance

• Asking Beautiful Questions

We want to thank you for supporting our professional growth! When you pick your kids up early on Friday afternoon, you help us develop and hone our skills. We are deeply committed to our calling and desire to become the best educators we can be for your children. Our time on Fridays is one way we are equipped to do so!