Darlington faculty members have the opportunity to submit proposals to receive funding from the Thatcher Faculty Development Fund and the Carla and Leonard Wood Distinguished Faculty Fellowship endowed grants. A committee reviews the proposals and decides which will be funded for the next academic year.
The purpose of these two grants is to fund projects that:
Support an employee’s professional growth and goals.
Enhance established programs, the educational engagement of students and employees, or the success of the school.
Support and achieve Darlington's Strategic Plan.
Twenty-five Thatcher Faculty Development proposals were awarded for the 2022-23 school year. The following are summaries of some of these grants:
Upper School Counselor and AP Psychology teacher Chris Allen will be attending the 2022 American School Counselor Association Annual Conference in Austin, Texas. This conference will provide him with the opportunity to enhance his school counseling knowledge, improve Darlington's school counseling program and network with other school counselors to collaborate on best practices in the field.
Upper School Chemistry teacher Jaclyn Haynes wants to help students better understand the connection between cooking and chemistry. She is using grant funds to purchase table top ovens and other cooking supplies that will allow chemistry classrooms to be adapted into test kitchens. Haynes will focus on developing lessons that will allow students to develop recipes and investigate the way the chemical structure of ingredients impacts the product using the Engineering Design Process.
Upper School Spanish instructor Reid Owens submitted a grant proposal to have him and several students participate in the Centro MundoLengua program in Spain. He feels this opportunity perfectly aligns with Darlington's vision that travel should impact students by giving them an immersive learning experience, allowing them to experience new places and a new culture, awakening their passions and promoting a global perspective.
Third-grade teacher Jamie Massey will attend Kagan Summer Academy: Elementary Literacy & Elementary Writing workshops. She will learn step-by-step teaching strategies designed to implement powerful learning principles and boost engagement for all learners. Massey believes this workshop will empower her with practical and proven tools to improve her ability to reach and teach students. She plans to share the information and strategies gleaned from the workshops with her PK-8 colleagues during a professional learning day or Lunch and Learn time.
Technology Integration Coordinator Beth Wardlaw has been invited to attend the Apple Learning Academy in Cupertino, Calif. She is excited about the opportunity to become an Apple Professional Learning Specialist/Apple Trainer. Wardlaw recently became an Apple Learning Coach. The Darlington Information Technology department plans to provide students with an opportunity to earn different Apple Certifications in the future. This training will assist in providing the tools that Wardlaw needs to make this happen.
Other faculty development funds will be used to focus on the following:
Professional development for the Pre-K to 5 math instructors using the new Math in Focus curriculum.
Training for current and new college advisors.
Continuing training for members of the Business Office.
Providing a wide range of professional development for new faculty members.
The Carla and Leonard Wood Distinguished Faculty Development grants fund larger, two-year projects, and two were awarded for the 2022-23 school year:
The Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs and AP Computer Science instructor Stefan Eady applied for and received a grant to improve Darlington’s academic leadership. The goal is to provide training for academic leaders that will assist them with better implementing our curriculum, managing our teachers, and generally creating an excellent student experience through our faculty. This project is to train and develop our academic leaders, specifically those that supervise our faculty and develop curriculum and overall academic direction and policies for the schools. This will have a direct impact on their ability to manage their new teams, so it will in turn affect every teacher on campus. Of course, the overall goal is ensuring the best possible experience for our students.
Director of Human Resources Carrie Eady received a Carla and Leonard Wood Distinguished Faculty Development grant to support faculty and staff through the development of a Community Wellness Program. This program will involve providing wellness activities and social events to assist with the physical and mental health of employees. This grant will assist with forming a Community Wellness Team to plan wellness challenges, social events and rewards and prizes. Keeping faculty happy and healthy is important to maintain retention and to attract new faculty members. Feedback from surveys has indicated our faculty members would like to have more organized social events and group health challenges so everyone can get to know one another better while staying healthy. This will allow faculty to be more engaged and committed to the school. Recently, a professional learning community group met to plan unique wellness and social events for Darlington employees that will begin when everyone returns in August.
Throughout the 2022-23 school year, grant recipients will have the opportunity to share what they have learned from their grants. They will do this by presenting information at faculty meetings, providing workshops and Lunch and Learns, recording podcasts, and writing blogs for the Darlington website.
