LENOX — Superintendent Dr. William Collins would like to share the success of the District’s recent professional development days, which were set for the week of Thanksgiving this year, allowing Lenox families a week-long break from school.
Lenox school administrators, staff and faculty gathered at Lenox Memorial Middle High School on Nov. 25 and 26 for the District’s annual professional development days. This year, Lenox Public Schools piloted a variation on the traditional schedule. The District’s professional development days were scheduled back-to-back on the two days before Thanksgiving break, allowing Lenox students, parents, and guardians a full week off.
In a survey of school families, 80 percent favored continuing with a week-long Thanksgiving break for students. Many Lenox parents and guardians stressed their gratitude for the additional days, noting the benefits of more family time, easier travel planning, and eliminating the need to take off school days.
“Travel was much less stressful and felt a lot safer due to being able to leave way before the usual busy days before Thanksgiving,” one parent said.
Another shared, “We really appreciated having the entire week off. We were able to have more family time and with family we aren’t normally able to see with a three-day off schedule. Thank you for trying this and I hope it continues in the future.”
In a role reversal, Lenox administrators, faculty and staff sat at the desks within LMMHS classrooms to focus on improving their strategies for promoting academic excellence and student well-being.
Over the two days, staff selected their schedules from among 53 sessions covering 22 unique topics, including empowering educators with instructional tools, artificial intelligence in education, co-teaching, pedagogy of educational equity, culturally and linguistically responsive instruction, unconscious bias in the classroom, the impact of childhood trauma, instructional tools to empower educators, and many more.
Phil Fogelman, founder of Changemakers for Good, offered a training on “Building a Culture of Belonging in School,” a main focus of Lenox Public Schools’ continued efforts to create a “Brave and Safe Space” culture over the past few years.
Other presenters included Dr. Darcy Fernandes, Senior Associate Commissioner for DESE, Dr. Tracey Benson, CEO and founder of The Anti-Racism Leadership Institute, Jessica Bazinet, Educator Preparation Literacy Specialist for DESE, childhood trauma expert Dr. James Levine, and many more, including several educators from both Morris and LMMHS.
To view the full course offerings and presenter biographies list, click here.
In a follow-up survey of participants, more than 80 percent gave four or five stars to continuing to take two days back-to-back for in-depth professional development. Participants also indicated, with a three-to-one margin, a preference for utilizing the two days before Thanksgiving break when scheduling future professional development.
“It was incredibly meaningful to have a room full of colleagues to talk about and understand one another better. The time is invaluable to discuss these important topics together in a safe space with a professional,” one educator shared.
Another educator said, “I loved being able to select what I was interested in and that I was given time to dig into topics that were relevant to me.”
“It really seems like combining the PD days allowed the district to offer a greater selection of options for staff than we have gotten at two separate days spread over the year,” a different educator stated.
Other participants expressed how much they enjoyed the variety of presenters and having multiple sessions each day, while some regretted that they had to choose and could not have attended more workshop sessions.
Superintendent Collins stated, “This was a trial run to see if offering a variety of Lenox-specific professional development presentations over two days of back-to-back professional development would better meet the needs of our educators, and ultimately the needs of our students. The majority of feedback from the educators has been appreciative of PD designed specifically to meet their needs and the needs of our students. They offered many ideas on how to make adjustments so that next year’s professional development is even better.
“I challenged the Admin Team to think outside the box and create two exceptional days that would set themselves apart from ordinary run-of-the-mill PD, and that is exactly what they did, in collaboration with a group of LPS educators. I could not be more pleased with the outcome or how these days resonated with the Lenox teachers and paraprofessionals who rolled up their sleeves and dug into the work. I hope that the broader Lenox community recognizes, and takes great pride in, the professionalism of our educators and administrators. I know I do!”
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Dr. Tracey Benson, CEO and founder of The Anti-Racism Leadership Institute, left, stands with Lenox staff during the District’s recent professional development days, which were set for the week of Thanksgiving this year. (Courtesy Lenox Public Schools) 
In a role reversal, Lenox staff members sit at desks in the classrooms at LMMHS during professional development sessions. (Courtesy Lenox Public Schools) 
Lenox staff members talk with each other during the professional development sessions. (Courtesy Lenox Public Schools) 
Staff members complete an activity as part of a workshop with Dr. Fernandes, Senior Associate Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (Courtesy Lenox Public Schools) 
Dr. Tracey Benson takes a selfie with Lenox staff during his workshop, “Pedagogy of Educational Equity: Strategies to Interrupt Unconscious Bias in the Classroom.” (Courtesy Lenox Public Schools)
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