Looking to create safe, joyful, and engaging classrooms and school communities, Port Byron Central School District and Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES recently partnered for an exciting professional development opportunity.

Educators took part in a Responsive Classroom training, which is an approach to teaching that centers around social-emotional learning and evidence-based teaching practices. Katie Naples, Port Byron CSD’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said the training allowed the district to reflect on the fact that some of their youngest learners have been out of school for well over a year if they chose the remote option of learning.

“Students who came to school also did not have a ‘traditional’ school year. Moving into this year we wanted to ensure that our teachers have tools in order to welcome children back to school and tackle obstacles that may come their way after a year and a half of non-traditional education and stress that the pandemic may have caused some of our children,” said Naples.

Naples said Port Byron CSD is lucky to partner with Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES to welcome Patrick Shaw, a National Responsive Classroom trainer, to Port Byron for the four-day training.

“Teachers learned how to incorporate the Responsive Classroom practices, some of which included morning meetings, closing circles, interactive modeling, guided discovery, and much more. We are excited to continue to enhance our school community with the wealth of knowledge gained from the training this summer,” Naples said.