Miss Porter's School • 60 Main Street • Farmington, CT 06032 • 860-409-3500 • admission@missporters.org
Miss Porter's School • 60 Main Street • Farmington, CT 06032 • 860-409-3500 • admission@missporters.org
At Miss Porter’s School, we have made sweeping and ambitious changes in a short period of time to our schedule, grading system, and curriculum. We have experienced the pain points of rapid, innovative school change, and we want to share our network of experts and all that we have learned!
We offer year-round, professional development opportunities to do a deep dive into every aspect of school change, including shifting to competency-based curriculum development, mastery learning, assessment, changing your school’s schedule, and more.
We invite you to join us at our next workshop to connect with like-minded educators, become part of a professional learning community, and find innovative pathways to successfully navigating your and your institution’s challenges.
Bring your leadership team and join us this summer at Miss Porter’s School centrally located in Farmington, CT for a four-day, two-session workshop series focused on school change.
Location: Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT
Lodging: Must book your own lodging; suggested hotels are the Farmington Inn, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and the Marriott Courtyard Farmington.
We encourage you to bring a team of leaders and teachers from your school so that you can work collaboratively and benefit the most from these workshops.
Dates: Monday, July 14 – Tuesday, July 15, 2025
This workshop is designed for educational leaders who believe that traditional educational models no longer suffice in preparing students for the complexities of the modern world and who genuinely want to make bold changes to their schools. School leaders who powerfully articulate a vision for a more progressive, student-centered, authentic, and engaging educational experience remain faced with tremendous obstacles standing in the way of the substantive and lasting changes needed to make that vision a reality. Thus, this workshop is designed to give school leaders insight into the on-the-ground challenges posed by bold and progressive school change.
In this workshop, we will examine challenges faced in implementing school change and learn how to get around, past, over, or through them. We’ll focus on change in the following three areas:
Flexible scheduling to accommodate more engaging learning experiences, prioritizing depth over breadth.
Interdisciplinary and project-based curriculum that is relevant to students and focuses on real-world issues.
Authentic assessment methods that emphasize mastery over memorization and growth over grades.
We’ll delve into challenges posed by each of the following constituencies: faculty, students, families, and alumni, while also acknowledging the important partnerships needed with your communications, admissions, and college offices.
You’ll hear from educational thought leaders, learn from the stories of those engaged in this transformative work, and hear from organizations that support schools in championing and implementing educational change. This workshop will also present an opportunity for coalition building that will provide valuable support networks for school leaders looking to pioneer educational innovation. Ultimately, you will be inspired and more prepared to do the hard work of making your school a dynamic hub of forward-thinking educational practices that will prepare students to live socially productive and fulfilling lives. Participants will leave the workshop with a multi-year “road map” for school change.
We encourage you to bring a team of leaders and teachers from your school so that you can work collaboratively on your road maps.
| Day 1 | 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | Day 2 | 8:15 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. |
|---|---|
| Registration | Breakfast |
| Welcome & Introduction | Keynote Address – Obstacles and Allies |
| Discussion | Constituent Focus 1 – Faculty |
| Keynote Address – Finding Your North Star | Constituent Focus 2 – College Counseling |
| Activity #1 – What’s Your North Star | Panel Discussion with School Leaders |
| Lunch | Lunch |
| Focus Area 1 – Schedule | Activity #3 – Developing a Road Map for Change |
| Focus Area 2 – Curriculum | Sharing of Road Maps and Feedback |
| Focus Area 3 – Assessment, Feedback, and Reporting | Closing Remarks |
| Activity #2 – Setting Goals and Anticipating Obstacles | |
| Reception - Network while enjoying a beverage and light bites by the Farmington River |
Dates: Wednesday, July 16 – Thursday, July 17, 2025
This workshop is designed for school leaders who have attended From Vision to Reality 1.0 or who feel they already have a clear vision for change and are ready to begin working on detailed action plans. This second-level workshop is designed for school leaders who are ready to move beyond vision and inspiration to the hard work of planning and executing bold changes in their schools. Having explored the challenges and opportunities of progressive school transformation in From Vision to Reality 1.0, participants in this workshop will shift their focus from ideas to implementation, developing detailed, customized action plans for school change.
Participants will engage in a highly interactive experience, working through the complexities of turning ambitious educational goals into concrete, actionable steps. Through guided planning sessions, peer collaboration, and expert coaching, school leaders will design road maps tailored to their school’s unique culture, constraints, and opportunities. This workshop will center on:
Structuring a multi-year implementation plan that ensures meaningful and sustainable change.
Anticipating and overcoming resistance from key constituencies, including faculty, families, and trustees.
Aligning school messaging, admissions priorities, and external partnerships to support transformation.
Identifying and leveraging key early wins to build momentum and secure long-term success.
Rather than a traditional conference format, this workshop will function as a working session, with participants dedicating significant time to developing actionable strategies and receiving feedback from peers and experienced school change leaders.
By the end of the workshop, participants will leave not just with ideas, but with a tangible, detailed plan for implementing change in their schools.
Those attending with a team from their school will have the added advantage of collaborative planning, ensuring greater alignment and buy-in from the start.
| Day 1: Building the Blueprint | 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | Day 2: Packaging and Polishing the Plan | 8:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. |
|---|---|
| Registration | Breakfast |
| Welcome & Introduction | Inspirational Stories of Change |
| Sharing the Vision for Your School | Team Session: Obstacles, Allies, and Resources |
| Case Studies in School Change | Team Session: Strategic Communications Planning |
| Team Session: Establishing Core Initiatives | Presentations and Feedback Rounds |
| Lunch | Lunch |
| Team Session: Laying Out a Multi Year Plan | Team Session: Finalizing the Plan |
| Presentations and Feedback Rounds | Presentations and Feedback Rounds |
| Team Session: The First 100 Days | Final Team Session |
| Presentations and Feedback Rounds | Conclusion: Commitments, Accountability & Next Steps |
| Reception - Network while enjoying a beverage and light bites by the Farmington River |
Dr. Timothy Quinn, the Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Faculty at Miss Porter’s, will lead the series of workshops for "From Vision to Reality." Tim has worked in independent schools for almost twenty-five years, both in the U.S. and abroad, and has led change initiatives at multiple boarding and day schools. He is the author of On Grades and Grading: Supporting Student Learning through a More Transparent and Purposeful Use of Grades, as well as numerous other articles in educational journals and periodicals, including one to be published this summer by Independent School Magazine (co-authored with Amy Rogers) on how changing schools to center what is best for student learning pays off in the classroom, in life, and even in the college process. Recently earning his educational and organizational leadership doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, he completed a dissertation entitled Equitable Elites and Exclusive Inclusivity: Examining the Pursuit of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice at Well-Resourced, Elite Private Boarding Schools.
In a world where the demands on both students and teachers are greater than ever, it’s time to reimagine the systems that support our classrooms. The Learning Well, Teaching Well symposium is an invitation to come together and create innovative, sustainable, thriving environments for both students and educators.
This is your opportunity to be part of a transformative conversation focused on:
Through interactive discussions and hands-on workshops, you’ll explore actionable strategies to design meaningful curricula, create equitable assessments, and develop reflective practices that inspire personal and professional growth.
Together, we will tackle real challenges, share innovative ideas, and leave with practical tools to implement in our schools—empowering us to support the well-being of our students and ourselves.
When: Monday, March 31, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT
Cost: $450 includes refreshments, snacks, lunch and access to all symposium materials. If the cost prohibits your attendance please email Sophie Paris. Presenters will receive a 30% discount on the symposium fee.
Registration is now closed.
Register today and take the first step toward building a more sustainable and thriving educational community. We need your voice, your ideas, and your commitment to make this vision a reality. Let’s work together to create schools that inspire, nurture, and empower.
Starr Sackstein is an accomplished educator, author, and advocate, dedicated to transforming education through innovative practices. With a background in secondary humanities education, she has championed learner-centered paradigms, assessment reform, and technology integration. As an author of many influential books, including Hacking Assessment, Starr empowers educators globally with practical strategies for creating learner-driven classrooms. Her insights, shared through speaking engagements, workshops, and online platforms, inspire educators to reimagine traditional teaching paradigms. Starr's commitment to fostering critical thinking, growth, and equity underscores her role as a thought leader shaping the future of education. Starr is the Massachusetts State Coordinator for Educators Rising, an organization centered around solving the teacher shortage and creating a more diverse educator workforce locally. Additionally, Starr is COO of Mastery Portfolio, a boutique edtech company supporting schools as they shift to competency-based or standard-based learning and assessment.
In addition to her role as keynote speaker, Starr will also offer a special two-hour workshop for attendees.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Registration & Networking with coffee and light snacks |
| 8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. | Opening Presentation & Keynote by Starr Sackstein: “All Students Can: Building Learning Cultures That Promote Student Ownership and Advocacy” |
| 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Session A - Utilizing Youth Participatory Action Research to Create a Culture of Well-Being - Nurturing Neurodiverse Learners: Designing Teaching and Learning Experiences to Foster Access, Equity, and Growth - Reflective Practice by Design: Systems of Professional Learning for Moments of Collective Reflection |
| 9:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. | Two Hour Session I Empowering Students: Creating a Learner-led Culture Through Partnership, Grading Reform, and Authentic Assessment, presented by Starr Sackstein |
| 10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. | Snack Break |
| 10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. | Session B - Empowering Educators and Students Through Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in Schools - Reflect, Renew, and Grow: Enhancing Educator Well-being through Reflective Practices - Promoting Student Agency and Ownership with Mastery-based Practices |
| 11:45 a.m. - 12:50 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Two Hour Session II - Using the Body-brain Connection to Boost Student Engagement and Wellness - From Dewey to Design Thinking: Leveraging AI and a Century of Research for Meaningful, Lasting Learning |
| 1:15 p.m. - 1:50 p.m. | Optional - Tour of Miss Porter’s School campus (meet student tour guides in dining hall at 1:15 p.m.) - Student discussion tables in dining hall (potential topics: interdisciplinary experiences, student leadership, creating a Mastery Learning Record, etc.) - Faculty discussion tables in dining hall (potential topics: trimester schedule at MPS, interdisciplinary classes such as the Global Intensive course, Professional Experience, etc.) |
| 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Session C - Leading Competency-Based Learning from the Classroom - Student Driven Learning: A Future Focused Approach to Teaching and Learning - The Totalitarian Teacher: On Power in the Classroom |
| 3:10 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Closing reception and networking with light refreshments |
Session descriptions can be found below.
This workshop equips educators with practical DBT strategies to help middle and high school students manage emotions, improve relationships, and make positive decisions. Teachers will gain tools to support student growth while enhancing their own well-being, creating a more balanced and effective learning environment.
How can we shift from a teacher-driven classroom to a learner-led culture where students take ownership of their learning? By reimagining the roles of both educators and students, we can create classrooms that cultivate independence, confidence, and advocacy. Attendees will learn how to help students set meaningful goals, track progress, and use reflection to support and empower learners. In this interactive session, participants will also explore strategies for student-led conferences, portfolios, and grading reforms that promote advocacy, mastery, and authentic learning.
This workshop explores research-backed strategies for creating meaningful, student-centered learning while maintaining clear success criteria and accountability. Participants will learn how to design open-ended, competency-based projects and leverage AI tools to enhance lesson planning, assessment, and differentiation.
This session explores strategies for teachers to implement competency-based learning, focusing on fostering student agency, reflection, and skills-based assessment. Participants will gain actionable tools to build a mastery learning culture, empower students, and create personalized, inclusive learning environments.
This session explores strategies for creating inclusive learning environments that support neurodiverse students by recognizing their strengths and needs. Participants will learn to design equitable instruction that fosters access, growth, and success for all learners.
This workshop explores mastery-based assessment strategies that provide students with clear insights into their learning and progress. Educators will learn to integrate competencies, rubrics, and reflections to enhance student understanding and make meaningful instructional changes across disciplines.
This session explores the power of reflective practices to enhance educator growth, well-being, and innovation. Participants will develop a Personalized Reflective Action Plan and gain tools to integrate meaningful reflection into their professional development.
This session explores how Blair Academy fosters ongoing, collaborative, and student-centered professional learning through observation, action research, and shared knowledge. Participants will learn how these efforts enhance teaching effectiveness and create a more vibrant learning community.
Students must take charge of their learning by becoming creators of knowledge, problem-solvers, and critical thinkers rather than passive recipients. Participants will learn how a student-driven approach fosters agency, inquiry, and interdisciplinary exploration, empowering them to engage deeply and transfer their learning to new contexts.
This session examines how power dynamics in the classroom shape student agency, drawing from foundational scholarship on control, oppression, and critical consciousness. Through discussion and reflection, educators will explore strategies to shift power, foster student autonomy, and create more engaging, liberatory learning environments.
This session explores the body-brain connection and its role in reducing student anxiety, increasing motivation, and building learning stamina. Participants will learn research-backed, practical strategies to create a more engaging and supportive classroom environment.
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) empowers students to collaborate with adults to address issues affecting their lives. Learn how YPAR enables students to become campus change-makers and inspires many to pursue related topics beyond the classroom.
We invite educators, administrators, and practitioners to submit proposals for one- or two-hour workshops and sessions at our March 31 symposium: Learning Well, Teaching Well: Reimagining Education for Students and Educators.
Workshops should address one or more of the following guiding questions:
Proposals should align with the symposium’s themes and include interactive components that provide actionable tools and strategies for participants.
Key Dates
Submission Process
Please submit your proposal via the form below by February 5, 2025. If you have any questions or need guidance in crafting your proposal, feel free to reach out to Nelle Andrews.
Event Description:
This event will focus on creating healthier, more sustainable systems that support the well-being of both students and educators. Through collaborative discussions and practical workshops, participants will explore how to prioritize growth, equity, and connection through reflective teaching, meaningful curriculum and assessment design, and healthy feedback practices.
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Join us for an engaging and dynamic conference dedicated to the principles of comprehensible input in language education! This event brings together expert teachers and passionate educators to explore effective strategies for enhancing language acquisition through clear, understandable communication.
When: Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Where: Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT
Cost: $200 includes light snacks, refreshments and lunch. If the cost prohibits your attendance please email Sophie Paris. Presenters attend for free.
Registration has closed for this event.
Whether you’re a seasoned teacher or new to the field, this one day conference will inspire you to deepen your understanding of comprehensible input and enhance your teaching practices. Come ready to learn, collaborate, and connect with fellow language educators!
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Registration and Networking Opportunities |
| 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. | Keynote Address by Jennifer Degenhardt, language teacher and multilingual author |
| 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Workshop #1 |
| 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Workshop #2 |
| 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Opt-in Discussions (Unconference Style) |
| 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Roundtable with Presenters (30 minutes followed by Q&A) |
| 2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. | Closing |
Schedule subject to change
Jennifer Degenhardt taught middle and high school Spanish for 24 years. She is the author of over 100 comprehensible novels written for students learning languages. While her books highlight cultural, social, economic and political themes necessary for continued conversation, both in- and out of the classroom, all of them deal with identity to some degree and how important it is to know who you are. Jennifer is passionate about helping students learn more about themselves through storytelling and writing, and is currently sharing this passion with her students at the college level at UCONN Stamford.
Join us in fostering a collaborative environment that empowers educators to enhance their teaching practices and enrich language learning experiences. We invite educators, researchers, and practitioners to submit proposals for Transforming Language Learning: Strategies for Lasting Impact. This event aims to gather innovative voices in language education to explore and share effective strategies for implementing comprehensible input in the classroom.
Submission Guidelines:
Proposals will be evaluated based on:
Proposals must be submitted by December 15, 2024.
Please send your proposals to Maureen Lamb with the subject line “Comprehensible Input Conference Proposal.”
We look forward to your innovative ideas and contributions!
Sign up to receive periodic updates about future workshops, events and specialized coaching.
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60 Main Street
Farmington, CT 06032
860-409-3500
admission@missporters.org
Miss Porter’s School admits qualified students, who identify as girls, of any race, color, religious affiliation, national and ethnic origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, or sexual orientation to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious affiliation, national and ethnic origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, or sexual orientation or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions and financial aid policies, and athletic or other school administered programs.
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