Professional Development
The Biddeford School Department is committed to providing high-quality professional development for all staff. We believe that professional development creates the conditions for student success by keeping our staff current with knowledge regarding best practices.
Professional Development Schedule 2009-10
August 31—Staff should report to schools for staff meetings and building activities.
September 1—All-district in-service program, 8:15 am-3:15 pm at BMS auditorium. Breakfast provided at 7:45 am. Lunch is provided by district. Topic is "Understanding Poverty" with presenters Debrajean Sheibles and Elaine Miller.
Chapters and Chatters Book Study workshops 2009-10
TBA—Schedule is being developed for this popular program
NEW! NEW! NEW! Literacy Coaches
The school department has hired two literacy coaches K-8 for the 2009-10 school year under Title IA Recovery funds (funds are available for one year only). These coaches will work with any teacher in grades K-8 who works with Title I students in their regular education classrooms, which is about 90% of all classrooms in the district.
The literacy coaches are Patsy Gendron, grades K-4 and Alison England, grades 5-8. Patsy's office will be at BIS and Alison's office will be at BMS.
Highly Qualified Teachers (HQT)
The federal government requires that all teachers are Highly Qualified to teach their content area. Click here for the HQT Assurance page. For more information on requirements for HQT, contact Jeff Porter, Assistant Superintendent of Schools.