From Stafford County Public Schools
Stafford County Public Schools hosts the 2017 Teaching & Learning Summit from June 26
to 29, 2017. The summit takes place at Stafford High School, which is located at 63 Stafford Indian Lane in
Fredericksburg. The Teaching & Learning Summit invites 500 teachers, plus division leaders and staff, to share
best practices among educators and promote teacher leadership and teamwork. Learners will articulate the
relevance of C5W, School Improvement Plan (SIP) and G Suite for Education for themselves and their students,
and how to incorporate this learning into their instructional practice.
“Providing opportunities for professional growth is part of our recruitment and retention strategy. The Summit is
unprecedented in both scope and scale as well as the focus on teacher leadership. It is going to be an exciting
and productive experience that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning across the division,” said
Superintendent of Stafford County Public Schools Dr. W. Bruce Benson.
Several months ago, the SCPS school board voted to invest in its teachers and administrators by expanding
professional learning opportunities for all educators across the school division with the introduction of a
Teaching & Learning Summit.
The four-day professional learning Summit entitled “Learning Together, Leading Together” is part of an
ongoing investment in high-quality, adult learning for SCPS educators focused on teamwork, school
improvement, and learning new tools and skills to support student learning goals identified in Stafford County
Public Schools’ 2017-2022 Strategic Plan.
This year’s event will focus on learning a set of student skills and abilities, identified as C5W, in the SCPS
strategic plan. As stated in the strategic plan:
“C5W encompasses communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and wellness, and
embodies the philosophy of preparing students to become not just 21st century learners, but all century
learners,” said Dr. Jan Streich, executive director of Learning and Organizational Development.
In 2016, the SCPS education community worked at completing a new strategic plan, “All Centuries. All
Learners,” which includes specific goals and strategies centered around C5W student skill development and
learning outcomes. In 2017, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) also introduced its Profile of a
Virginia Graduate, which includes similar student learning goals related to the five C’s.
Educators will attend the Summit in school-based teams, learn with education leaders, specialists, and job-like
peers to design tasks to use in their own instructional practice. Ongoing coaching and collaborative support will
be available to these teacher-leaders throughout the summer and upcoming school year. One of the goals of
the event is to empower educators at all levels to work together, learn together, and share their learning with
colleagues in their schools.
The SCPS Summit learning experience is a new, annual event intended to provide in-depth, high-quality,
collaborative professional learning for every SCPS educator. This year’s participants will use Chromebooks, as
well as specifically-designed digital resources in G Suite, as they develop action plans to share with colleagues
and new instructional strategies and tasks to implement with all students.
