CUSD will host Columbia University workshop for teachers

Starting Monday, August 7th through Friday, August 11, 2006, over 220 teachers from Half Moon Bay, San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara and Morgan Hill will descend upon Half Moon Bay to attend a five day Reading Workshop to be held at Half Moon Bay High School.  Staff development of this caliber, taught by trainers from the Teachers College Columbia University is very rare and difficult to acquire outside of the state of New York.  The presenters for this workshop are all staff developers at the Teachers College Columbia University in New York.  Jessica Fairbanks, Enid Martinez, Christine Cook, Tiffany Davis-Nealy, Tom Marshall and Emily Deliddo will lead the staff development training over the five day workshop.

In the spring of 2000, the Noyce Foundation selected Alvin S. Hatch Elementary School to participate as an exemplar/staff development school in the implementation of a comprehensive approach to literacy with a focus on writing as a means of improving literacy. This literacy program called “Every Child a Reader and Writer” is now fully implemented at all four elementary schools within the Cabrillo Unified School District. The Noyce Foundation and the Peninsula Community Foundation have been instrumental in supporting the implementation of this program.  All elementary schools in Cabrillo host visitors from across the Bay Area to observe the Writer’s Workshop model. 

The goal of the August workshop is to support expert literacy instruction within schools through research, writing and professional development of teachers and school leaders.  Over the last six years the focus has primarily been on mastering the elements of the Writer’s Workshop, this upcoming workshop will focus on training the teachers on the Reader’s Workshop model.

Additional information regarding this workshop and the Teachers College Columbia University can be obtained by visiting http://rwproject.tc.columbia.edu