HCS staff present at national conference

Dr. Kim Richardson, director of induction and development; Heather Peterson, director of climate and culture; Jasmin Royal, assistant principal at Mary W. Jackson Fundamental Elementary School; and Opel Smalls, English language arts elementary specialist, recently presented and represented Hampton City Schools at the Learning Forward Annual International Conference 2023 Evidence Into Action. The conference was held in National Harbor, MD.

The group presented a session entitled A Call to Action: Evidence-Based Teacher Leadership Development. The session was to inform participants about the Hampton City Schools five-year induction program and the unexpected outcomes of its theme: Building Teachers and Growing Leaders. Participants were able to investigate content and research used to reimagine induction and teacher leadership professional development that inadvertently reinvented leadership practices with non-traditional pipelines for teachers. In addition, participants heard testimonies and learned strategies to enhance their existing induction and/or teacher leadership development programs.

“It is always a privilege to showcase the exceptional work we do within HCS,” said Richardson. “The icing on the cake was the validation that came from the recognition of the educators we met from other states who seek to glean insights from the precedents we have established.