Skip To Main Content

Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning: that is what we do here in the Brookline, Hollis, and Hollis Brookline Cooperative Schools.  Our teachers engage in deep pedagogical conversations in their Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) centered around effective instructional practices to develop highly engaging lessons that stimulate our students' minds.  Our teachers administer formative assessments to inform their instruction moving forward.  They also administer summative assessments that gauge the learning that has taken place.  The monitoring and reviewing of the assessments allow the PLCs to reflect upon both the instructional practices utilized and the strategies implemented.  The end goal of this cycle is to continually improve student learning.

Professional Growth Master Plan

“The purpose of staff development is not just to implement instructional innovations; its central purpose is to build strong collaborative work cultures that will develop the long term capacity for change."
- Michael Fullan

​The SAU41 Professional Development Master Plan provides a structure to guide professionals to be more effective and productive educators, while satisfying the New Hampshire recertification requirements detailed in ED 512.  This plan utilizes a goal setting process that includes self-assessment and reflection within the context of individual, school, and district goals. School and district goals emanate from the multi-year SAU strategic plan that is reviewed and updated annually.  

SAU41 provides opportunities for educators to develop and fulfill their individual professional development plan through a variety of professional activities.  These activities emphasize data driven decision-making and research-based educational practices while taking into account the individual needs and learning styles of each educator.  Administrators and teachers participate in an evaluation system that encourages frequent conversations linking their established goals to their professional learning and teaching. One strong component of this professional development plan is the continued work of the well-developed professional learning communities whose goals are aligned with the improvement priorities of SAU41.

Professional Development Activities

As required by ED 610, the SAU41 Master Plan provides professional development activities for professional and paraprofessional staff by offering twenty-one (21) options for earning Continuing Education Units (CEUs/Hours). These activities include traditional, job embedded, action research, and both in-house and outside presenters to create a wide range of professional development.