HISD campus and district leaders will prepare during the summer for the start of the new school year during the district’s annual Professional Learning Series (PLS). This year’s theme is: “Children First: Building Strong Systems of Support.”

School leadership teams will attend these professional development sessions June 20-21 at Kingdom Builders’ Center (6011 West Orem, Houston, 88085) starting at 8 a.m. Leaders will learn essential skills on how to manage the social and emotional well-being of all students proactively on their campuses.

PLS provides a platform for HISD’s leaders to learn about connections between adult behaviors and positive school/community culture. Learning and development opportunities for leaders will be grounded in instructional leadership focused on data-driven instruction and literacy; social and emotional learning; and wraparound services.

“Our students are dealing with more than any of us could have imagined when we were their age, and the responsibility of the school community has expanded far beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic,” HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “It’s up to us as a district to meet them where they are so we can address their needs and we can push them to new levels of success – despite their circumstances.”

During the session entitled “Trauma and the Healing Power of Empathy,” participants will learn about the different types of trauma and the impact they can have on students in classrooms and in schools. During a separate session entitled “Creating an Awesomesauce Day: Integrating Empathy into the Classroom,” participants will explore why empathy is a vital component to improving school culture and climate and reducing high-risk student behaviors while increasing attendance, engagement, academic performance, and graduation rates.

As the district works to expand access to pre-K, participants will also enjoy a session entitled “It STAARts in Pre-K! HISD High-Quality Prekindergarten Standards,” during which they’ll receive timely information regarding the standards of implementing high-quality prekindergarten. They will leave with a plan to align their prekindergarten program with the district’s standards. Pre-K enrollment throughout the district is underway now.

Click here for an entire list of sessions.