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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Professional Development is an integral part of our educational program. We want every teacher to be improving in instructional techniques, classroom management skills, integration of a biblical world view in every subject, and personal professional development (keeping up-to-date with curriculum and subject matter and growing as a Christian teacher and mentor).

To further these goals, Mountainview has set in place the following programs:

Pre-school Meetings

New Teachers: New teachers will have at least three days of meetings before the regular meetings. The subjects covered include school procedures and character, classroom management, cultural acclimation and practical tips on living and working in this environment.

All Teachers: All teachers will meet for at least three days prior to the opening of school. The subjects covered include school mission and vision, educational philosophy, a spiritual emphasis for the year, instructional techniques, classroom management, and specific concerns as determined by administration (e.g., a new abuse policy or revised emergency procedures) or by teachers during post-school meetings in May.

Teacher Meetings
  • Teachers meetings are held weekly on a three-week rotation.
  • One week there are separate elementary and secondary meetings (held at the individual schools) to deal with ordinary school issues and teacher development. These are led by the respective principals.
  • A second week is the all-teacher meeting, led and organized by the committee facilitator as part of the committee model. This meeting deals with all-school issues and with proposals made by teacher committees.
  • The third week in the rotation is left open for the scheduling of committee and department meetings or in-service opportunities.
In-service Days
  • We schedule at least one half-day in-service per quarter and at least two full in-service days per year (not counting days before and after the school year).
  • Topics for emphasis during these days are chosen by administration, often with input from faculty. They may result from performance assessments or be chosen to help us meet school goals. We sometimes invite outside speakers who have expertise in areas where we have identified a need for growth. Past topics include classroom management, teaching students with special needs, strategies for helping the ESL learner, different learning styles, managing stress, and varying instructional strategies.
  • During years with considerable committee work for accreditation, additional days or half-days may be added and some of the regular in-service time may be devoted to self-study and other accreditation work.
  • Every other year, we will provide an opportunity for teachers who have not yet done so to view the ACSI videos for the Philosophy of Education course credit. We also have several copies of the required and optional readings on hand. We encourage all teachers and require teachers who will be staying two years or longer to read these and to write the paper to earn ACSI recognition for the completion of this course.
Post-school Meetings
  • All teachers: All teachers will meet for at least one day of meetings after school is finished. At this meeting we discuss highs and lows for the year, using that information to identify areas for improvement; we also identify felt needs for future in-service or pre-school meetings.
  • Returning teachers: Returning teachers meet for another day to plan for all that has to be done to ensure a good beginning to another school year. This includes suggesting handbook or other procedural changes, deciding on summer improvement projects and proposing other ways of improving our program. We identify the teachers or committees who will work to make necessary changes or plan activities to ensure a good start to the coming school year.
CEU’s
  • As possible, we offer a CEU in professional development for at least one in-service day per year.
  • If possible and desired by faculty, we offer at least one CEU in biblical studies during or shortly after the school year.