Elevate Learning
Workshop Session Descpriptions & Workshop Presenter Bios

WORKSHOPS (attendees will select workshops at the event)
Track One: Learning Differences
Track Two: The Science and Design of Student Engagement
Track Three: AI in Educatio

WORKSHOP SESSION ONE:

  • A Deeper Dive into Releasing Writers for K-2, Leslie Laud, Releasing Writers (track two)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School grades K-2, Learning Support staff
    Description:
    Extending concepts learned in her keynote, this session will dive more deeply into collaborative writing and scoring per grade level.

  • Developmental Language Disorder: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers, Julie A Klingerman, Private Contractor & Literacy consultant (track one)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Deans of Students

    Description:
    Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a brain-based neurodiversity that affects approximately 1 in 14 students, yet it remains widely unfamiliar to parents, teachers, and specialists.

    This session will provide a clear, meaningful definition of DLD, describe its characteristics from PreK through early adulthood, and share practical resources for strengthening language skills in all students—especially those with developmental language disorder.

    Participants will leave with a strong understanding of key “look-fors” for students with developmental language disorder, along with clear next steps for building language through everyday classroom interactions. The session focuses on helping teachers strengthen language proficiency for students with DLD—and all learners—rather than conducting formal diagnosis.

     
  • Expanding Who Thrives: Neurodiversity, Belonging, and School Excellence, Vanessa Castañeda Gill, CEO and Co-Founder, Social Cipher (track one)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Deans of Students, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 

    What if expanding who can thrive in your school doesn't require lowering the bar, but getting better at recognizing and unlocking the strengths of more learners?

    Independent schools are navigating an important challenge: maintaining rigorous, distinctive learning environments while responding effectively to a broader range of student needs. Neurodiversity-affirming practices offer an opportunity to see inclusion and excellence not as competing priorities, but as mutually reinforcing.

    In this interactive session, participants will examine how unmet needs can show up as behavior, disengagement, or conflict—and how traditional responses can sometimes create additional barriers to student success. Participants will contrast traditional behavior-management approaches with neurodiversity-affirming practices that emphasize strengths, agency, regulation, and understanding the needs beneath behavior.

    The session will also explore the adult side of the equation: educators cannot sustainably support a wider range of learners without the knowledge, tools, and conditions to do so effectively.

    Through lived neurodivergent perspectives, school-based implementation examples, and collaborative problem-solving, participants will leave with a framework for understanding student and adult needs and concrete strategies for creating rigorous learning environments where more students can belong, contribute, and thrive.

  • Generative AI Helps Me Teach English, Thomas McLaughlin, Co-Academic Dean for Teaching & Learning, Upper School English Teacher, Chair - Generative AI Committee, Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy (track three)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Upper School, Learning Support staff, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description:
    Out of self-defense and (frankly) fear, I learned as much as I could about Chat GPT when it dropped almost four years ago. Of greatest concern was the implication for the teaching of writing. Out of curiosity, I encouraged the school to invest in Flint AI, a secure teaching tool that allows teachers to control AI interactions with students while not "feeding the beast" of the larger Generative AI network. As the technology has improved, it has helped me design interactive and incredibly specific and personalized writing and literature lessons, either for quick "do-nows" or full period asynchronous engagements. Perhaps most importantly, generative AI has helped me reach students with a variety of learning differences by organizing my ideas into clear, presentable step-by-step projects, with student checklists and carefully scaffolded learning objectives. It has made me a better teacher, almost overnight. In this session, I will demonstrate sample lessons and activities and help you understand the benefits of using generative AI in planning and with your students. I also hope for a discussion of the pros and cons of leaning into this technology, and hopefully we can learn from each other as we navigate this uncertain and ever emerging technology!

  • Teaching AI to Students, Nana Massie, Middle School Humanities, Kentucky Avenue School (track three)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teachers Middle School
    Description: Do your students - particularly younger students - even know what AI is and how it works? This presentation is a mock lesson which explains the fundamental concepts of machine learning in an age-appropriate way for grades 3-8. We will run our own basic model to show how AI is not actually "intelligent," but rather predictive. It introduces studies and tools that will show situations in which using AI models can be beneficial, but also situations in AI is risky - both to society, and to them as a personal user. The goal is to equip you with the tools to explain how ChatGPT, Gemini, etc. actually produce answers, and to show students what they miss out on if they use them to replace their own learning and thinking.

  • The Whole Class Is Watching, Erin Thorkilsen, Founder; PreK-12, Heart in Education (track two)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, School Counselors, Learning Support
    Description: 

    When one student is struggling, the whole class is affected—and the whole class is learning from how we respond.

    A student refuses to participate, shuts down, acts out, or simply doesn’t want to be part of the group. Our instinct is often to focus on fixing the behavior and getting the student back on track. These moments can also become opportunities to strengthen the community and help students see something they all have in common: we all have hard days, resist things we don’t want to do, feel uncomfortable, and sometimes need help finding our way back.

    This interactive session will explore practical ways to use empathy and belonging when tricky behaviors arise, while still holding clear boundaries and expectations. We’ll take on one of the most common challenges teachers face: How do you support one student who needs your attention without losing the rest of the class? We’ll explore practical strategies for responding in ways that keep a student from becoming the “bad kid” or scapegoat in the eyes of their peers, while helping the class recognize their shared human experiences and stay engaged, connected, and learning.

    We’ll step back and consider a bigger question: What if teaching is less about fixing students and more about recognizing our shared humanness and building classrooms where no one has to struggle alone?

WORKSHOP SESSION TWO:

  • A Deeper Dive into Releasing Writers for 5-8, Leslie Laud, Releasing Writers (track two)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School and Middle School grades 5-8, Learning Support staff
    Description: Extending concepts learning in her keynote, this session will dive more deeply into collaborative writes and scoring per grade level.

  • All In: Engage, Experience, Transform, and Thrive, Carole Paterson, Head of Middle School, The Ellis School (track two)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support staff, Deans of Students, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 
    What if increasing student engagement didn’t require a complete overhaul of your classroom? This interactive workshop explores simple, experiential learning tools that can be woven into everyday instruction—short, purposeful activities that work with individuals, small groups, or teams and invite students to think, move, collaborate, and take ownership of their learning. Grounded in research and shaped by 25 years of experience in traditional and non-traditional classrooms, these strategies are intentionally a low-lift for teachers and high-impact for students. Come experience the tools yourself, discover new ways to use them, and leave with practical strategies you can put to work right away.

  • Reclaiming The Human Touch By Using AI, Jim Roche, Science Teacher, Trevor Day School - Lead Consultant, Mountainside AI Education Consultants (track three)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Deans of Students, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: The demographic cliff is here! With U.S. birth rates declining, independent schools face an intensely competitive buyer’s market. But simply saving time with AI isn't a strategy, analyzing spreadsheets faster doesn't automatically improve learning, and tech tutorials won't build community.
    This session skips the button-clicking and prompt-writing guides to focus on what truly matters: using AI’s productivity gains to give your school a more inviting, human face. We’ll discuss how to turn convert the time saved with AI into measurable wins for your students and families.
    Together, we’ll explore many, high-value metrics every school leader should track such as:
    Student-Facing Density: Tracking and expanding direct mentor, teacher, and student interaction time. (Teachers average less than 50% of their time with students.)
    Intervention Latency & Predictive Wellbeing: Catching learning gaps and student struggles before they turn into crises.
    Family Experience Metrics: Accelerating admissions response times and optimizing scholarship allocation for seamless family engagement.

    Don't let efficiency gains vanish into digital busywork! Learn how to track what actually counts, elevate your school's educational outcomes, and ensure your tech strategy delivers the warm, personalized experience parents crave.

    Learn how the new metrics will help your school thrive in a challenging market.

  • Strategies to Support Autistic Students: Ways to Enable and Empower, Sheena Donovan, Project Analyst, ASERT  (track one)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School, Leaders and teachers Middle School, Leaders and teachers Upper School, Learning Support
    Description: All educators have presumed the competence of their students. With autistic students, believing they are capable should be the standard. How can educators do this? In this session, teachers will learn strategies to reframe teaching autistic students to lessen stress and anxiety while promoting autonomy and achievement.

  • Teach Handwriting Right: Handwriting for Literacy and Learning, Michelle Trostle, Board Member, The Reading League Pennsylvania  (track one)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: Handwriting is more than penmanship, and teaching it effectively requires more than teaching students how to form letters. Research shows that handwriting plays a critical role in literacy development and learning, influencing everything from letter learning and orthographic mapping to reading development, memory, and comprehension. This session explores why handwriting matters—and what it means to teach it right.

    Grounded in the science of reading and the science of learning, participants will examine how explicit handwriting instruction builds accuracy and automaticity, helping free cognitive resources for spelling, reading, writing, and higher-level thinking. Participants will explore the cognitive and neurological connections between handwriting and learning across grade levels, from foundational letter formation to the demands of written expression and comprehension in older students.

    Aligned with Pennsylvania's cursive legislation, the session moves beyond compliance to consider how educators can make handwriting instruction meaningful, efficient, and instructionally aligned. Participants will leave with explicit, classroom-ready routines and practical approaches for integrating handwriting into literacy instruction and supporting all learners.

  • Why Belonging Matters and What We Can Do to Uplift It, Stacey Joseph    Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, Delaware Valley Friends School (track two)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, Learning Support, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 

    Learning and Belonging are inherently connected. Neuroscience research and psychology tells us that people, learn, grow, and contribute most effectively when they feel psychologically safe, valued, and connected to others.This interactive workshop explores belonging as a fundamental human need; how the brain learns, and how the lack of belonging hinders learning (highlighting fight/flight responses when there is a threat to belonging); and what actions individuals and organizations can intentionally take to shift school culture and create safe spaces of belonging, and environments where learning and belonging thrive. Participants will discover how the brain processes learning, the impact of stress and psychological safety on cognitive performance, and the powerful role the belonging plays in engagement, creativity, and collaboration. Through reflection, practical activities, and discussion, attendees will gain evidence- based strategies for fostering inclusive school climate and culture that support both personal growth and collective success.

    By the end of the this workshop, participants will be able to: Explain how the brain is affected by belonging or the lack thereof; describe the connection between belonging, psychological safety, and optimal brain readiness for learning; recognize how experiences of inclusion and exclusion influence learning engagement and performance; identify everyday behaviors that strengthen belonging within teams, classrooms, and schools; understand the road to 'esteemed belonging;' and leave with one or two micropleges and a plan for applying learning and belonging principles in their own professional/community setting.

    This workshop is ideal for educators, leaders, and administrators seeking to enhance learning outcomes, cultivate school climate and culture where every individual has the opportunity to thrive, and to build stronger, safer, and more equitable relationships across the school community.

WORKSHOP SESSION THREE:

  • Assume Less, Teach More: Building Student Success from Day One, Madeleine Harkins, Vice Principal, Villa Maria Academy (track two)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Deans of Students, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 

    What if the skills we expect students to have are actually the skills we need to teach? This session explores the development of a Student Success Lab, a proactive approach to supporting ninth-grade students as they transition to high school. Rather than waiting for students to struggle with organization, time management, study habits, communication, self-advocacy, classroom expectations, and personal accountability, the program intentionally teaches these often-assumed skills from the beginning.

    Grounded in faculty reflection on the challenges and successes of previous freshmen, the Student Success Lab combines explicit skill instruction, common expectations, authentic scenarios, and opportunities for students to practice and apply what they learn. Central to the approach is the concept of “warm demanding”—providing meaningful support while maintaining high expectations and preserving productive struggle. Participants will explore how schools can identify the hidden skills students need, create a coherent student-success curriculum, establish common language across faculty, and gradually shift responsibility from adults to students.

    The goal: assume less, teach intentionally, and build greater student independence.


  • Executive Skills Are Everyone’s Job, Beverly DeRise, MD Instructor/PD & Collaboration Associate, The Janus School (track one)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 

    Students are often expected to manage complex tasks, organize information, initiate work, sustain attention, monitor their progress, and adapt when things don't go as planned, but these executive skills are rarely taught as intentionally as academic content. When students struggle, schools can easily fall into a cycle of remediation, accommodation, and individual intervention without addressing the executive demands built into everyday learning.

    This interactive session explores what happens when executive skills become a school-wide responsibility rather than the job of a learning support teacher or the burden of individual students. Drawing on the implementation of school-wide executive-skills support at The Janus School, participants will examine how teachers can identify the executive demands embedded in instruction, make invisible expectations visible, and intentionally build supports into classroom routines and school practices.

    Participants will leave with practical strategies for shifting from “Why can't this student do this?” to “What skill does this task require, and how can we teach and support it?”


  • Fluency: Moving from Learning to Read to Reading to Learn, Sister Immaculata Marie Policare, OP, Adjunct Instructor, School of Education, Aquinas College (track two)
    Audience: Leaders and teacher Lower School, Learning Support staff, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: How do students move from decoding words to understanding complex texts? Fluency is one of the five pillars of reading established by the National Reading Panel (2000). Although sometimes underappreciated, fluency represents a microcosm of reading skills and serves as a key indicator of overall reading success. In this session, learn about the importance of reading fluency and how it plays a role in both instruction and assessment. This session will present research-based practices that help educators engage their students in effective fluency activities. Educators will be challenged to re-examine and expand how they incorporate fluency in their reading instruction, in both preventative and intervention contexts. Walk away with practical strategies for how to improve reading fluency, both as an intervention for struggling readers and as a regular routine to help successful readers soar.

  • Pause, Purpose, Proof - How to use AI Effectively, Jonathan Strecker, Head of School, Valley School of Ligonier (track three)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: 

    Pause, Purpose, Proof: How to Use AI Effectively offers a concrete framework for using artificial intelligence without surrendering human development. First, pause before turning to AI and consider what thinking you should do yourself. Give your best first attempt. 

    Next, define your purpose so the technology serves a clear goal rather than becoming a convenient substitute for effort. Use as tutor rather than doer. 

    Finally, demand proof by questioning, verifying, and refining what AI produces. Use it to better yourself rather than focus on completion. 

    This approach moves the conversation beyond whether AI is good or bad. The real question is whether we will use it intentionally. AI can accelerate learning, creativity, and problem-solving, but only when guided by thoughtful, capable people.


  • Regulate, Connect, Learn: Mindfulness & SEL Practices for Every Classroom, Adrienne Floro, Middle School Division Director, Falk Laboratory School (track one)
    Audience: Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Deans of Students
    Description: 

    Before students can fully engage, take academic risks, collaborate, or access higher-order thinking, they need to feel sufficiently safe, connected, and regulated for learning. For students with learning differences, attention challenges, anxiety, sensory needs, executive-function difficulties, or histories of stress and trauma, the conditions surrounding learning can be as consequential as the lesson itself.

    This highly interactive session explores how educators can integrate brief, accessible mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed practices into everyday K–12 classroom routines—without adding another program, curriculum, or major demand to teachers' already-full plates.


  • When Programs Don't Work - Rebuilding Decoding at the Sound Level, Kate Mayer, Structured Literacy Specialist, Everyone Reads PA (track one)
    Audience: Heads of School/Superintendents, Assistant Heads of School, Leaders and teachers Lower School, leaders and teacher Middle School, leaders and teachers Upper School, School Counselors, Learning Support, Curriculum Coordinators, Department Chairs
    Description: Many students do not respond to widely used structured literacy programs, including Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Sonday. This session examines why. Rather than focusing on program selection, the session shifts attention to instructional variables that determine outcomes, including accuracy, task control, error correction, and response consistency. Presenters will demonstrate how breakdowns at the sound level lead to guessing, slow decoding, and lack of generalization. Attendees will learn a structured, controlled instructional approach that rebuilds decoding from the ground up using explicit routines and tightly managed practice. The session includes practical scripts, decision-making criteria, and examples of how to adjust instruction when students plateau. This work reflects a collaborative approach to improving outcomes for struggling readers by focusing on what actually drives learning.