| Season’s Greetings! During this beautiful season, I want you to know how grateful I am for your support of PBS. I’m writing to highlight two important updates before enjoying our holiday concerts and departing for winter break.
Parent Education with Renowned Social Emotional Learning Expert
Dr. Marc Brackett of Yale visits PBS on Friday, January 8 8:30am GATHER talk (all are welcome)
9:15am Parent Education Session in MPR
Topic: Emotional Intelligence: Why it matters as much as academic performance
Classroom visits, meetings with school leaders, and faculty session Dr. Brackett is the director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a research scientist in psychology. His work and lectures focus on the role of emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, relationship quality, and mental health; the measurement of emotional intelligence; and the influences of emotional intelligence training on student and educator effectiveness, bullying prevention, and school climate. Marc and I became acquainted following his presentation to California school heads last year. He has been quoted in the PBS admission viewbook and in a recent New York Times article on elementary school education. Marc works with Facebook on a large-scale project and collaborates with Lady Gaga – and now PBS! You won’t want to miss this.
PBS Associate Teacher Program Our students tell me how much they admire, respect, and love our assistant teachers. You comment frequently on their positive impact on your children’s learning experience. To ensure the continued excellence and growth of the program supporting our assistants, I assigned a summer PBSi team led by Leslie Richardson to study what we do, review research on effective teacher training programs, and propose a plan for moving our work with beginning teachers to the highest possible level. One finding from the team was clear: “Assistant” teacher doesn’t fully capture the important role they play, so we’re making a shift in title and being more intentional about how we support their growth as teachers. The PBS Associate Teacher Program is a more accurate and current description of their role in our classrooms. They are apprentices who work closely with lead mentor teachers and develop their teaching skills with expert guidance. They are important educational resources, challenging our students to go deeper into their learning. Over time, they teach specific activities, lead lessons, provide positive coaching and conflict resolution, and assess students with a high level of professionalism and competence. At PBS, associate teachers also learn how to accept positive and constructive feedback, set goals, and decide which career path in education feels like the best match for their skills and aspirations. Under the strong leadership of Lisa Busby, Leslie Richardson, and Phoebe Mauricio, the Associate Teacher Program is now more intentionally focused on our overarching goal: 
The program meets associates wherever they are in their career trajectory, whether it’s training on classroom management strategies, organization of schedules and routines, or preparing to teach lessons. By adding regular associate group meetings this fall, we’re creating a supportive cohort as associates share their experiences and explore various careers in education. We’re also adding some professional development guest presentations on topics like strategies and language for positive behavior management, conferring and questioning techniques, supporting the social and emotional growth of children, and how to determine the next career step led by CalWest, a top-notch recruitment agency for independent schools. I’m proud of our eleven associate teachers and excited about our Associate Teacher Program! By advancing the excellence of this program, we’re inspiring all teachers and promoting the development of best teaching practices across the school. Check out the new page on our website! 
Coming Up after the Holidays
- Marc Brackett visit
- 80 Days, 80 Ideas: Benefit 2016 Kick Off Party
- Progress reports and parent-teacher conferences
- 2016-17 school year calendar made available
- 2016-17 re-enrollment and tuition deposits due
- Parent survey on program effectiveness
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