Serving Preschool Through 8th Grade in the San Francisco East Bay Since 1962

Experts in their Field

Faculty and staff professional development is a high priority at Seven Hills, because we believe that students should be taught by the best trained, most motivated, incredibly passionate teachers.

Despite years of collective experience in the classroom, it is the norm to see Seven Hills teachers participating in professional development and adding to their toolbox of cutting edge skills, approaches, and knowledge. In fact, this past summer, teachers spent over 1,500 hours fine-tuning their practices and exploring innovative topics like responsive classroom, inclusive schools, and reading and writing workshops.

In addition, many Seven Hills’ faculty present their own data and ideas at education conferences around the country. Through the presentation process—spending time in self-reflection, discussing their research, answering questions, and receiving feedback from other educators teachers grow even more. “The experience of sharing their best work with other teachers is a deeply satisfying one,” says Director of Teaching and Learning Rhys Miller. “It helps students in classrooms far beyond Seven Hills, gives the opportunity to network with a broader learning community, and brings fresh ideas back to Seven Hills students.”

Highlights from 2018-19

The Image Of The Child
For the past four years, Seven Hills’ ECE program has been a part of the Innovative Teacher Project (ITP), a Reggio Emilia inspired professional development community of educators. In May, the ECE team—including current teachers Shauna Maraccini, Gina Hinck, Jenny Marcus, and Kelley Cochran—was selected to host 40 fellow early childhood educators on the Seven Hills campus for a day of ITP presentations. The Rainbow teachers presented on “Stories of Identity” and their journey into cultural competency work with preschoolers; the Red Barn teachers presented on “Children as Storytellers” and shared their experience on the use of loose parts. The team also provided attendees an opportunity to explore Seven Hills’ unique ECE spaces and exchange ideas related to the project’s overarching theme, The Image Of The Child: Children as Active Protagonists of Their Growth and Development Process.

Do You Desmos?

Middle School Math teacher Kathy Henderson was accepted to present at four conferences in 2018-19 on her expertise in Desmos, a company that invites students to create their own mathematical ideas through hundreds of fun, digital activities. At the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) conference in Seattle, she presented to a packed house of 145 participants on how to use Desmos to create engagement and promote discussions in the classroom. She also wrote a four-part blog series for NCTM on Desmos and will be presenting at more conferences during the 2019-20 school year.

Back