Senior Fellows are leveraging high-impact practices and strategies all over our city. Now is the time to learn from one another in a Community of Practice (CoP) so that you can share your great work and replicate what’s working for others.

Facilitated by a Senior Fellow with profound experience in and in-depth knowledge of the specific topics, each CoP offers an intimate and focused space where leaders can deeply engage with the replication and sharing of effective practices. CoPs will feature a mix of off-site sessions and in-the-field experiences that allow Senior Fellows to observe the work in action and then develop, share, and replicate best practices through feedback, consultancy protocols, data analysis, and more.

Topics of our 2023-2024 CoP opportunities include:

• Early Literacy: Focus areas could be curriculum selection, teacher planning and internalization, instructional practices, data analysis, differentiation, etc.
• Leader Development: Focus areas could be 1:1 meetings, leadership team meetings, leader coaching, individual development plans, etc.
• Teacher Development: Focus areas could be teacher coaching, intellectual preparation, teacher development plans, grade level/department time, data analysis, etc.

Overview

You are an ideal CoP participant if you are:

• A Senior Fellow with a strong interest in one of the above CoP topic areas
• Excited to share your best thinking and work in this area as well as adopt and adapt learnings from other Senior Fellows
• Willing to open up your school as a “learning laboratory” for inquiry-based school visits
• Able to manage your calendar and prioritize fulfilling all program commitments with fidelity (attending and actively engaging in all sessions and collaborative work).

During the one-year program, CoP participants will:

• Define an individualized problem of practice for each participant related to the topic area that will be explored throughout the year.
• Engage in walkthroughs, PLC and coaching observations, consultancy protocols, data analysis process, and more to identify what’s working and what could be improved.
• Share highly effective practices and strategies with one another and implement new practices and strategies at your school
• Participate in CoP sessions with other participants, including:
  • An in-person kickoff over the summer (Date TBD by CoP).
  • Approximately monthly in-person sessions during the school year both at schools and off site (3 hours each, no sessions in December or March).
• Develop an intimate network of colleagues to learn from and alongside.
• Publish learnings at the end of the year for all Senior Fellows and potentially school system partners.

Registration Process and Program Timeline

Registration Criteria

• Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis, and capacity is limited.
• After capacity has been met, anyone who registers will be added to a waiting list.

Eligibility

Participants must be Senior Fellows still serving students in Philadelphia in any capacity.

The Commitment

CoP participants must commit to full participation in the program, including attending at least 80% of sessions starting in the summer.

Questions?

Contact Program Director Matt Kelley ( or 773.308.4630).