Welcome!
From the Professional Development Academy, we welcome our new and returning employees to another great year in Charlotte County Public Schools! With the 2006-07 school year behind us, we look forward to an even more active year in 2007-08 as we continue to expand our professional development programs. We have included basic overview information below. For more detailed information, please visit our website at: http://www.yourcharlotteschools.net/pda 

Our new professional development management system is now up and running. Nicknamed “Avatar”, the system includes our class catalog, paperless registration system, personal portfolio/inservice tracking, and much more. To access the system, go to http://training.ccps.k12.fl.us   You will need to enter your 10 digit district identification number and password. For more information on Avatar “Course Insite”, including log-in information, go to our webpage and click directly on “Course Insite”. To download the user’s manual, click on “Getting Started in Avatar”. If you are a new employee, your account may not become “active” for one to two weeks after the beginning of the school year.

All new educators to Charlotte County Public Schools are required to participate in the district induction program, “New Educators Training (NET)”. Each new educator will be assigned a collegial coach for support during the first year of employment. The NET program begins with the NET Academy, August 7-9 at Port Charlotte HS, and August 10 at each individual’s school. For more information on the NET program and the NET Academy, please contact Mary Leonard at 255-7675 x223, or by e-mail at Mary_Leonard@ccps.k12.fl.us. Additional NET information can be found on our website. Look for the “NET” page under the “PROGRAMS” tab.

Charlotte Academy of Professional Educators (CAPE)
The CAPE program expanded during the 2006-07 school year, and now boasts over 42 courses! We also saw a marked increase in participation during this time, and are planning even more course offerings during 2007-08. Class offerings are added continuously in the Avatar system “class catalog”. As CAPE courses are tuition-based, the Avatar system now handles payment options in the system. We provide for online credit card payment (through PayPal), payroll deduction (one time/full amount), and incremental payroll deduction ($100 per paycheck). The CAPE program is developed and operated in partnership with CFEA through the Partnership and Performance Council (PPC). For more information on the CAPE program including tuition and annual salary supplement features, please go to our website and select “CAPE” from the “PROGRAMS” tab. Detailed information can be found in the Cape Manual. Download by clicking on “View Cape Manual”. 

Individual Professional Development Plans (IPDPs)
All educators are required to create and implement an annual professional development plan (PDP). The NET program includes a specialized PDP within the participant portfolio. For all other educators, we now provide the IPDP forms on our website. We have included both Word and PDF formats on the “IPDP” page  under the “PDA” tab. Download the Word version if you prefer to create, edit, and store your IPDP on your computer. Directions for the Word format are also available for download. Download the PDF version if you prefer to print the form and handle as a traditional paper file. General directions for completion and submission/conference preparation are included on the webpage. Your principal or assistant principal will provide a conference schedule. Generally, the initial conference is completed in August/September, the mid-year conference in January, and the final conference in April/May. Please bring a print copy to your final conference for signatures. Your principal or assistant principal will collect your signed copy for submission to your personnel record in Human Resources.

ESOL, ESOL Endorsement, and ESOL for Administrators/Guidance Counselors

We now offer all of our ESOL courses through Beacon Educator online. This allows for maximum convenience for the participant by providing multiple offerings of each class throughout the year, and a highly qualified facilitator for each course. We also offer the Beacon Educator ESOL courses through the CAPE program. For more information on Beacon Educator ESOL courses, ESOL requirements for teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors, please go to our website and access the ESOL page from the PROGRAMS tab. Reading Endorsement

Charlotte county Public Schools provides the Reading Endorsement with online and live delivery courses. Our Reading Endorsement plan provides four paths to attaining the add-on certification, including the “REESOL pathway” for those that are ESOL endorsed.  Reading endorsement courses and REESOL are also offered through the CAPE program. For more information on the Reading Endorsement and REESOL courses, please go to our webpage and access READING ENDORSEMENT under CERTIFICATION AND CREDIT. For more information, please contact Mary Leonard at Mary_Leonard@ccps.k12.fl.us

Leadership/DELTA

For information on these and other leadership development programs, go to our website and access LEADERSHIP from the PROGRAMS tab. Additional information can be found on the DELTA page also under the PROGRAMS tab.

Classroom Walk Through

As part of the state’s DELTA program, Charlotte County Public Schools began the implementation of Classroom Walk Through in the 2006-07 school year. This data collection technique is designed to gather needed information for school level decision making regarding school improvement and professional development. In the 2007-08 school year, we will begin implementing the new 2.0 version, including a one-day “update” training. We also anticipate adding Classroom Walk Through to the CAPE program this year.

In partnership with CFEA through the Partnership and Performance Council, we have provided clear guidelines concerning professional development events. This information is also included in the CFEA contract. Inservice opportunities fall into one of four categories:

Mandatory - required inservice must be compensated at the hourly rate of the employee (most mandatory training will occur during the work day with substitutes provided as appropriate).

Highly Encouraged - high priority inservice will be compensated at the stipend rate (for after-hours and weekend sessions. Some highly encouraged training may occur during the workday with substitutes provided. Prior approval from the principal must be secured by the participant or training coordinator for these sessions).

Voluntary - voluntary inservice is optional and will not be compensated (voluntary training will be restricted to after-hours, weekends, and non-contract days).

CAPE - Courses in the Charlotte Academy of Professional Educators will be tuition based with compensation earned in accordance with the program guidelines (CAPE courses will be offered after-hours, weekends, online, and on other non-contract days).

All inservice courses must be pre-approved by the Partnership and Performance Council. School leaders and training coordinators are responsible to secure approval and indicate the appropriate inservice category at the time of registration/announcement of the event.

We encourage all teachers to participate in professional conferences, especially conferences provided through state professional organizations. To receive inservice credit for conference attendance, please review the INSERVICE CREDIT page under the CERTIFICATION AND CREDIT tab on our webpage. For your convenience, we have also included weblinks to the major state, regional, and national education organizations on the PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS page under the RESOURCES AND LINKS tab. Financial assistance is provided only for district or school authorized initiatives and must be pre-approved.

Inservice records are now provided in your Avatar portfolio (see above article on Avatar “Course Insite”).  Once we have processed your inservice information in the main database, it is “backloaded” into Avatar and appears under your “Historical/out of district” credit area. You can also choose the “transcript” button to see actual points and totals. As this is a relatively new feature, please check with Peggy Stoever if you think there is a discrepancy.

If you haven’t been to the Professional Development Center yet, we encourage you to stop by! The PDC is the nerve center of professional development in Charlotte County Public Schools with a main training room, technology lab, small meeting room, offices, and storage space. The PDC includes the district Professional Development Library including books, periodicals, videos, and more.

Our Staff

The Professional Development Academy is always ready to help you with your professional development needs. We have added a new staff member to assist with program coordination and implementation. Please contact us for assistance:

Chuck Bradley, Director
(main office at Murdock County Office)
255-0808 x3024
Chuck_Bradley@ccps.k12.fl.us

Mary Leonard, Asst. Director
(main office at PDC)
255-7675 x223
Mary_Leonard@ccps.k12.fl.us

Fran Holleran, Professional Development Specialist
(main office at PDC)
255-7675 x230
Fran_Holleran@ccps.k12.fl.us

Peggy Stoever, Certification Specialist
(main office at PDC)
255-7675 x227
Peggy_Stoever@ccps.k12.fl.us

Marcia Doeble
Secretary, PDC
255-7675 x222
Marcia_Doeble@ccps.k12.fl.us

Cynthia Weant
Secretary, PDC
255-7675 x221
Cynthia_Weant@ccps.k12.fl.us