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Professional Development

Professional Growth & Development

The Faculty Growth and Development program supports faculty in continued learning and facilitates professional growth. Through conversations about goals and reflections on practice and pedagogy, every faculty member has the opportunity to exemplify lifelong learning and to maximize learning for students.

What defines an excellent teacher? At Potomac, we talk about "the who" and "the what" of excellent teaching—that is, the personal qualities and character, and the professional knowledge and skills, that together position a teacher to have a lasting positive effect on students.

In-House Professional Development

Throughout the school year, The Potomac School offers a rich spectrum of professional development lectures, workshops, and seminars. These take place at the all-school, divisional, and departmental levels. Some are led by outside experts in their fields; others are led by our own faculty and staff, allowing us to celebrate the talents within our own community. Past topics have included giving effective feedback to students, the importance of belonging and mattering, AI integration, modern learning, design thinking, and inquiry-based learning. Summer reading texts and ongoing book groups offer further opportunities for teachers to explore a subject of their own choosing.

Bringing it Back to the Classroom
Bringing it Back to the Classroom

Nick MacDonald, Upper School History Teacher

Over the summer, I was fortunate enough to complete my graduate work and earn a Master’s degree in history. Some years ago, when thinking about a graduate program to apply to, I quickly came to the conclusion that I needed flexibility: I wanted to still work full time as a teacher and to be able to study and learn while doing so.

 

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Greg Mueller
A Commitment to Lifelong Learning

Greg Mueller, Intermediate School Science Teacher and Dean

I had contemplated pursuing a postgraduate degree on and off since 1995 when I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Science Teaching from Clemson University. Since then I have been working in the classroom and the field with students during the school year and honing my leadership skills as the director of our summer programs and robotics in summers and for extracurricular activities.

Read More about A Commitment to Lifelong Learning

External Professional Growth Opportunities

Potomac invests substantially in the professional growth of its teachers—whether through reading, workshops, seminars, or coursework. Faculty regularly engage with leading organizations in the field, including NAIS, VAIS, CSEE, IFSEL, the Stanley King Institute, the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute, the Association of Academic Leaders, The Heads Network, and a range of discipline-specific associations. In addition, each year The Potomac School funds multiple faculty members across the following categories:

  • Curriculum Grants — Faculty design, revise, and refine curriculum, or pursue areas of study that will enrich their teaching. Proposals are submitted for review by the divisional administrative teams.
  • Enrichment Grants — Potomac's Enrichment Grants support professional development experiences that align with Potomac's Excellent Teaching Profile. Recipients pursue learning opportunities—specialized workshops, conferences, or cultural immersion programs—that directly enhance their practice and benefit our students and school community.
  • Green Grants — The Environmental Education Professional Development Fund supports study and work that advances environmental and place-based education at The Potomac School and helps us cultivate the natural resources we have inherited.
  • Summer Inspiration Grants — Potomac believes that faculty and staff do their most innovative work when they are balanced, inspired, and exposed to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences. Summer Inspiration Grants offer financial support for sabbatical-like experiences, so that faculty and staff can return with fresh ideas and renewed energy. These experiences need not be connected to one's role at the school.
  • The Maggie A. Thompson (M.A.T.) Science Teacher Development Endowment — Established by David and Catherine Thompson, this endowment provides funds for Potomac science teachers to further their education and research.

Read some of the stories of our teachers’ learning journeys.

Pathways to Leadership

Academic Council

Academic Council strengthens and aligns the student learning experience K–12. Comprised of faculty members from all divisions, the council ensures curricular coherence, maintenance, and innovation. Recognizing that curricular shifts at any level of our academic program can affect the student experience, the council works across divisions to keep our K–12 program aligned.

PACT (Potomac AI Collaborative Team)

PACT brings together a small group of faculty from across divisions to explore what thoughtful AI integration looks like at Potomac—in our classrooms, in our assessments, and in how we prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Working alongside the EdTech Team, members experiment with new approaches, share their discoveries, help colleagues build confidence with these tools, and take up the essential work of reimagining assessment for an AI-rich environment. The team prizes curiosity and a learner's stance over technical expertise.

The DEI Leadership Team

The DEI Leadership Team brings together two distinct roles within a single, integrated team:

  • DEI Divisional Leader, Student Programming — the primary divisional point person for administrative partnership, faculty coaching, onboarding, student programming, and climate.
  • DEI Divisional Leader, Cultural Competency — a more focused, project-oriented role centered on curriculum, advisory lessons, and pedagogical resources.

Service Learning Leadership Team

Under the leadership of Joy Webster, director of K–12 service learning, each grade level has a faculty leader to ensure that service learning is an integrated component of our curriculum. Service learning leaders coordinate events both on and off campus and provide curricular support to their grade-level and divisional colleagues.

Taskforces

Each year, a variety of taskforces arise for deeper exploration of particular topics—among them discipline-specific curriculum reviews, questions of interest to faculty, and initiatives generated by our Strategic Roadmap, with recent work spanning AI, diversity and inclusion, and environmental literacy.