2019 VSBA Annual Convention

As school districts throughout the Commonwealth face increasingly tight budgets, a growing number of leaders are embracing on-site solar power, which allows them to bring STEM into the classroom while also saving significant sums of money. Come hear Superintendent Peter Gretz (Middlesex) and Assistant Superintendent Terry Stone (Hanover) share their first-hand experiences from their districts, as they are joined by solar-in-schools expert Seth Herman (Sun Tribe Solar), who will help understand the pathway towards making these projects a reality.

What is a group captive? Learn about the captive model and how it can reduce your districts healthcare and health insurance spend by providing transparency, control, eliminating waste and the latest cost-containment strategies in a turnkey approach.

Presenters will review the problems causing serious nationwide teacher shortages, absenteeism, turnover and overall job dissatisfaction. The interactive presentation and discussion will focus on key issues keeping teachers out of the classroom. We will share creative ideas gathered from education experts from across the country to address the problems and ask for additional ideas from our audience. We must ensure quality instruction is provided to every student, every day. It can be achieved through policy changes, execution, accountability and select, strategic partnerships.

The VSBA Task Force on Students and Schools in Challenging Environments invites you to share your practices of promise and success with students and schools in challenging environments at this lunch time “pop up.”  We are seeking to document policy, program, strategies, and other successes occurring around the Commonwealth aligned with our task force goals.  Pop Up presenters may share their story for up to 10 minutes.   Topics areas are limited to: Community & Family Engagement, Funding & Resources, Specialized Training, Student Learning, and Teacher Quality. Come and hear from Alexandria City Public Schools, Bristol City Public Schools, Charlottesville City Public Schools, Hampton City Public Schools, and Virginia Beach City Public Schools and share your successful and innovative approaches advancing positive outcomes for all students.

No two students, or teachers, or classrooms are the same! To inspire imaginations and shape students' identities as literate citizens of the world, they need to see relevant representations of themselves and their communities and see the lives of others in every aspect of their instruction. Expanding students' view of the world in this way affirms their experience, develops empathy, and opens students to possibilities beyond their experience and geography. This prepares them for global citizenship and the life-long learner journey! Our capacity to learn extends not only to the rich academic content encountered in schools, but also to our emotions and relationships with others. The principles and strategies offered in this session are designed to create pathways towards addressing the fundamentally social aspect of learning, and help all educational partners support both the hearts and the minds of all students. Participants will explore effective ways to enhance instructional equity through high quality instruction and delivery. This workshop will concentrate on creating equitable learning environment by engaging the unique strengths of your students. We will identify key principles in the research with example activities, teaching strategies, and routines. By pairing positive social and emotional learning with high quality academic instruction, students are empowered to capitalize on their powerful, innate learning abilities, and will build skills that will have a positive impact on their lives throughout their school years and beyond.