Events and Workshops

Read & Watch Professional Learning Series

Sponsored by CREC School Choice & The Hartford Region Open Choice Program, the Read & Watch Series provides a safe and brave space for educators and district staff to deepen their understanding of key equity concepts through focused learning and dialogue. Each session offers opportunities to (re)learn historical context and explore its connection to present-day educational practice and societal dynamics. Together, we’ll engage with curated media, strengthen tools for working with diverse student populations, and connect with like-minded colleagues committed to fostering inclusive learning environments. This year the series will focus on exploring the text The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee and the documentary, America to Me. The book and access to the documentary will be provided. Cost: Free participation for all educators in CREC schools and Open Choice partner districts.

Small Group Instruction for Multilingual Learners (Hybrid/Canvas Course)

To support multilingual learners' English development, we must effectively plan and structure small group instruction that meets their needs and fosters language growth. This requires a clear understanding of what our students can currently do and what their next steps are in language development.In this course, participants will conduct an in-depth analysis of their students’ language capabilities and use this information to plan and deliver effective, focused small group instruction. The course covers essential topics related to multilingual learners’ language development, making it ideal for educators who are new to working with MLs/ELs or who are seeking foundational knowledge. It also offers experienced educators a structured process to dive deeper into student language profiles and refine their small group instruction.Participants will have 9 weeks to complete the asynchronous coursework. In addition, they are invited to attend three live, virtual sessions—a course kickoff, a mid-course check-in, and a wrap-up session. Each session includes 30 minutes of collaborative activities followed by an optional 30-minute Q&A.

Coaches Council - AM Session

Instructional Coaches in the CREC region are invited to attend bi-monthly council meetings to share best practices and engage in new thinking about coaching. Topics will be determined based on participant interests. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

Coaches Council - PM Session

Instructional Coaches in the CREC region are invited to attend bi-monthly council meetings to share best practices and engage in new thinking about coaching. Topics will be determined based on participant interests. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

English Language Learners Council (Title III) - AM Session

English Learner district coordinators and educators in the CREC region are invited to meetings to share best practices and emerging research on improving outcomes for EL students. Members will engage in new thinking about instructional practices and collaborate to proactively respond to EL needs in their district. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

English Language Learners Council (Title III) - PM Session

English Learner district coordinators and educators in the CREC region are invited to meetings to share best practices and emerging research on improving outcomes for EL students. Members will engage in new thinking about instructional practices and collaborate to proactively respond to EL needs in their district. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

Humanities Council

The CREC Resource Group provides Kindergarten to grade 12 Language Arts and Social Studies educators, district leaders, instructional coaches, department heads, and coordinators the opportunity to come together to share best practices and exchange ideas around ELA and Social Studies. Input from participants regarding topic selection will be encouraged to best meet the needs of the council membership. There is no cost to attend.

Math Council - AM Session

CREC’s Mathematics Council provides new thinking about mathematics instruction for K-12 math teachers, coaches, and district leaders in an open forum-type setting. Agenda topics are determined by district participants to serve the group’s needs. The meeting includes state updates. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

Math Council - PM Session

CREC’s Mathematics Council provides new thinking about mathematics instruction for K-12 math teachers, coaches, and district leaders in an open forum-type setting. Agenda topics are determined by district participants to serve the group’s needs. The meeting includes state updates. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

MTSS Council - AM Session

MTSS facilitators and educators are invited to join our MTSS Council to collaborate with fellow facilitators and educators in sharing best practices and emerging research. Members will engage in discussions on tiered supports across academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning. This is a valuable opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and enhance your MTSS strategies. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose and AM or PM session, and the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

MTSS Council - PM Session

MTSS facilitators and educators are invited to join our MTSS Council to collaborate with fellow facilitators and educators in sharing best practices and emerging research. Members will engage in discussions on tiered supports across academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning. This is a valuable opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and enhance your MTSS strategies. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants can choose either an AM or PM session, the content will be identical in both sessions. There is no cost to attend.

Assistive Technology Community of Practice (COP)

This CoP is for anyone working in the schools who is interested in AT or who works with students who require AT. The purpose of the AT CoP is to network and collaborate with CT district personnel providing AT services and supports to build capacity and share ideas. This initiative is brought to you by the Connecticut State Department of Education in partnership with the RESC Alliance.

2026 Bridging Pre-K and Kindergarten Practices Symposium: Deepening Practice, Partnership, and Play Across the Pre-K to Kindergarten Continuum

Join early childhood educators, kindergarten teachers, support staff, and administrators from across Connecticut for a full day of collaboration, practical learning, and shared leadership.

This year's symposium builds on the foundation of developmentally appropriate, play-based teaching—and takes it further. Together, we’ll deepen our understanding of how to align practice, pedagogy, and partnerships to support every child’s smooth and joyful transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten.

By the end of the symposium, participants will be able to:

1. Apply developmentally appropriate strategies to deepen continuity of learning across Pre-K and Kindergarten.
2. Design play-based environments and routines that support executive function and aligned academic goals.
3. Use authentic, observation-based assessment practices to document learning through play.
4. Collaborate with colleagues to build stronger partnerships across roles and grade levels.

Whether you're just beginning to explore Pre-K to K alignment or deepening work already underway, this symposium offers inspiration, connection, and tools to take your next step.

Early Childhood Directors Council

The Early Childhood Directors Council is a professional network dedicated to fostering best practices and innovative strategies for early childhood administrators. Our primary objective is to empower leaders in the field by providing a platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and professional development. No cost to attend.

Special Area Teachers Council

This Council is designed specifically for teachers of non-core subjects—such as the arts, physical education, and career/technical education. Participants will engage in rich discussions around problems of practice, share strategies that enhance student engagement and learning, and build a supportive professional network. Each session provides space for reflection, collaboration, and continuous growth within and across disciplines. There is no cost to attend.

TEAM District Facilitator Meeting - Spring 2026

TEAM District Facilitator Meetings occur twice each school year and provide program updates. The mission of the TEAM Program is to promote excellence, equity, and high achievement for Connecticut students by engaging teachers in the purposeful exploration of professional practice through guided support and personal reflection.

CREC Curriculum Council Meeting

Join other educational leaders for time to problem-solve, plan, share, and collaborate with colleagues. The morning will be the virtual RESC Alliance Curriculum Council. The remaining time will be allocated to topic-specific work sessions and/or team-based work time. Come alone or with your team to use designated space and time around topics such as statewide mandates, district initiatives, or collaborating on problems of practice. No cost to attend.

Play-Based Learning in Kindergarten

Are you ready to take play-based learning to the next level in your Kindergarten classroom? This interactive professional learning workshop is designed for educators who already understand the "why" of play and are ready to dive into the "how." Join us as we explore concrete strategies for designing developmentally appropriate classroom environments, integrating academic standards through purposeful play, supporting prosocial behavior, and engaging families as partners in play-based learning.

Teachers Academy 2026 - Year 1 Certified Staff

FOR CREC STAFF ONLY: When registering (clicking "Enroll" button), you will be prompted to log into Protraxx with your username and password. If you do not have a Protraxx account, please select "Register” under the ‘New Users’ section on the right of the screen and follow the prompts to create an account. Please note that the “Organization Type” must be set to RESC in order to select a CREC school or program under the “Organization” field. If you have trouble creating an account, email our Protraxx support at pdsupport@crec.org.

To register for the Teachers Academy 2026 Year 1 track, after clicking the "Enroll" button and signing in, you must select (check the checkboxes) the Day 1 Year 1 session and the Day 2 and Day 3 sessions that align with your position/assignment.

All teachers entering their first full year at CREC are required to attend Teachers Academy. Sessions will encourage meaningful, collegial conversations, inspire collaborative problem solving and innovative thinking, and result in resources for immediate classroom application.

Session Schedule here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UyPrTTTdwO010EFQY2klUtA1JPPdps7GHdLol4Bom8U/edit?usp=sharing

Cultivating Quality: EL/ML Program Leadership Collaborative

This virtual monthly leadership collaborative supports EL/ML Coordinators, ELACs, and other teacher-leaders or district administrators responsible for English learner/multilingual learner programming, especially those who are new to the role, unfamiliar with multilingual education, or working without formal TESOL training. Through monthly facilitated sessions, a detailed month-by-month guidebook, and structured opportunities for collaborative problem-solving, participants will navigate key responsibilities aligned to the academic year, including compliance requirements, identification procedures, assessment data use, and program planning. Sessions blend timely guidance, participant questions, peer collaboration, and voices from the field so the experience is both practical and responsive. The collaborative builds participants’ capacity to lead compliant, asset-based multilingual programs.

Addressing Harmful Language Using Restorative Practice

As student access to technology expands, harmful language is increasingly embedded in everyday interactions often without full understanding of its history or impact. This interactive two-day session equips educators with restorative practices to respond to harm in ways that promote accountability, empathy, and relationship-building rather than punishment.

Participants will analyze the impact of harmful language, apply restorative strategies such as circles and conversations to real-world scenarios, and design actionable systems for sustainable implementation. Grounded in educator experiences and aligned with Connecticut statutes and IIRP practices, this session centers student voice and supports more inclusive, relationship-centered school communities.

Coaching Paraeducators: Tools for Effective Supports

Paraeducators are widely recognized as essential partners in supporting students with disabilities, yet educators often receive little formal preparation on how to effectively supervise, coach, and collaborate with them. Without intentional structures and shared expectations, paraeducators may experience inconsistent guidance, and both team members can struggle to fully leverage their collective impact.

This professional learning session is intentionally designed for paraeducator–supervisor teams to attend together. By engaging in the learning as a partnership, teams develop a shared understanding of roles, expectations, and effective collaboration practices in real time. The session builds both members’ capacity by strengthening supervisors’ ability to provide clear, respectful, and actionable feedback, while empowering paraeducators to engage confidently in their roles.

Attending as a team ensures that participants leave aligned and prepared to apply the learning immediately within their school or district. Together, they will develop concrete tools and shared strategies to clarify roles, strengthen communication, and build more effective instructional partnerships that enhance outcomes for students with disabilities.

Strategies in Action: Practical Supports for Multilingual Learners

A cohort-based virtual learning series focused on practical, ready-to-use strategies for supporting multilingual learners across content areas and grade levels. Across six monthly sessions, participants will explore one high-impact instructional focus at a time and leave with concrete strategies they can apply in their own classrooms or coaching work. Sessions will include a brief grounding in second-language acquisition, guided exploration of strategies and examples, time to adapt ideas to participants’ own contexts, and structured opportunities to reflect on what they tried between sessions. The series is designed to help educators move from learning about strategies to actually using them with students.

Series Schedule: 10/15/26-Facilitate Comprehension; 11/12/26-Student Talk and Interaction; 12/17/27-Foster Vocabulary Acquisition; 3/25/27-Background Knowledge; 4/29/27-Translanguaging; and 5/27/27-Check for Understanding

Restorative Practices for School Social Workers and Psychologists

School social workers and school psychologists are often expected to lead restorative practices, yet few receive training tailored to their specialized roles. This workshop addresses that gap by aligning restorative practices with clinical expertise, consultation, MTSS leadership, crisis response, and family engagement.

Participants will apply restorative approaches within their professional scope, strengthening their ability to lead sustainable, relationship-centered systems that move beyond behavior management toward equity, accountability, and mental health–informed practice. Rather than introducing a new initiative, this session enhances and operationalizes existing skills for real-world school implementation.

Participants will leave with concrete strategies, role-specific tools, and actionable plans to integrate restorative practices into their daily work, improving school climate, strengthening relationships, and reducing reliance on exclusionary discipline.

School Leadership Decisions That Shape Early Learning (PreK-K): What High-Quality Early Learning Looks Like

What does rigorous instruction look like in a Pre-K or Kindergarten classroom? How can administrators distinguish between high-quality, developmentally appropriate practice and instruction that appears structured but may not support how young children learn? This session builds foundational understanding of early childhood pedagogy for school leaders. Participants will examine what research tells us about brain development, executive function, and early literacy and math foundations. Through classroom scenarios and discussion, leaders will identify observable indicators of strong practice in play-based environments and clarify common misconceptions about rigor in early learning. The goal is to strengthen administrators’ ability to recognize, support, and communicate what effective early childhood instruction looks like.

Empowerment Through Perspective: Reframing Deficit Mindsets and Moving to an Asset-Based Mindset

In this two-part series, participants will be introduced to the concept of deficit-based thinking and how harmful and pervasive it is in education spaces. They will engage in an unpacking exercise to better understand the different harmful outcomes of deficit-based thinking. Then they will learn to reframe deficit thinking and co-create asset-based responses. Part 2 will help you understand the ways society does not value the capital that marginalized students bring to educational spaces. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth model, participants will reflect and reframe how their students are viewed in deficit ways to more asset-based descriptions.

From Contact to Community: Working Together with Families Across Cultures

The first interaction a family has with your school often sets the tone for their entire educational journey. Is it a bridge to partnership or a barrier to engagement?

In this workshop series, we explore how school employees serve as the vital frontline of community belonging. We address the "cultural mismatches", differences in communication styles and lived experiences, that can unintentionally create mistrust, especially within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Learning will be sustained through built-in practice during the session, so participants leave with strategies ready to use, along with practical resources to support ongoing implementation. Participants will be encouraged to collaborate with colleagues to continue reflecting and holding one another accountable, building a community of learners. Change will be evident through increased confidence, more culturally responsive communication, and more restorative and intentional relationship-building with families.

School Leadership Decisions That Shape Early Learning (PreK-K): Instructional Leadership Without Pushdown

Administrators often face pressure to increase academic expectations in the early grades. How can leaders support strong academic outcomes without narrowing instruction or reducing time for play? This session focuses on vertical alignment across Pre-K and Kindergarten using CT ELDS and Kindergarten standards as a developmental continuum rather than separate mandates. Leaders will explore how curriculum pacing, materials, and expectations can be aligned without compromising the integrity of early childhood pedagogy. Participants will reflect on how leadership messaging, instructional guidance, and decision-making shape classroom practice across the continuum.

Culture & Connection: Restorative Practices Training for Culture & Climate Representatives

With evolving educational standards and recent Connecticut legislation, schools are called to move beyond exclusionary discipline toward environments that prioritize healing and community. Culture & Connection is a two-day training designed for school-based leaders and Climate & Culture Representatives who are ready to bridge the gap between policy expectations and real-world implementation. By integrating the IIRP model with an equity-driven, trauma-informed lens, this session transforms abstract theory into a practical toolkit for change. Participants will not only explore restorative frameworks and communication strategies but will also join a collaborative network of practitioners, including access to an exclusive post-training workgroup dedicated to fostering authentic belonging and resilient school climates.

School Leadership Decisions That Shape Early Learning (PreK-K): Observation, Assessment, and Accountability in Early Childhood

How should administrators evaluate teaching and learning in Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms? What does meaningful assessment look like in play-based settings? This session addresses supervision, assessment, and accountability practices in early childhood. Participants will examine authentic, observation-based assessment approaches and consider how these practices align with district expectations for student growth and data use. Leaders will explore how to adapt walkthrough tools, evaluation frameworks, and feedback conversations to reflect early learning principles. The focus is on helping administrators supervise early childhood classrooms with confidence and clarity.

School Leadership Decisions That Shape Early Learning (PreK-K): Systems and Scheduling That Support Play

How do leadership decisions about schedules, staffing, curriculum mandates, and instructional time impact the quality of early learning in Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms? This session is designed for administrators who want to strengthen early childhood outcomes while meeting district expectations. Participants will examine how systems-level decisions—such as daily schedules, pacing guides, intervention blocks, collaboration time, and assessment requirements—either support or unintentionally limit developmentally appropriate, play-based instruction. Through guided discussion and practical examples, leaders will analyze how to structure the school day and year to promote executive function, language development, and strong foundational skills without sacrificing academic goals. The focus will be on aligning systems with what research tells us about how young children learn best.