Ransom Everglades hosts second annual Summer Institute for Teachers

Building on the success of last year’s launch, this year’s Institute blended big-picture conversations with hands-on strategies. Sessions explored backward curriculum design, interdisciplinary project work, cultivating belonging and fostering civil discourse, alongside practical workshops on lesson delivery and assessment design. On the second day, participants engaged with timely topics shaping education today: purposeful homework design through RE’s proprietary RECAP framework, the use of artificial intelligence as a partner in creative lesson planning, the power of discussion-based teaching, and the role of formative assessment in driving student learning. The program reflected RE’s long-standing belief that teachers learn best from teachers, with RE faculty leading every session.

Participants described the Institute as both energizing and useful: “Regardless where you are in your teaching career, this professional development at Ransom Everglades has been so thoughtfully designed to provide a fresh perspective to some of our most basic routines,” one participant shared. Another added, the "summer institute provided me the opportunity to listen to seasoned educators shed light on cutting edge topics in education (use of AI, political discourse, homework, etc.). In the two-day-workshop, I expanded my network of teachers and left charged to conquer another school year.”

The Summer Institute for Teachers embodies the school’s mission to deliver a rigorous, inclusive, and joyful education by investing in the teachers who make that mission possible. The conversations begun in August will continue throughout the year, strengthening classroom practice and deepening the professional bonds that sustain a thriving school community.