<\/p>\n
Leaders, teachers and staff from Erie\u2019s Public Schools gathered at the Bayfront Convention Center Tuesday for the district\u2019s second annual Back to School Convocation.<\/p>\n
The event was designed to celebrate educators and support staff, thank them for their work and energize them for the start of a new school year.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s convocation had a train theme, with Superintendent Dr. Natalyn Gibbs wearing conductor\u2019s cap as she encouraged faculty and staff to get on board with the district\u2019s goals and have a wonderful year putting students first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are not used to all this excitement, so it\u2019s really nice to have this kind of energy,\u201d said Kathryn Marczak, an autistic support teacher at Jefferson Elementary School.<\/p>\n
Angela Barnes, a kindergarten teacher at Eagle\u2019s Nest said, \u201cI feel like we’re coming together – we have a sense of belonging we know where we’re starting\u2026we have a starting point in how we’re going to move on through the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Shaut, Dean at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, called the event truly energizing. \u201cIt’s a great way for us to gather as a team and talk about the initiatives as a school district and really focus on the changes and the work that we have to do for our students to make sure they have the best experience when they come back on day one,\u201d Shaut said.<\/p>\n
Students from Collegiate Academy also helped recognize employees celebrating milestones ranging from one year of service to more than 30 years with the district.<\/p>\n
New brand unveiled<\/p>\n
Erie\u2019s Public Schools superintendent also unveiled a new brand and logo during the convocation, along with the tagline \u201cLearning Without Limits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district is also implement a new strategic plan, which was developed with input from members of the school community.<\/p>\n
For teachers like Kathryn Marczyk who was on the planning team, that means focusing on some key priorities as students return. \u201cThe strong start for our students that are coming into kindergarten,\u201d she said. \u201cJust making sure that those kids coming into school age have the foundation and skills the need to be at school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcel Majors, entering his second year as a 3rd grade teacher at the Eagle\u2019s Nest said a key focus for him will be on reading for all students, including English as a Second Language students. \u201cSo we’re going to do a lot more reading we’re going to focus on that. I’m going to implement a lot of at home reading so we can try to get the parents involved this year, so they can assist me as much as possible, so we can get these kids where they should be,\u201d Majors said.<\/p>\n
District officials say the convocation is an investment in the people who make up Erie\u2019s Public Schools. Board President Dr. Jay Breneman said spending money on the event is worthwhile because it supports the district\u2019s faculty and staff.<\/p>\n
And as the new school year gets underway, teachers have a simple message for families:<\/p>\n
\u201cJust know that we\u2019re all on the same team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaders, teachers and staff from Erie\u2019s Public Schools gathered at the Bayfront Convention Center Tuesday for the district\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[4549,60229,136,138,137,46139,60354,736,61102,1039,3315,3316],"class_list":["post-267852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-branding","tag-convocation","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-erie-public-schools","tag-new-school-year","tag-reading","tag-school-community","tag-strategic-plan","tag-students","tag-teachers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}