Southern California School Visit Program
Oct 01, 2026
Location
Participating Schools
Cost CATDC Member only offering $350/faculty member (limit 5/school and 5 schools per cohort). 1-2 PD leaders participate without charge
Categories Curriculum & Pedagogy, In-Person, Ongoing Program, School Leaders, Teachers
Southern California School Visit Program
APPLICATIONS DUE: August 1, 2026
SCHOOLS CONFIRMED: Early September
SCOOL VISITS BEGIN: Fall 2026
FINAL ARTIFACT LUNCH: May 2027
ABOUT THIS SCHOOL VISIT PROGRAM
This program is an offering to CATDC member schools invested in building community with fellow educators, cultivating their educational practices, and supporting the continued growth, reflection, and evolution of best practices within their school communities. The program focus for 2026-2027 will be differentiation in mathematics and sciences. There will be two cohorts of 4-5 schools each: one for early childhood and lower school educators, and a second for middle and upper school educators. Throughout the school year, participating educators will visit peer schools in their cohort, and focus on a common problem of practice as they engage in instructional rounds. Instructional rounds will be followed by a Q&A with the host school faculty. School cohorts will create an artifact that they can implement in their school communities. Artifacts would be presented at a lunch hosted by CATDC in early May, following the final school visit.
DETAILS
- One-two leaders at the host school will support hosting the visits and be the point people for their faculty cohort throughout the year.
- In addition to site leaders, cohorts will consist of approximately 5 teachers (+/-1)
- In addition to visits and instructional rounds, educators from each school will meet for one hour following each visit to debrief the visit data, engage in scaffolded reflection exercises to integrate their observations, and make progress on co-creating their artifacts. Depending on the teams’ capacity, debrief meetings will take place immediately following the visit or during a pre-scheduled meeting between visits.
- Participating schools would be asked to contribute $350 per faculty participant to cover program costs.
- Visit dates will be determined once the participating schools are registered.
TESTIMONIALS FROM THE 2025-26 PILOT
"The best part of this experience was being in classrooms and seeing instruction happening. So many ideas and discussion points came out of this experience for both myself and my school team. I also really appreciated meeting and working with the other school leaders. It is always helpful to learn from others that work with adults!"
"Not only was it refreshing to get into other schools and classrooms, but also the value of the connections I made within the independent school community."
"The power of observation and being in the classrooms of peer schools; reflecting on those experiences with my school-based team and colleagues; talking with teachers in the cohort who are deeply invested in their teaching practice; and learning by doing through the hands-on experience of observing in schools."
Cancellation Policy
Life happens. We understand that there will be times when you cannot attend a workshop that you have registered and paid for. We strive to be as helpful and flexible as possible when things out of your control happen. Please visit our FAQ page for detailed information about our cancellation policy and answers to frequently asked questions about enrollment and membership.