All adults at Pius XI are considered teachers, whether they are administrators in an office, faculty in a classroom, coaches on the field, or support staff in a resource room – all of us are here to support our students in growing and learning. Sometimes, what seems to be the smallest interaction between an adult and a student can have an enormous influence on the student.

The fundamental goal of Pius XI’s Staff Development Program is to nurture a Christian learning community. The program fosters spiritual, personal and professional growth. In order to facilitate this growth, we work on our communication skills, particularly in small groups. Our work on these skills is not a luxury. Working in earnest on them is, in fact, one of the essential qualities that make us who we are. Our communication skills support us in working together and in working with our students.

More and more, educational research indicates that for educators to succeed in an increasingly complex and complicated time, they need to deal skillfully with their own emotions and beliefs as well as those of their students.

In Pius XI’s Staff Development Program, we pay special attention to our emotions, beliefs and communication skills in small and large group settings. Through this work it is our intention to improve the quality of teacher practice in order to improve student learning. As such, we support the following directives:

1. Pius XI’s mission guides us in making decisions, ranging from school-wide issues to what goes on in individual classrooms and offices.
2. We form a spiritual community guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
3. We possess a deep, working understanding of the following concepts:
   1. ideologies
   2. goals, strategies and assessment
   3. scope and sequence
   4. aspects of learning: knowledge, skills, understanding, disposition
4. We view each child as a “whole child,” who takes other classes, has other activities, and comes from a unique background. We understand the concept of diversity, and we value the rich diversity of the student body.
5. We understand that there are important connections among departments, among courses, and among lessons. We collaborate to create the most effective curriculum for the students.
6. We possess a willingness to grow, to learn, and to adapt to changing circumstances.