This spring, the Bank Street Education Center partnered with New York City Public Schools Division of Early Childhood Education (NYCPS-DECE) to launch a series of professional learning opportunities for leadership coaches, instructional coordinators, social workers, and inclusion specialists focused on strengthening their work in early childhood programs across New York City.
Led by Bank Street facilitators, the program helped DECE staff deepen their understanding of adult and child development and build their skills to coach and support educators in various early childhood settings. The program also focused on equipping staff with strategies to nurture the emotional well-being of children and adults, foster reflective practice, and strengthen partnerships with families and colleagues.
“Bank Street is proud to provide meaningful professional learning experiences, in partnership with the Division of Early Childhood Education, that deepen the expertise of specialists who work in different capacities across New York City’s early learning settings,” said Milenis Gonzalez, Interim Executive Director, Early Childhood, Bank Street Education Center. “We look forward to seeing participants apply learnings into their practice this school year and enrich teaching and learning in classrooms for our youngest learners throughout the city.”
The program was organized into five focus areas based on a DECE staff survey to align with participants’ interests: Adult Learning, Role-Specific Professional Learning, Modules on Executive Functioning and Sensory Processing, Family Engagement, and Strategic Planning.
In the Adult Learning section, DECE staff attended three in-person sessions to explore the fundamentals of adult learning and build their expertise in facilitating effective professional learning for educators. The workshops offered opportunities for participants to deepen their understanding through small-group activities and discussion.
One attendee shared, “The session was helpful because it gave clear strategies to apply adult learning principles and allowed time to reflect and work with others.”
The Role-Specific Professional Learning section offered workshops tailored to each role, including “Trauma-Informed Leadership” for leadership coaches and inclusion specialists and “Coaching Stances and Differentiation” for instructional coordinators and inclusion specialists.
One participant noted in their feedback that these sessions had “a clear focus on coaching, respect for our experiences, and opportunities to reflect and learn with colleagues.”
Additionally, the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street led dedicated sessions for social workers and inclusion specialists that explored emotionally responsive techniques and how to foster environments that nurture mental health and emotional well-being.
Next, the Modules on Executive Functioning and Sensory Processing provided DECE staff who had not previously completed training with an introduction to developmental processes like working memory, self-regulation, cognitive flexibility, and sensory integration, which shape how children and adults learn.
In addition, instructional coordinators and inclusion specialists joined two Family Engagement sessions to learn strategies for building strong partnerships with families of young children.
Lastly, Strategic Planning meetings brought together DECE leadership and the Bank Street team regularly to discuss ongoing partnership design and participant feedback throughout the program.
In the fall, Bank Street and the DECE look to continue their collaboration, building on participant feedback from the spring to offer more professional learning opportunities and further strengthen early childhood practice across the five boroughs.
“Over the summer, we continued planning with the Division of Early Childhood Education leadership team to integrate participant feedback and refine the program as we plan for the next phase of our partnership,” said Jennifer Friedman, Associate Director of Early Childhood Strategy & Implementation, Bank Street Education Center. “We are excited for the possibility of extending our collaboration with New York City Public Schools into the 2025-26 school year, and we hope to offer additional professional learning opportunities.”