Why We Had a Day Off: Inside District Staff Development Day

Photos By: Kevin Cerros | November 28, 2025 | Ms. Grefe, an English teacher here at Estancia

What’s really happening when you’re gone from school? Learn all about how your teachers collaborate to give you the education you deserve.

On November 5th while we were gone from school, our teachers worked with others across the district to figure out what works best. A professional training designed to review student performance and how to make material really stick, the District Staff Development Day.

The training ran from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and included departments such as English Language Arts/ELD, History, Social Science, and Mathematics. While all departments attended around the same time, sessions were held at separate locations.

Photos By: Kevin Cerros | November 28, 2025 | Mrs. Sturken, a mathematics teacher here at Estancia

English Language Arts met at Early College High School, History and Social Science at Corona Del Mar, and Mathematics at Costa Mesa High School. The District organized the overall training schedule, while individual activities were coordinated by Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) and other personnel.

Focusing more closely on individual experiences, Ms. Grefe, an English teacher, described her experience: “We were supposed to share best practices from the first two quarters, so what did we teach that worked really well during our first couple quarters, and then we learned about teaching strategies like physiological chairs or we could’ve chosen to go learn about BRISK, which was about AI.”

She added, “The training felt really open ended, and it was different. It felt really discussion based and we could kind of take the workshops in whatever direction we wanted to as teachers.”

Ms. Grefe hopes to implement strategies learned from colleagues or at the training in her own classroom.

Mrs. Sturken, an Enhanced Math teacher, shared her perspective on the Mathematics Department training:

“I was working closely with the teacher that teaches enhanced math 2 and enhanced math 3 at Costa Mesa High School, so we were talking a lot about different pacings, and there's no district mandated curriculum for those classes, we are just supposed to take the kids and get them ready for calculus and we have essentially 2 years to do 3 years worth of material.”

Photos By: Kevin Cerros | November 28, 2025 | Victor Onofre, this story’s news writer, interviewing Mr. Gonzalez

She said collaborating with other enhanced math teachers was a key part of the experience: “I enjoyed collaborating with other enhanced math teachers to see if their class pacing was similar assignment content, difficulty of questions asked on tests, and how they’ve implemented board work around the classroom.”

Mrs. Sturken also noted the training’s unique approach: “I feel like a lot of the other training we have people from outside the district come in, whereas in this particular training there were no outside district people, it was internal/all people from the school district running the training.”

At the center of the event’s purpose, the Math Department aimed to create a shared set of test questions so results could be compared and teaching strategies evaluated.

She emphasized the relevance of the training: “Teachers had actual time to discuss things that are relevant in their classes today, considering that sometimes these trainings aren't relevant for today and might be relevant for them later in life.”

Photos By: Kevin Cerros | November 28, 2025 | Mr. Gonzales, an interviewee and history teacher here at Estancia

Mr. Gonzalez, a Social Studies teacher, responded to a question on how he felt about the students’ day off: “I was jealous, I guess you can say, but I understand this is my job, it's part of my professional duties. I get paid to go to these kinds of things, so it's not necessarily something that I complain about.”

He added that the training reflects the district’s focus on consistency across its four high schools, giving teachers a chance to compare data, identify gaps in student learning, and develop strategies to close them.

Broadening back out to the overall impact, by emphasizing discussion, collaboration, and practical strategies, the District’s Staff Development Day provided teachers with tools to enhance instruction while fostering communication across schools.

The event allowed educators to reflect on past successes, share methods, and plan for improved student outcomes in the coming months.