Get Tailored, Professional Development Workshops for You & Your School’s Specific Needs
Designed to enhance your leadership skills and foster continuous improvement within your community, through tailored JGPR Academy workshops. With JGPR Academy, you’ll receive:
Customized
Solutions
Address specific needs and challenges, based on your school or district.
Expert
Facilitators
Our facilitators bring years of knowledge, experience, and insights into the latest practices.
On-Site
Training
Our Facilitators will bring the professional development directly to you.
As a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) approved professional development provider, all MA educators—who are workshop participants—will be eligible to receive professional development points from JGPR Academy.
Together, We’ll Work Towards:
Defining Your Organization: Creating a Strong Vision, Mission, Core Values and Guiding Beliefs
What does your organization stand for? What is the mission of your organization? Your vision? Where do you see yourselves in 3-5 years and beyond? Everyone who is a part of your organization should be able to answer these questions and more! This 4-hour workshop is designed to bring the key members of your organization together to envision and create a formal mission and vision statement. Together, you will also decide what you stand for and what you believe in, and will ultimately create a solid list of core values and guiding principles that you, your team, and your organization will live by.
Coordinated Communications for School Committees
Whether it’s coordinated communication during a crisis or community communications during a public meeting, having and implementing an effective communication plan with fidelity is essential to any school committee.
Topics will include:
A New School Leader’s Guide to Effective Communications
Establishing a strong, effective communication plan is one of the most important first steps a new administrator can take to ensure success in their new role. This workshop is designed to assist new administrators with creating a communication plan that will meet all of your communication needs.
Participants will learn how to collect quality data reflective of all of your stakeholder groups; how to create a comprehensive entry plan and how to codify that plan in a comprehensive strategic plan.
On-going year-long onsite mentoring from an appropriately licensed education administrator is available for an additional fee.
Building a Strong Administrative Team through Collaborative Leadership
A strong collaborative administrative team can mean the difference between leadership and management. In addition to exploring the research behind what makes a strong collaborative team, participants will receive several strategies designed to build meeting and team capacity, with a focus on managing uncomfortable conversations and consensus building.
On-going year-long onsite mentoring from an appropriately licensed education administrator is available for an additional fee.
Building a Positive School Environment & Creating a Strong Culture of Learning
Contentious contract negotiations, controversial curriculum revisions, and challenging student behaviors are just a few of the reasons why sustaining a positive productive school culture can be difficult. Yet a positive, productive environment is essential for job satisfaction and high-quality learning.
Participants will learn about research-backed ready-to-implement strategies to create a strong student-centered learning environment.
Building a Strong Strategic Plan
Building a strong multi-year strategic plan can be an arduous task, but JGPR can make it easy. From data collection to messaging the rollout, our consultants can support your organization through the entire process. If the whole process approach is not what you need, JGPR can assist you with any aspect of strategic planning. Strategic planning looks different for every organization and JGPR can tailor its services to meet your unique needs.
From Classroom to Community: Building a Strong, District-Wide Communication Plan
When families are asked “How can we better meet your needs?,” one of the top answers every district receives is “Better Communication!”
If this feels familiar to you, then JGPR Academy can help. We’ll work directly with your district’s administrative team to create a strong and sustainable communication plan. From surveys to rollout, JGPR Academy can assist you with every aspect of the process.
A Comprehensive Guide to Special Education for School Leaders
Every administrator must acquire at least 15 PDPs in special education as part of the licensure renewal process. As an approved DESE Professional Development Provider, we can meet that requirement for you and much more. This workshop is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of school administrators.
Our trainers bring more than 35 years of special education and administrative experience to each workshop. Topics will include: an administrator’s guide to disability law, special education and behavior management, building and sustaining quality programs in your district, navigating the challenges associated with parents’ rights and much, much more.
Bring your whole administrative team together for this engaging, multi-day workshop and JGPR Academy will specially design the content to focus on your district’s unique needs.
Making Sure All Students Are Safe: Building a Comprehensive Safety Plan for All Learners
While school districts everywhere are now creating and implementing school safety plans, many of those plans fail to meet the special needs of their most vulnerable populations.
The safety experts at JGPR Academy are uniquely qualified to work with your district to create a comprehensive plan that will meet the needs of every student and staff member. We will come out to your district, evaluate your plan, and help you turn it into a comprehensive safety plan for ALL.
No plan is effective unless everyone who is part of the plan implements it with fidelity, so once complete, JGPR Academy can help you with all of your professional development needs.
Using Data to Tell Your Story
When you support your plan with clear solid data, it is difficult to question the facts. JGPR is not only here to help you tell YOUR story, we are here to ensure that your audience will listen. Let JGPR help you create a compelling story that no one can refute. Don’t just let data inform your decision making. Let it inform your public
The Bus Stops Here: A Comprehensive Training Program for Bus Drivers and Monitors
Let JGPR Academy help you meet your bus driver and monitor training requirements. Our in-person and virtual pieces of training will provide comprehensive bus staff training and will ensure that your drivers and monitors have the information, tools and strategies necessary to provide a safe travel experience for all students. Topics will include disability awareness; communication with parents, school personnel and the community at large; laws that govern student travel; and tips to manage student behavior and safety.
The Art of Communicating: How to Communicate Effectively with Parents, Families and Community Members
Whether you are speaking with parents and guardians during a home visit, presenting at a TEAM meeting or facilitating training for colleagues and the community, effective communication strategies are essential.
JGPR Academy’s team of experts will provide you with the training necessary to speak with any audience. In addition to discussing how to best convey your message and deal with people who do not agree with you, trainers will work one-on-one with participants to practice these strategies in real-time. Simulations and on-camera opportunities are just some of the ways that participants will be able to move theory to practice. This workshop is a must for anyone who has to speak to the public.
While uncomfortable conversations are never easy, they are often necessary. Although this is an important part of being a leader, it is often a task that is neglected or overlooked. Great leaders know that the problem doesn’t go away just because it is ignored, yet when asked, almost all leaders admit that they are ill-prepared to lead uncomfortable conversations.
This workshop will explain why these conversations are so uncomfortable and how you can manage them in a caring and compassionate way, while at the same time addressing the issue. Don’t dance around the elephant in the room, let JGPR Academy help you get it out for good.
Preparing for the Interview
Looking to make a change? Let JGPR Academy coach you through the process. Your resume only tells half the story, a strong interview, via phone, virtually, or in person can make the difference between wanting the job and getting it.
JGPR Academy’s trained staff of communication experts can provide you with one-on-one support to make sure you put your best foot forward any time you are interviewed. In addition to discussing how to best convey your message, trainers will work with you to practice these strategies in real-time.
Simulations and on-camera opportunities are just some of the ways that participants will be able to move theory to practice. This workshop is a must for anyone who has an interview on the horizon.
ESL is OUT! ML is IN!
Formerly known as English Second Language Learners, Multi-Lingual Learners are increasingly enrolling in our schools. Administrators need to remain current in this expanding field as they navigate DESE guidance, state regulations, assessment, and actual implementation of services within their schools.
As an approved Massachusetts DESE Professional Development Provider, JGPR Academy has created a course specifically designed to meet the unique needs of school administrators. Our trainers bring more than 35 years of special education, ML, and administrative experience to each workshop.
Earn your 15 PDPs to renew your administrator licenses through participation in this comprehensive workshop.
School Resource Officers: Friend or Foe
Utilization of School Resource Officers is a contested topic these days. How do you justify keeping an SRO and promoting the valuable impact of an SRO program?
Beyond basketball and lunchtime conversations, today’s SRO needs to be an integral part of your school’s community. Presenters will share ideas about how SROs can build lasting relationships with some of the school’s most vulnerable populations while simultaneously assisting staff in the creation of a positive and safe learning environment. Communication is the key.
Let JGPR Academy assist you with creating a climate of inclusivity for all.
Meet Paul Zinni
Paul Zinni has been an Educator and School Leader for more than 37 years serving as a Special Education Teacher, Title 1 Director, Early Childhood Coordinator, Principal, Director of Pupil Services, Assistant Superintendent and for over ten years, as a Massachusetts Public Schools Superintendent. In June of 2023, he retired from public education. Currently, Paul works for John Guilfoil Public Relations as a Senior Consultant and as a Private Consultant, specializing in strategic and communications planning, Leadership Strategies and Crisis Communication.
Additionally, Paul serves as an adjunct professor, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in both special education and school leadership. He has served on the Board of Directors for multiple national education organizations, including the Council for Exceptional Children, PDK, the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators, and the National Superintendents Roundtable.
