A Community Engagement Grant is helping Wellington teachers deepen their practice through reflection, research, and a new model of professional learning.
Following their selection as recipients of a 2025–26 Community Engagement Grant, Greg Davis, middle school language arts, and Maria Cellino P ’27, upper school math specialist, are advancing the next phase of the Professional Teacher Incentive Program (ProTIP). This merit-based certification process recognizes and rewards excellence in teaching. The program provides a structured framework for reflection and growth, encouraging teachers to examine how their instructional choices shape student engagement and learning outcomes.
Modeled in part after National Board certification, ProTIP guides teachers through three major components: teaching practice and classroom culture, supporting student growth, and professional study and reflection. Participants record and analyze a lesson, describe how they differentiate instruction for both struggling and thriving students, and connect their teaching to professional development experiences such as workshops, readings, or conferences. Each teacher’s portfolio culminates in a review and conversation with Assistant Head of School for Academics and Head of Early Childhood and Lower School Shelley Brown P ’32 ’33 ’38.
This year, Jessica Austin, middle school science, and Jenn Bailey, early childhood lead, are serving as pilot participants, completing one portfolio entry per trimester to help refine the process for future candidates. As the program grows, ProTIP has the potential to become a cornerstone of professional learning at Wellington, celebrating the expertise, creativity, and continual development of its faculty.
Professional learning is essential to Wellington’s mission to be the best place to teach and learn. In alignment with the A Bold Leap: 2032 strategic plan, programs like ProTIP advance the People and Place and Program priorities by supporting faculty as lifelong learners who model curiosity, reflection, and innovation in their classrooms. By creating time and structure for collaboration and purposeful study, Wellington empowers teachers to refine their craft, strengthen instruction, and elevate student engagement, ensuring that excellence in teaching remains at the heart of the Wellington experience.