How do you educate professionals about your school district?

For Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, the solution is to invite them to seminars covering such topics as operations, school leadership, community partnerships, innovation in the classroom, and teaching and learning.

The program, called Educate Hillsborough, opened with a “state of the schools” breakfast – disrupted once by Hurricane Dorian. Six half-day sessions across the school year will include classroom visits, school tours, interactive demonstrations and conversations with district leaders and educators. Participants may even learn to drive a bus, and the class is limited to 30 people.

The district, with 215,000 students, is the county’s largest employer (with 24,000 employees), transportation organization and food service provider.  

The program is a joint endeavor of the district and the Alliance for Public Schools parent and citizens group. Tuition for Educate Hillsborough was set at $500 with scholarships available.