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Religious and Independent School Support

Religious and Independent School Support

Regional Professional Development Resource Centers

The State Office of Religious and Independent Schools (SORIS) announced in the Spring of 2020 the creation of three Regional Professional Development Resource Centers (PDRC) serving New York State’s religious and independent schools.

These centers were established to provide respectful, culturally responsive professional development using a variety of technical assistance, resources, and professional development activities. In partnership with SORIS and the Commissioner's Advisory Council for Religious and Independent Schools (CAC), each of the three PDRCs will

  • collaborate with key stakeholders to assess the needs of independent and religious schools on a regular basis to inform the development of targeted, relevant, timely and high-quality professional development.
  • maintain a website (see links below) with information about the services they are providing such as: resources, webinars, regional trainings, and technical assistance.

The PDRC and SORIS staff have been working closely with our CAC to determine the resources your schools need to best serve your students and families. Together, we have developed an array of online professional development offerings to support school leaders and teachers in the areas of

  • teaching and learning through technology;
  • emotional well-being; and
  • best practices for collaborating with other professionals.

These online offerings will continue as needed throughout the upcoming 2021-22 year and as we transition to in-person learning opportunities.

Please note: At this time all of the offerings online will be available to teachers and leaders in all regions of the State, regardless of which PDRC is hosting the session. 

Professional Development Regional Centers

Name of PDRC: Catapult Learning

Region served: Long Island
Catapult Learning website 
Contact person: Rita Stavrou
Contact phone: (718) 381-1631 (main)
Contact email: rita.stavrou@catapultlearning.com

Name of PDRC: The Upstate PDRC at Measurement Inc.

Region served : Upstate Region – All regions north of NYC
Measurement Inc. website 
Contact person: Rebecca Shea, Director
Contact phone: 800-330-1420
Contact email: rshea@measinc.com

Name of PDRC: NYS Professional Development Resource Center for Religious and Independent Schools, NYC Region at Fordham University

Region served: New York City
Fordham University PDRC website
Contact person: Stefanie Reda
Contact phone: 212-636-6385
Contact email: pdrc@fordham.edu

SORIS staff have been working with our Commissioner's Advisory Council (CAC) for Religious and Independent Schools concerning the resources your schools need in order to serve your students and families during this time of social distancing.

Together, we have developed an array of online professional development offerings to support school leaders and your teachers in the areas of teaching and learning through technology, emotional well being and best practices for collaborating with other professionals.

Please note: At this time all of the offerings will be available to teachers and leaders in all regions of the State, regardless of which PDRC is hosting the session. ​The chart is referenced as a DRAFT because we will update throughout the month based on the needs of your schools.

PDRC Professional Development Calendar

Please Note: Website visitors may need to be logged into a Google account in order to view the Google calendar below.