In this Issue
As one school year concludes and another begins to take shape, it is worth pausing to recognize our leadership, learning and commitment to strengthen our schools. We celebrate educators who have reached important milestones, honor alumni whose leadership is creating meaningful opportunities for students and highlight professional learning designed to expand the impact instructional leaders have within their schools. From welcoming a new cohort of Principal Residency Network graduates to reflecting on the power of collaborative learning at Fall Meeting, each story reminds us that lasting improvement grows through shared purpose, continuous learning and strong professional communities. As you prepare for the year ahead, we hope these stories inspire you to celebrate accomplishments, invest in your own growth and continue building schools where every student can thrive.
Learning in Action
- Spotlight: Congratulations PRN 2026 Graduates and Year One Completers!
- Celebrating the 2026 PRN Alumni Impact Award Recipient – Anabel Jimenez-Hiraldo
- Service Highlight: Strengthen Your Instructional Leadership and Expand Your Impact
- Coming Back to Fall Meeting – Ross Peterson-Veatch
- PRN Grad Earns Ed.D. at Johnson & Wales University
- PRN Alumni Spotlight: Richlieu Norris PRN ‘19 Publishes New Book
Reminders
- Take the Next Step on Your Pathway to Student Impact
Each month, CLEE offers a question or two to help you reflect on your growth. Join CLEE on social media to share your answer.
As you reflect on this past year, what leadership practice will you carry forward because it made the greatest difference for students and colleagues?
Congratulations PRN 2026 Graduates and Year One Completers!
PRN Graduates share a vision of what vibrant, student-centered schools look, sound, and feel like for all learners. During their residency, they engage in job-embedded leadership to move their schools toward that vision. They build relationships, facilitate adult learning, and plan for lasting improvement. Drawing on research-based practices, they lead improvement cycles that address barriers to opportunity and drive measurable gains in student outcomes.
Join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our largest cohort yet, the PRN 2025-26 Cohort!
- Alison King, Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School
- Andrew Smith, Achievement First Providence High School, Providence School District
- Becky Blais, Ocean State Academy Learning Center, North Providence
- Bertholyn Alexandre, Achievement First Envision Elementary School
- Cecilia Caldarone, Bridge Academy, Providence
- Chloe Allen, Segue Institute for Learning, Central Falls
- Christimer Melendez Reyes, Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School, Providence
- Colleen Flaherty, Achievement First Promesa Elementary
- Cynthia Louis-Dale, Achievement First Envision Elementary
- David Fraioli Jr., Reservoir Avenue School, Providence
- David Mullowney, Rhode Island School for the Deaf, Providence
- Erroll Lomba, Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School, Providence
- Jaclyn Casey, Segue Institute for Learning, Central Falls
- Jennifer Andrade, Achievement First Promesa Elementary
- Jephte Pierre, Achievement First Providence High School
- John Fretts, W B Cooley & Academy International, Providence
- Josette Farmer, Youth Build Prep Academy, Providence
- Katelyn Mike, Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy Middle School
- Kristin Joyal, Rise Prep Mayoral Academy, Woonsocket
- Kristine Lapierre, Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, Newport
- Leela Ballah, St. Andrew’s School, Barrington
- Menalisa Mendes, Achievement First Providence Academy Middle School (PAMS)
- Michelle Laboissonniere, Segue Institute for Learning, Central Falls
- Monalisa Mendes, Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy
- Nicole Larkin Harris, Elementary School, Woonsocket
- Nita Childress, Times2 Middle/High School, Providence
- Peter Siner, Nathanael Greene Elementary School, Providence
- Roberto Vargas, Tapia Raíces Dual Language Academy, Providence
- Rosa Vargas, Rise Prep Mayoral Academy, Woonsocket
- Sam Saltz, PVD Prep, Providence
- Stephanie McSweeney, Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy
- Stephen Emerson, Deering Middle School, West Warwick
- Tanin Longway, Portsmouth Middle School
- William Tejada, Mount Pleasant High School, Providence
- Yomely Marte, Sheila Skip Nowell Leadership Academy (Capital Campus), Providence
Explore your Pathways into Leadership:
Principal Residency Network
Leadership in Practice
Facilitator Training
Introduction to Adult Facilitation Introduction to Continuous Improvement
Celebrating the 2026 PRN Alumni Impact Award Recipient – Anabel Jimenez-Hiraldo
CLEE is proud to recognize Anabel Jimenez-Hiraldo (PRN ’21), Assistant Principal at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, as the recipient of the 2026 PRN Alumni Impact Award.
Established in 2025, the PRN Alumni Impact Award honors graduates whose leadership reflects the mission and values of the Principal Residency Network through meaningful contributions to students, schools and the broader educational community.
Anabel was selected for her transformative leadership in expanding access to Career and Technical Education, college credit opportunities and rigorous learning experiences for all students. Her commitment to creating pathways for student success, particularly for students who have historically faced barriers to opportunity, has strengthened outcomes for learners across her school community. In addition to her impact on students, Anabel has demonstrated a deep commitment to developing future leaders through mentorship and support of aspiring principals.
We celebrate Anabel’s accomplishments and thank her for the leadership, vision and dedication she brings to students, colleagues and the PRN community. The PRN Impact Award also comes with free registration to CLEE Fall Meeting, so you can congratulate Anabel in person in October!
Are You a Teacher Leader?
Strengthen Your Instructional Leadership and Expand Your Impact
Instructional coaches, department heads, grade-level leaders, PLC facilitators and school improvement team members often find themselves leading change, guiding collaboration and supporting colleagues without formal supervisory authority. Yet their ability to influence practice can shape outcomes for students across an entire school.
Are You a School Leader?
Build Your Team’s Instructional Leadership Skills
If you are a positional leader, sharing leadership makes school improvement sustainable. When all instructional leaders have the skills to facilitate collaboration, guide improvement efforts and support colleagues, schools build the capacity needed to create lasting impact for students.
Whether you want to lead more effective meetings, facilitate stronger collaboration or guide teams through school improvement efforts, CLEE offers professional learning designed for instructional leaders like you.
Introduction to Adult Facilitation
Participants learn practical facilitation strategies that help colleagues engage in meaningful conversations, examine evidence of student learning and work together more effectively.
If you want to improve meetings, strengthen collaboration and increase engagement, this course provides foundational facilitation skills you can use immediately.
Introduction to Continuous Improvement
Participants learn how to guide teams through structured cycles of inquiry and action focused on improving outcomes for students.
If you are leading improvement efforts, helping teams solve problems or supporting school improvement goals, this course provides tools and processes to move ideas into action.
Facilitator Training
Participants take leadership practice to the next level through extended learning, coaching and opportunities to apply facilitation skills in authentic settings.
If you regularly lead groups, support adult learning or help colleagues navigate change, this program helps you build the confidence and skills to facilitate challenging conversations, strengthen collaboration and support sustained improvement.
You already play an important role in improving your school. These learning opportunities can help you expand your influence, strengthen your practice and increase your impact
Coming Back to Fall Meeting – Ross Peterson-Veatch
When I was teaching high school from 1996 to 2001, I was part of a teacher learning community where we looked at our students’ assignments and used protocols to dive deeply into how that student work could give us direction for our own professional improvement. We called that “doing the work.” Although I had already been teaching for seven years when I joined that group, those five years of looking at student work with my colleagues changed my life. And not only my professional life. Using the protocols helped me learn to listen more closely in my personal relationships, to understand more deeply what I was thinking and feeling and to lead with more authenticity.
In 2001 I finished my doctorate and moved into higher education administration, starting out as an instructional consultant, basically an instructional coach for professors. From 2001 to 2009 I attended annual national meetings where we were all “doing the work” in different places across the country. I worked in both higher education and K-12 with others who were using faculty learning communities to strengthen teaching and learning. I found those meetings to be the most energizing and important events of my year. Seeing how educators across the country were improving their own practice for the benefit of every student was inspiring.
During those years, my work shifted from coaching in the pedagogical realm to working in curriculum, building structures for learning that would help every student succeed while also supporting small liberal arts colleges as they expanded opportunities for growing Hispanic student populations. Along with my own professional journey, the national meetings, also evolved. The conversations became more intentional about ensuring that every student had access to high quality learning experiences and the support they needed to thrive. Each year I left inspired to continue the work with new tools and fresh approaches to practices I already valued.
Since that generative and productive time in my career, I have been drawn into executive leadership at small colleges. Although I still teach occasionally, most of my work now focuses elsewhere. I work with colleagues to make sure we have the systems, structures and support systems in place so our students can graduate well prepared and on time. And I still find, all these years later, that professional learning communities provide the best environment for helping us understand what our students need and how we can respond in ways that improve their learning.
And that is why I am coming back to Fall Meeting in October. I know it will be inspiring to work with colleagues who are looking at student work together and to hear what educators are doing in schools and organizations across the country. But I also know it will deepen my own learning and strengthen my understanding of how I can be more effective in helping every student succeed. I have decided to return to Fall Meeting to be with other educators who believe every student deserves the opportunity to thrive and who understand the urgency of removing barriers that stand in the way of student success. A wise friend I worked with in the early 2000s often reflected on the words of Asa Hilliard when she asked us, “We have the knowledge, skill and capacity to teach all children, but do we have the WILL?” I am coming back to Fall Meeting to hear the many ways people are answering that question today. I look forward to seeing you there.
– By Ross Peterson-Veatch
PRN Grad Earns Ed.D. at Johnson & Wales University
The Principal Residency Network and Johnson and Wales University have maintained a long-standing partnership to support educators in obtaining their principal certification and advanced degrees.
Please join us in celebrating Courtney Clarke-Tracey, PRN 2023 Graduate and new Doctor of Education!
PRN Alumni Spotlight: Richlieu Norris PRN ‘19 Publishes New Book
We are excited to celebrate PRN alum Richlieu Norris, assistant principal in Providence Public Schools, on the upcoming release of his first book, Rewriting the Narrative.
Drawing on more than a decade of experience as an educator, mentor and school leader, Rich shares practical strategies for supporting Black and Latino boys through mentorship, leadership development and strong school communities. His work reflects the power of building meaningful relationships, creating opportunities for student leadership and helping every student see their potential.
Congratulations to Rich on this exciting milestone. We encourage our community to support a fellow PRN graduate by pre-ordering a copy and learning more about his work.
Take the Next Step on Your Pathway to Student Impact
CLEE offers learning opportunities that fit your time, budget and goals. We are currently offering programs designed to support educators at any stage of their journey. All sessions are open to any educator. Engage in one or more programs to build your capacity to collaborate to improve student outcomes.
Each session will tap the expertise of all participants and grow your knowledge, skills, and dispositions to collaborate to impact student outcomes.
| Session | Outcome | Time Commitment | Cost | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLEE Fall Meeting | In-depth feedback and practice facilitating collaborative tools | Two full in-person days | $740 | October 8–9, 2026 |
| Facilitator Training (Virtual) | Develop deep facilitation skills to lead adult learning | Eight 3-hour virtual sessions | $1,200 |
Fall cohort
9/17, 9/24, 10/1, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12/2026 Spring cohort 2/2, 2/25, 3/4, 3/25, 4/6, 4/29, 5/13, 5/27/2027 |
| CLEE Community of Practice | Feedback from peers and practice with collaborative tools in topic-focused sessions | Four 2-hour virtual sessions | $250 |
Implementing High-Quality Curriculum
8/19, 9/24, 10/27, 11/10/2026 Scaling What Works 1/27, 2/23, 3/24, 4/28/2027 |
| Facilitating Virtual Protocols | Deepen practice and confidence in leading virtual learning communities | Four 90-minute virtual sessions | $250 | 8/6, 8/13, 8/20, 8/27/2026 |
| Intro to Adult Facilitation | Flexible online learning in frameworks, tools, and mindsets for adult learning communities | 7 modules over 1 month | $175 |
Summer cohort
July 27 – Aug 28, 2026 Fall cohort Nov 2 – Dec 18, 2026 |
| Intro to Continuous Improvement | Flexible online learning in frameworks, tools, and mindsets for identifying and testing student-focused improvements | 7 modules over 6 weeks | $175 |
Summer cohort
July 27 – Sep 18, 2026 |
| Virtual Workshop Series | Short practical experience with a collaborative tool | 90-minute topic-based virtual sessions | Free |
Analyzing Student Work to Drive Improvement
Sep 24, 2026 Giving & Receiving Feedback in a Learning Community Oct 22, 2026 |
| Collaborative Leadership Package | Bundle Fall Meeting, Facilitator Training, and Community of Practice | listed above | $1800 (save over $500) | You choose your cohorts |
| Leadership in Practice | Preparing for the Massachusetts PAL Assessment | Cohort completes modules together throughout the academic year, submitting all 4 tasks within 3 submission windows | $475 |
Modules open: September 15, 2026 PAL submission dates: November 12, 2026; February 25, 2027; April 29, 2027 Program Close: May 15, 2027 |
| Emerging Leader Professional Learning Series | Lead Change That Improves Outcomes for Students | 10 2-hour virtual sessions (plus optional personalized coaching sessions) | $1,200 ($4,000 with personalized coaching) | 10/20, 11/3, 12/1, 2026, 1/5, 2/2, 2/23, 3/9, 4/6, 5/4, 6/1, 2027 (plus optional personalized coaching sessions) |
| PRN Principal Residency Network | Principal certification in Massachusetts and Rhode Island | 1 or 2-year pathways | pricing pathway dependent |
2027 PRN Cohort
Applications Due Spring 2027 |
