Salvadori Professional Development Programs

If any one phrase captures the heart of the Salvadori enterprise, that phrase would be professional development. From the Center's inception in 1987, our engineer- and architect-educators have worked closely with teachers and administrators to integrate standards-based built-environment projects and activities into the curriculum so that students can use the "urbanscape" around them to increase their knowledge of mathematics, science, arts, language arts, social studies, and technology.

We have devised a multitude of tested strategies, techniques, and lesson plans that teachers can readily apply to their teaching so that on any given day, students doing Salvadori hands-on/minds-on activities in small groups can learn geometry by designing bridges out of tongue depressors, social studies by plotting a course for the transcontinental railroad, or physics by building and testing simple machines.

Our Promise

We don't just take you through a focused, topic-specific workshop and then leave you to implement it yourself. Salvadori Professional Development Programs can also provide you with on-site co-teaching, off-site mentoring through phone and email, and a continuing course of instruction in order to help you sharpen your classroom and administrative practice and integrate the Salvadori built-environment methodology into your day-to-day activities.

The Workshops

Teachers and administrators interested in getting a "dose" of Salvadori can take one or more of our workshops. These are focused, topic-specific three-hour sessions designed to demonstrate the principles of project-based learning and the Salvadori method as well as the richness of the built environment as a knowledge base for every major subject area in the curriculum. Participants can attend workshops here at the Center, or arrangements can be made to hold the workshop at a school.

Click here for the workshops and registration information.

The Educator Institutes

The Educator Institutes can be thought of as a Salvadori workshop writ large. At the week-long National Institute, you will immerse yourself in the buildings, bridges, monuments, parks, and historic districts of New York City. Through walking tours, visits to architectural and engineering firms and construction sites, and hands-on exploration of Salvadori lesson plans, you will be engaged in projects that address math, science, literacy, technology, social studies, and fine arts. Salvadori educators will help you develop project-based lesson plans specific to your curriculum and your "landscape."

We also offer shorter Institutes. The three-day "Turbo" Institute covers many of the same topics as the National Institute but is designed for educators in the metropolitan New York City area who can travel to the City College of New York campus. And we also offer Regional Institutes designed for schools outside metropolitan New York City who find it more convenient and cost-effective to have the Center's educators at their site.

Click here for information on the Institutes.

Comments from Past Participants

I am leaving Salvadori with a renewed insterest in the inner workings of the built environment. I want to direct my children's focus to re-view the world around them.

Kathryn Pandazis
PS 169

I have thought about designing landscapes before, but it was very interesting to think about designing the skyline! It’s amazing to think about the artistic connections in the built environment!

Sheila L. Thorpe
Union County Teams Charter School

Building paper houses from blueprints is a cool activity! My six graders will eat it up!

Alex Paraskavides
Muscota New School

Salvadori's graphic organizer for planning interdisciplinary units is great! I plan on using this with my students when we plan our year-long expedition this fall.

Vivian Pabon
MS 117