Northwest ISD (NISD) is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state and attracts more than 1,400 new students each year. NISD spans 234 square miles and serves 14 communities in parts of three counties. The district operates three comprehensive high schools, an early college high school, seven middle schools, 22 elementary schools, an outdoor learning center and a special programs center.
Supporting Our New Teachers
NISD strives to provide the highest quality support and professional learning for our educators. Below you will find a list of state and district required trainings. Please read through those requirements and reach out to your campus administrator if you have questions. Click on the appropriate tab for detailed information pertaining to your specific teaching area.
New-to NISD-Training Requirements and Dates
NISD provides three days of teacher support for new teachers prior to all teachers returning for the beginning of the year. Additionally, our ENGAGE conference is open to all new-to-NISD teachers as well as returning teachers. Refer to the ENGAGE website for more information. We are excited about offering premier professional development to our employees. Please see the orientation schedule (below) for all new-to-NISD teachers.
REQUIRED TRAINING
New Hire Orientation
The Human Resources Department will conduct a New Hire Orientation sessions during the summer and throughout the school year. For detailed information click here.
T-TESS APPRAISAL SYSTEM | Teachers that are new to teaching, new to Texas or have not been appraised under the T-TESS system are required to attend our T-TESS Orientation. Click on the date of the training date you would like to attend. This will take you to the registration site. You must FIRST be signed in through the NISD Portal.
Click Here & select the correct training date and register through Edugence.
June 18, 2024
July 11, 2024
August 2, 2024
August 31, 2024 (Saturday)
Texas Reading Academy
All new PreK-3rd grade teachers and Special Ed. teachers will have the opportunity to earn their Course Requirement through our local Cohort of Participants.
Required within your first 2 years
THINKING MAPS | All teachers in NISD attend a Thinking Maps training within their first year. We offer this training four times during the summer for new teachers to attend. Thinking Maps are embedded in our curriculum, so it is important for teachers to be familiar with the maps. Thinking Maps is an online course that is done through Zoom. The Zoom link will be available closer to the training date and can be found in Edugence in the course description. Click on the date of the training date you would like to attend. This will take you to the registration site. You must FIRST be signed in through the NISD Portal.
Click Here & select the correct training date and register through Edugence.
July 10, 2024
Already Have T-TESS or Thinking Maps Training??
- Teachers that have already completed Thinking Maps and T-TESS trainings may receive credit by turning in your certificate to your campus principal and add the certificate to district Edugence Portfolio. All of these trainings take place at the NISD Administration Building. Refer to Edugence for start and end times. (Information is below for registering using Edugence.) Please register in Edugence (linked in title) for the session you plan on attending.
ALL TEACHERS RETURN
Registering for Professional Learning
NISD believes in providing premiere professional learning opportunities. The Professional Learning Framework outlines the various opportunities that support educators in all four domains of the T-TESS. This allows educators to choose sessions that best fit their professional goals.
At NISD, we use a program called Edugence to schedule and track our professional learning. Here is a video that explains how to register for sessions in Edugence.