The Hollister School District staff got off to a collaborative start for the 2026-27 school year with a Professional Development Day featuring more than 60 sessions.
The annual P.D. Day was well received, with nearly 600 staff members invited to take part in the district-coordinated activities at Maze Middle School on Aug. 3, three days before the start of instruction.
“It was hands down the biggest event we’ve ever hosted,” said Dr. Colleen Myers, Director of Educational Services for the Hollister School District. “It was exciting to pull off such a large-scale event. It took a tremendous amount of work and effort. The Team was extremely intentional this year. We wanted to be mindful of every single person who would be attending.”
The offering included sessions aimed at professional development for teachers who are new to HSD, brand new teachers as a whole, classified staff, yard duties, paraeducators, IAs and other classifications.
“It was just an awesome day,” Myers said.
The Educational Services Department organized the day’s activities. Planning started back in January that included coordinating with the Special Education Department. Myers said feedback from staff from prior years plays an important role so the district can be responsive to those needs.
“That’s really where our success lies—is that we listen to staff and their needs and interests,” Myers emphasized, adding that feedback following this year’s successful P.D. Day was overwhelmingly positive.
This year’s sessions featured such topics as the new California Math Framework presented by the Monterey Bay Area Math Project, Math on Track for middle school teachers who spent part of the day alongside Hollister High School staff to help foster students’ transition and Benchmark Writing to align with the district’s core curriculum.
Myers noted some other topics like science, history, art, speech, special education, P.E., mental health, occupational therapy, behavior training for Classified yard duties, Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID).
She underscored the importance of the P.D. Day to kick off the school year as a way for everyone to reconnect. The day included breakfast served by the district cabinet, and lunchtime where schools wore swag and staff from individual sites took a picture together to hang in the Board room.
This year’s theme is Catch the Wave of Student Success. The district played off that slogan with items related to surfing, waves and the like. Myers also made special mention of “beach burritos” made by Isaias Rivera and the Nutrition Department staff that were specifically lauded in the staff feedback.
“It really unites people for a common cause,” Myers said.
Myers said the staff at Maze, and the custodial and maintenance team members, were tremendous in helping the district prepare.
“It’s a lot to host that many people on campus right before school starts,” she said. “It’s difficult for them, so we acknowledge that challenge and appreciate that partnership.”
Board members were quite impressed as well. Board President Jan Grist and Trustee Kim O’Connor had the chance to attend the event.
“I must say that we have incredible staff,” Grist said. “Our Classified and Certificated staff worked very hard in figuring out the logistics so (they) could attend sessions that will truly help them this school year. I must also add that our fabulous Nutrition Department put out a great breakfast and lunch spread for all attendees.”
Grist said as a retired teacher who attended many P.D. Days herself, she really liked that sessions were not too long but had a wide variety of topics.
“Our Curriculum Department, Facilities Department and Nutrition Department all worked together to put on a worthwhile day for HSD employees,” she noted.
O’Connor said she really enjoyed the day’s offerings.
“It was incredibly well organized, and there were so many engaging and valuable training sessions to choose from,” O’Connor said. “I’m proud of our district for investing in research-based best practices that support student success in reading, writing and math.”
O’Connor called it inspiring to see so much collaboration taking place—with educators coming together, sharing ideas and learning from one another.
“The energy throughout the day was truly amazing,” O’Connor said. “A heartfelt thank you to all of the departments and individuals who worked together to make this event such a meaningful and successful experience. Your hard work and dedication were greatly appreciated.”
