ENGAGING. MOTIVATING. PRACTICAL.

Professional Development for Educators, By Educators.

James Simons and Maureen Chapman at a chalkboard with cor creative partners written in cursive

Maureen Chapman and James Simons are the co-founders of Cor Creative Partners, a small, MA-based professional learning company committed to a culture in which everyone loves school. We are longtime, local educators and we draw on our deep expertise in student engagement and leadership development to create customized PD that’s authentic, engaging, inspiring, relatable, and ready to implement. To date we have delivered over 100 workshops, 800 instructional coaching rounds, and 250 leadership coaching rounds since the start of 2024. We also recently published our Solution Tree book,  Leaders of the Class: Units for Teaching Motivation, Perseverance, Communication, and Collaboration in the Secondary Classroom.

We love school, and want leaders, teachers, and students, to love school, too.

Cor Creative Partners is DESE-certified to support Safe and Healthy Schools and Sustainable School Improvement. We are DESE-certified to provide Professional Development in College and Career Readiness, Comprehensive Health, Curriculum/Instruction, History/Social Science, and Leadership/Administration. Learn more on our grant support page.

We would love to partner with you to deliver highly interactive programs designed to build community, honor educators’ expertise, and empower learning from each other. Whether it’s keynotes, coaching, consulting, workshops, or Professional Learning Communities, we help bring educational teams together to achieve their goals with well received programs, tailored to specific priorities, initiatives, and challenges.

Keynotes
Workshops
Leadership Coaching
Instructional Coaching
Team Facilitation

We are DESE-certified in the category of College and Career Readiness, as well as Curriculum and Instruction and Leadership Development.  We have partnered with many districts to facilitate MyCAP teams to adopt MEFA Pathways. Here are some ways we can help:

  • MyCAP Team facilitation
    • Facilitate the school or district’s MyCAP team through the course of the year to complete Phase 1 of Cor’s MyCAP Implementation Sequence: Visioning and Priming.
  • Create a Vision Statement and Theory of Action for MyCAP implementation
    • Prepare for the second phase of implementation in Cor’s MyCAP Implementation Sequence: Piloting and Experimenting.
  • Curriculum Design
    • Create and iterate on a draft Scope and Sequence of MyCAP lessons, utilizing and revising as necessary existing MyCAP curriculum materials from MEFA Pathways and existing district-created lesson materials, and curating other options from outside sources, as desired.

Feedback from prior participants:
“Now I understand the DESE requirements regarding MyCAP in addition to learning about MEFA pathways“
“Great supportive leaders in Maureen and James”
“Enjoyed having time to collaborate with peers.”

We partner with district and school leaders to design custom Investigating History professional learning experiences and implementation roadmaps that are matched to their contexts and goals and set up Investigating History for long-term success. Our in-person workshop services include unit launches or customized offerings including:

  • Skill-Based Teaching: Unpacking Summative Assessments to Support Intentional Student Skill Development.
  • Making the Curriculum Yours: Pacing and Revision Guidance
  • Aligning Routines: Connecting Curriculum and Daily Practice (Grades 3-5)
  • Student Engagement Routines: Improving Quality of Student-Led Discussion and Collaboration
  • Voice and Choice: Identifying Opportunities for Increased Student Agency and Relevance
  • Teaching All Learners: Strategies for Differentiation
  • Leveraging AI

Workshops can be connected to create PLC programs of 4-5 workshops throughout the year.

Feedback from prior participants:
“I appreciated the reflective way of looking at my lesson. The list of questions on that one handout will help me greatly as I deliver my lessons.”
“I was able to takeaway new ways on how to implement the content when teaching. New pointers I can use to help bring engagement directly to the students.”

In our Solution Tree book, Leaders of the Class: Units for Teaching Motivation, Perseverance, Communication, and Collaboration in the Secondary Classroom, we draw upon decades of classroom experience and key research to help teachers introduce leadership development into academics. We unpack the definition of leadership, examine interactive pedagogy structures that allow all students to take on leadership roles, and explore self-reflection and self-assessment tools students can employ to set and see progress on concrete leadership goals. Each unit includes personal stories and insights, research, and a suite of practical tools that teachers can use in their daily practice. Leaders of the Class is inspired by and informed by our experiences collaborating with amazing educators.

We partner with districts to implement programs for educators on how to integrate SEL and academics based on our book. Popular programs include:

  • Igniting Motivation
  • Teaching Perseverance
  • Teaching Effective, Appropriate Communication
  • Building Academic Discourse
  • Fostering a Culture of Collaboration
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I loved how applicable it was but it also touched my soul at the same time.

Hillary Allan

Urbana School District 116

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