There are very few district leaders who feel as comfortable pioneering a new and compelling idea or co-designing with partners through messy, nascent work - all while holding the highest bar possible for her staff, students and families. Stephanie Downey Toledo is that Superintendent.

I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Stephanie for 9 years in the Central Falls School District across multiple projects and programs. I loved getting to sit down with her in person for conversation #89. Stephanie will also be in San Diego next week for the ASU+GSV Summit in case anyone is looking to learn from an incredible and intentional district leader.

"Leading a district means constantly navigating the tension between where you are and where you need to be. We have made deep investments in professional learning (PL): science of reading, embedded coaching, and a certification requirement for supporting multilingual learners now written into teacher contracts. These weren't small bets and I’m proud of the progress. But if I'm being honest, getting from PL to actual classroom practice is still the hardest part of this work.

One thing that’s made a real difference is teacher-to-teacher connection. When our Chief Academic Officer Joy Souza designed a book study to bring teachers together around Professional Growth Goals, she didn't just create a PD experience, she built community. She modeled what we ask teachers to do with students: make it engaging, make it relevant, and make it something people want to show up for. That's the kind of PL that sticks.

Our coaching model has grown significantly, though it's still shaped largely by funding. We have literacy coaches supporting our earliest learners through a CLSD grant, high school coaching through a foundation partnership, and our most sustainable investment: full-time induction coaches for every new teacher. That model includes a monthly cohort structure and a shared framework, with many coaches participating in PL on the Relay Graduate School of Education model alongside our school leaders. Coaching remains one of the most powerful levers we have for moving PL into classroom implementation.

The strength and assets of our community have always been front and center in our strategic priorities. We’re seeing teachers steadily deepen their practice in supporting multilingual learners and watching students' language development accelerate as a result. Our two bilingual schools are having a profound impact, and that energy is spreading across the district.

On AI, most of our staff are still hesitant for understandable reasons: ethical concerns, environmental impact, and a feeling that it somehow means taking shortcuts. I have felt versions of those tensions too. But the more I learn through the Fuse AI fellowship experience with Throughline Learning and Rhode Island Department of Education PD offerings, the more I believe that AI can help us work smarter, not just faster.

If I had to choose one lever to pull first, I'd focus on teacher practice. Teachers work incredibly hard. If AI can reduce some of that load, by freeing up more space for the creativity and joy that drew people to this profession, that directly benefits students. I've seen this play out in meaningful ways already, including for colleagues and students with disabilities, helping remove barriers that were never really about learning in the first place.

We have staff who want to grow and want to stay, which gives me hope. We're expanding how we think about leadership and creating new roles to meet that ambition. When we bring our community together to celebrate progress and reflect on our strategic plan, I'm reminded the work is moving forward. That combination is rare, and we don't take it for granted."