The Darden College of Education, working collaboratively with faculty/administrators of Norfolk Public Schools, have created Professional Development Schools (PDS) at Tidewater Park, Lindenwood, Campostella and St. Helena Elementary Schools that work to improve education in the schools and train new teachers, counselors and administrators.

The PDS effort includes collaboratively taught school-based methods courses, clinical experiences for cohorts of teacher-education students, counseling-education students, and educational leadership students; professional development opportunities for school-based and university-based faculty and administrators; and research and evaluation projects jointly conceived and implemented by school-based and university-based faculty and administrators.

The PDS partners continue to experiment with new ideas for the use of technology, collaboration, and innovation in teacher education and professional development.