The Nyack Teacher Center was founded on the following premises:

• the quality of teachers and teaching is paramount to the quality of education;
• professional growth is enhanced positively and constructively by an atmosphere in which the integrity of each teacher as an individual is valued;
• teachers wish to assume a larger responsibility for their own professional growth; and.
• a carefully developed staff development program can play a positive role in bringing about and maintaining excellence in teaching, and can maximize student learning.

The NTC is dedicated to responding to the professional and personal needs of its members. Understanding that adults have a wide range of individual needs, the Center offers resources and services across a broad spectrum, based on the expressed needs of staff. The Center also acts as a clearinghouse for disseminating information on educational research and pedagogy to staff members. The NTC encourages and supports cooperative and collaborative efforts that enable teachers to assess their teaching role in relation to the changing society. It encourages tapping the rich supply of resources available in Rockland County to improve the quality of education for our students. The NTC endeavors to encourage an atmosphere of intellectual excitement and to stimulate the staff to continuous learning by providing a place where growth and development can flourish in a non-judgmental atmosphere, through collegial interchange of ideas. Programs are designed to emphasize an active approach to learning, with special attention to maintaining an informal atmosphere and encouraging interaction among participants, in order to build self-confidence as well as knowledge.