This is a professional development day for faculty and staff. There will not be any classes, extended care or athletic competitions.

Please contact your student's division with additional questions.

Classes resume following the Thanksgiving break, Oaks.

Join Norfolk Collegiate and alumnus Dr. Sid Dobrin '85 as he discusses “Artificial Intelligence  & the Future of Education: What We All Need to Know.”

Tuesday, Dec. 2
6:30-8 p.m.
Hackney Theater in the Meredith Center for the Arts

Please RSVP to development@norfolkcollegiate.org.


ABOUT DR. SID DOBRIN
For the last 29 years, Sid Dobrin has been a professor in the Department of English at the University of Florida (UF), where he served as department chair from 2015 to 2025. He also served as director of writing programs from 1998 to 2008 and as graduate coordinator from 2012 to 2015. Before joining the faculty at UF, he was a faculty member at the University of Kansas (1995-97). He received his PhD from the University of South Florida in 1995, his MA in 1991 from Old Dominion University, and his BA from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1989. He is the author/editor of more than thirty books and numerous articles.

His research is expansive, multidisciplinary and globally recognized. His work is recognized as groundbreaking in several areas, including writing studies, environmental humanities, blue humanities and emerging technologies. Recently, Sid has become one of the world’s most sought-after academic experts on Generative AI, having delivered more than 80 talks worldwide about Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence in different contexts, including higher education, K-12 education, and industry. He is the founding director of the Trace Innovation Initiative at UF and has been named a Digital Thought Leader by Adobe. He serves as a member of the Florida Institute for National Security, the Florida AI Learning Consortium (FALCON) Steering Committee, and UF’s AI Blue Sky Task Force. In April 2025, he testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce about AI and education.

His most recent books include "AI and Writing" (Broadview, 2023), "Blue Ecocriticism and the Oceanic Imperative" (Routledge, 2021), and "Fishing Gone? Saving the Ocean through Sportfishing" (Texas A & M University Press, 2019).

He is currently on sabbatical, working on several book projects, including one that examines enduring questions inspired by the rise of AI, and one examining global protein security related to ocean harvest. In addition to his academic work, Mr. Dobrin is a recognized figure in the recreational sports fishing industry, and he writes for several fishing magazines, including "Saltwater Sportsman," "Florida Sportsman," and others. He writes a monthly column about AI for the industry trade magazine "Fishing Tackle Retailer." He is the host of The Fishing Professor Rod Cast. He is an MIT-certified AI Strategist, and his company, Flying Fish-AI, provides companies with strategic guidance in AI integration. Mostly, though, Mr. Dobrin just wants to hang out with his boys Asher (21) and Shaia (19).

Winter athletic pictures will be taken. Any students participating in winter athletics should come with their uniforms for athletic pictures to be taken directly after school. 

A schedule will be shared by their coaches.

Join our lower school band, strings and chorus students as they present their winter concert in the lower school auditorium. 

Families of our pre-Kindergarten students are invited to join us for a celebration of our students. The event will include a few songs, slideshow and holiday story.

Please contact your student's teacher with questions.

Norfolk Collegiate will not host extended care for lower or middle school and the Stanton Library will not offer supervised hours for our upper school students on this day. The school will close to all students following the last bell.

Please ensure all students are picked up on time. Thank you.