Teaching and learning is innovative, engaging and rigorous so that students become self-directed learners and achieve academic and personal success.
Goal: Refine curricula to address revised New York State and national learning standards.
- Eagle Hill and Wellwood middle school staff members implemented the STAR Reading assessment, a comprehensive examination that tests the range of students’ knowledge of reading and language. Administered twice during the 2022-23 school year, the assessment data served as the foundation for consideration of personalization. The schools’ literacy teachers led the review of student data and the refinement of literacy interventions personalized to students’ needs and strengths.
- F-M High School administrators and faculty members developed and disseminated new communication materials to assist parents and students in their understanding of future academic, social and career opportunities as students transition throughout their high school career.
Goal: Expand opportunities that promote student engagement, educational equity and personalization of instruction.
- The district offers students a wide variety of STEM experiences that promote design, innovation and invention, both in and out of the classroom. For example, the Wellwood Middle School robotics team earned a spot in the First Lego League New York state regional competition for their success in designing, building and coding a robot that can improve how renewable energy is stored and distributed within the community. F-M High School students also participated in a computer programming competition hosted by Lockheed Martin.
- Grade 2 teachers at Mott Road Elementary School piloted What I Need (WIN) Time for literacy, a designated block of time during the school day in which students receive personalized support or partake in enrichment opportunities. For 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week, students are offered individualized instruction and/or activities that accommodate their personal needs. This student-centered teaching model focuses on meaningful learning to promote student success.
Goal: Develop curriculum to support the integration of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency learning standards and innovative instructional technology practices.
- To keep pace with the accelerating rate of technological advancements and advance the district’s instructional technology, the district leveraged its partnership with Tri-State Consortium by hosting a consultancy visit to review and obtain recommendations for growth as it pertains to the district’s use of technology to facilitate and enhance teaching and learning (more information on page 9).
- F-M High School students competed in Lockheed Martin’s Code Quest, a computer programming competition where teams of students work together to solve problems, created by Lockheed Martin engineers and computer programmers, using JAVA, Python, C#, and/or C++ programming. In addition to the challenge, students learned about job opportunities in the programming field.
Goal: Provide professional learning for teachers in an educational environment of accelerated change.
- Enders Road, Fayetteville and Mott Road elementary instructional staff participated in guided book studies related to the Science of Reading to refine the district’s methods and practices of teaching English language arts (ELA). The Science of Reading is a compilation of scientific and evidence-based research used to inform literacy instruction. It is part of the work being done to revise the district’s ELA framework and philosophy to align with best practices to effectively teach and improve students’ success.