Teaching and learning is innovative, engaging and rigorous so that students become self-directed learners and achieve academic and personal success.
Goal: Develop a plan to design and implement personalized learning paths.
- Continuous improvement in teaching and learning focused on personalized learning through the lens of inclusive curriculum and assessment. Students engaged in learning that was meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. Staff continued working to identify academic areas in need of additional support and develop plans to address them in an effort to refine curriculum that is inclusive and personalized.
- F-M partnered with outside organizations such as the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST), Micron, Feldmeier Equipment and Onondaga Community College to offer new courses and embed new ways of learning into existing courses.
Goal: Identify academic areas in need of additional support and develop plans to address them.
- Fayetteville Elementary School’s teaching assistants (TAs) implemented targeted strategies to increase K-1 students’ phonological awareness. TAs were trained to utilize scientifically researched based reading programs such as Road to the Code and Road to Reading.
Goal: Refine curricula to address revised New York State and national learning standards.
- Following the comprehensive literacy review conducted by OCM BOCES that focused on curriculum, instruction and assessment, the district created a committee of classroom teachers, special education teachers, curriculum specialists and administrators to review curricular needs. The district selected two K-6 programs to pilot in the 2024-25 school year: Benchmark Education and HMH Into Reading. Both are aligned with the New York State learning standards for English Language Arts and reflect the latest research within the science of reading, an approach to teaching reading that is based on decades of research and evidence.
Goal: Expand opportunities that promote student engagement, educational equity and personalization of instruction.
- For the first time in the district, 33 F-M High School students received the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness distinction on their diploma. The seal is a formal recognition that a student has attained a high level of proficiency in terms of civic knowledge, skills, mindset, and experiences. Students in grades 9-12 can participate in the program and work toward earning credit to obtain the seal. To make the program more accessible to all F-M High School students, most of the credit can be earned in social studies classes. Opportunities to earn credit have also been incorporated into other courses.
- The F-M High School technology program moved into the new high school STEM classrooms, adding a coding and robotics unit to its electronics class, a computer integrated manufacturing unit to its production systems class, and a drone unit to its aerospace and aviation class.
- Grade 2 teachers at Mott Road Elementary School implemented a refined What I Need (WIN) Time for literacy, a designated block of time during the school day in which students receive personalized instruction or partake in enrichment opportunities. Mott Road Elementary School also expanded its after-school clubs to include more diverse opportunities for students to connect with the school community.
Goal: Develop curriculum to support the integration of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency learning standards and innovative instructional technology practices.
- The Chromebook Repair Club launched at F-M High School, offering students the opportunity to learn to repair the specific models of Chromebooks the district uses. At the end of the course, students take a technical skills assessment to demonstrate their ability to resolve real-life situations, such as a bad battery, cracked screen or missing wires. Upon successful completion, students earn the Acer Service CRT Certificate, a professional certification.
- All 175 sixth-grade students at Eagle Hill Middle School wrote and produced their own podcasts as part of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. Staying up-to-date with some of the latest technology in media and communications, students learned how to create, edit and incorporate sound effects into their podcasts using WeVideo, an online video editing platform.
Goal: Provide professional learning for teachers in an educational environment of accelerated change.
- At F-M High School, a “Principal’s Week At-a-Glance” was distributed to staff on a weekly basis to reiterate building and educational philosophies along with any changes to instruction.
- Teachers participated in more than 52,000 hours of professional learning collectively (not including district professional development days). Learning opportunities focused on differentiated instruction, continuous improvement and instructional technology.