by Deb Alter
Hoosick Falls Central Schools Board of Education Work Session, August 20 was an opportunity for the School Board, Superintendent, Principals and other key administrators to review the 2014-2015 school year, examine the data and anecdotal highlights, and use this information to plan for next year.
[private]Superintendent Ken Facin and his administrative team presented the “State of the Schools” Report which covered testing data, graduation rates, school ranking, professional development, community service, 2014-2015 student targets and results, bus transportation data, attendance, athletic participation, clubs, school finances, and budget trends.
The school’s ranking among the 11-county Capital Region public schools, according to the Capital District Business Review, and based on the NYS Education Department and its Report Card data for the 2014-2015 school year is 21. (In 2007-2008, it was 63rd.) “I want us to do better than 21. We know what we have to do,” said Facin.
The Board set the overall goals pretty high for last year, and in some categories, such as NYS and standardized assessments, the student results were close, but did not hit the mark. In other areas, like the graduation rate, student results exceeded expectations, with 93% of students graduating in June going to college. Facin explained that the decrease in proficiency rates on the 3-8 NYS Common Core Assessment for ELA had a lot to do with vocabulary and literacy issues, and that when students opt out of taking the tests, the scores get skewed. He also said that next year the tests are being developed by a new testing company and that no one knows what their assessments look like yet, so it’s impossible to predict future increases or decreases on student test scores. “We didn’t do as well as we should have,” Facin said, “and I take ownership of that. We will continue to work towards improvements.”
He also said “a lot of great stuff goes on in the schools that can’t be captured in a report or with data.” When talking about the kinds and amount of community service that HFCS kids do, he was obviously proud to say that “community service is the cultural norm here.” High School Principal Stacey Vadney said of the high attendance rate (94.5%), “Kids like coming to school here.”
Facin, Vadney, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Patrick Dailey spoke about the new schedule and course offerings, including the times slotted for Mindfulness and two new Advanced Placement course offerings, AP Studio Art and AP Psychology. The schedule has been fine-tuned so teachers and students know where they have to be when, and what they will be doing. Tech classes are being introduced earlier, in seventh grade, and will be more STEM centered with classes like robotics and electronics. Health will be introduced into the 10th grade course of studies. Seventy-two courses with college level credits are available including, AP’s, SUNY Abany and Syracuse, Hudson Valley Community College courses. Science will be stressed more in the elementary grades with the hope of getting kids interested at an earlier age. The Middle School/High School course catalog has complete descriptions of all the classes and flow charts that will help parents and students map their high school experience and build a framework that supports their learning, achievement, interests, and goals. The District continues to adjust and tweak courses and class practices that are working, adding new options and technology for improved learning, based on what students will need to build the capacity for success in college and careers.[/private]