Farmingdale School District to lead community visioning process; sets new standard for student success
(Photo courtesy of the Farmingdale School District)
Every day, the Farmingdale Union Free School District strives to create a learning environment and curriculum that is both engaging and innovative in the ever-changing education landscape. The district’s latest efforts come in the form of Portrait of a Graduate, a nationally recognized and proven pathway to elevating school district offerings to best position its students for success inside and outside the classroom.
“The last 18 months have been a monumental challenge for us all,” Superintendent of Schools Paul Defendini said. “As COVID-19 cases recede and our schools fully open up for our students, we now have a window of opportunity to refocus our attention by redefining our collective expectations for our graduates. This is quite possibly the most important work we may ever undertake here in Farmingdale Schools and we need all of our stakeholders to take an active role as we form our Portrait of a Graduate.”
While still in the development phase, the Farmingdale School District has commenced outreach efforts to key sectors of the community and stakeholders. In doing so, the district is able to obtain a diverse set of perspectives and feedback on how it can expand upon its academic and extracurricular offerings to better prepare students for life after graduation. Throughout the beginning of fall, community members will be prompted to provide feedback on several topics related to the academic processes, programs, and outcomes within the district via the platform ThoughtExchange, which promotes an open exchange of thoughts on a shared platform. Once all data has been collected and synthesized, the district will provide the results of this effort with the community and adopt practices that will continue to lead Farmingdale students down a path of success.
“We must come together as a community united in our vision for the future success of our students,” said Dr. William Brennan, assistant superintendent for innovation and organizational development. “Implementing a mechanism by which parents, staff and the Farmingdale community can provide feedback on how to better prepare our students for life after high school will serve as an invaluable component in this process. Together, we can create and adopt our own set of student outcomes to serve as a North Star for all Farmingdale graduates.”
—Submitted by the Farmingdale School District
