The Rivertowns Enterprise
Back to School
Friday, August 24, 2012/ Page 21A
School Reports
Dobbs Ferry’s preparing students for 21st century By DR. LISA BRADY Dobbs Ferry Schools Superintendent
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s we welcome students and staff back to school on Sept. 4, the 201213 school year promises significant changes for everyone. With the full implementation of the regulations associated with APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review), the district has spent significant time and resources devoted to negotiating agreements, training administrators and preparing teachers for the transformation ahead. September marks a new age of accountability for schools and elevated expectations for student and teacher performance. The State of New York is assuming a leadership position on the national front in education. It is now time for schools to embrace the opportunities embedded in these initiatives and focus on areas such as the redesign of curriculum and assessment, where these modifications have the potential to dramatically alter the learning experiences for all children. We wholeheartedly support our teachers as they embrace professional development opportunities with enthusiasm, and expect that we will see continued collaboration across grade levels and curricular areas. I believe that by working together with our teachers, parents, students and members of our board of education, we can meet these
Our high school was recognized in 2012 by both U.S. News & World Report and The Washington Post as one of the top high schools in the nation.
challenges and realize results that will increase academic success for every student. At the high school, principal John Falino shares that there are some new courses for fall including Natural Disasters and the Environment, a science elective and International Baccalaureate (IB) Math HL. Students also have the opportunity to take IB Physics and IB Biology through an expanded partnership with Mercy College. These two courses have been approved for six college credits each (dual credit opportunities already exist in IB Spanish and IB Italian). In addition, teachers have spent time over the summer revising the ninth and 10th curriculum so that it better aligns with the challenging 11th-12th-grade IB Diploma Program. Preparing all students in the high school for the rigor of the IB curriculum remains a top priority. We are extremely proud of the performance of our students last year on IB exams where students’ scores
rose significantly in eight out of 11 courses to mark the strongest performance in nine years. In 2012, we surpassed the IB world average in almost every subject area while increasing the number of students who sat for an IB exam. In 2013, we project that this figure will further increase and that the percentage of students who pursue the IB Diploma will more than double. Our high school was also recognized in 2012 by both U.S. News & World Report and The Washington Post as one of the top high schools in the nation and Dobbs Ferry High School continues to receive praise for its ability to prepare all students for success in the IB Program. The “value” of these rankings for us is that it helps measure our college and career readiness based on the district’s inclusive philosophy whereby all students are encouraged to participate in the most challenging courses. The district is currently in the process of searching for a replacement for high school assistant principal Sandra Intreiri, who will become principal at Millbrook High School in September. All of us in Dobbs Ferry wish her the very best of luck. We are interviewing top-notch candidates and hope to fill this position as quickly as possible. Our new assistant principal will provide support to the high school curricular program, in particular the teacher observation process, curriculum redesign, professional development and oversight of the counseling pro-
gram, including college and career services. In the meantime, principal Falino is ready for the opening of the high school and will be joined by Scott Patrillo in his new role as dean of students. Scott will still be teaching social studies, but will assist with student discipline at the high school. At the middle school, exciting curricular changes await. Principal Patrick Mussolini announced in June that a new writing curriculum is in the works and that all middle school students will have more opportunities to study and improve their writing skills. In the sixth grade students will have the option to participate in a new elective called Writing Fundamentals. This class will reinforce the building blocks of writing such as grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation, spelling and conventions. In seventh and eighth grades, students will spend every fourth day in a split class working in smaller groups to focus on intensive writing enrichment. The eighth graders will also have the option to take a new elective entitled Writing for the Real World. The middle school will also be piloting Glenco Math for grades 6-8 in the fall. Glencoe Math is a toolkit designed to let teachers use their own unique teaching style to support math instruction. This program incorporates the latest technology, differenContinued on page 22A
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