Dec. 2006
Dear School Community Members:
Prepare Today
Succeed Tomorrow
Inspire Excellence
Challenge the World
These nine words are Fallsburg’s new mission statement. This mission statement is the result of 30 plus individuals sitting in a room and working together to agree on something that is foundational. This group of individuals is your Comprehensive District Education Plan Team – your CDEP team. On October 30th, this group made up of students, teachers, staff, parents, administrators, and a Board member sat down together to wrestle with the task of creating an updated mission statement. And while some groups in different places have taken months to accomplish such a task, this team did it in one afternoon. I am very proud of the CDEP team for the efforts they have showcased.
In our efforts to improve instruction for the students of the Fallsburg Central School District, we will be taking a micro-education approach that, ultimately, will give us information regarding how to better educate our students. However, from a macro-perspective, we need to realize that we are not alone and that schools all over this great nation are struggling with the very same issues that we find ourselves struggling with here. The question that presents itself is how do we solve these issues? If the indicators of schools that have been successful mean anything at all, then together, as Professional Learning Teams, we can find the answers that we’ve been wondering about for a long time.
On November 30, 2006, the concept of Professional Learning Teams came to life at FCSD. The purpose of the November 30th conference day was to move forward with the improvement of instruction efforts already underway. In the summer I discussed the concept of making the improvement of instruction a district-wide effort. What I was told was that we needed to have a Pre-K through grade 12 commitment to improving instruction at FCSD. At the first Superintendent’s Conference Say in September, I indicated that I was preparing to move forward with that concept, working with students, staff members, administrators and the Board of Education. That move is underway.
At this point we have established a structured mentoring program, we have Content Area Coordinators in English, Math, Science, Social Studies and ESL, and we have five brand new Professional Learning Teams that have begun the trek to improve instruction district-wide.
During the kick-off conference day on November 30th, educators met and worked together as members of Professional Learning Teams. Team members had an opportunity to talk and learn about each other before they began discussing and analyzing the data, how to use the data, and how to best synthesize professional learning experiences to improve instruction. As these teams continue to meet throughout the year, they will be working with the Content Area Coordinators, Department Chairs and the administrative team to begin planning for the professional development that will take place for the remainder of this school year and planning ahead for the future.
This is not a canned program. At a very basic level this effort is about educators talking to each other about student achievement. It is learning about how kids are doing now, about what challenges we all face and about how to work as a team to face those challenges so that our kids can improve to whatever capacity they are able to improve to, at whatever pace it takes to get there, using whatever available resources we have.
I look forward to updating you relative to the trials and tribulations we go through as we journey forward to improve instruction for the students of the Fallsburg Central School District.
Sincerely,
Ivan J. Katz,
Ed. D.
Superintendent
Sept. 2006
Dear School Community Members:
It is my privilege and my honor to welcome the school community back for the 2006-07 school year and to introduce myself as your new Superintendent of Schools.
I am a life-long resident of Sullivan County. I graduated from the Monticello Central School District and have made this county my home. As an educator, my work, for the most part, has taken place in Sullivan County. My career path is as follows: English teacher, K-12 dean of students, assistant high school principal, intermediate school principal, junior-senior high school principal, and I am now beginning my second superintendency.
As your new superintendent, I am looking forward to learning all aspects of the Fallsburg School Community. I also look forward to working with you as we move forward on a journey leading to the success of FCS students through the improvement of instruction.
The new administration is committed to improving direct instruction through staff development, staff collaboration and community interactions. I have already had an opportunity to see a glimpse of the staff in action through some of the current summer work that has been in place relative to analyzing student data. What I have seen excites me as an educator and is, in my estimation, an excellent foundation to build upon. The staff members that I have met these past few weeks have made it abundantly clear to me that kids and kid success is why they are here.
I am very proud to say that you have a Board of Education who makes student success their number one priority. I have had several opportunities to meet with Board members individually and as a group and I have found them to be a caring and supportive team of people who are exceptionally passionate about providing the best opportunities available to the students of the Fallsburg Central School District. It is an honor to work with a governance team that makes students the place where the buck stops.
I look forward to meeting you throughout this year and learning about you and from you. Most importantly, I am proud to be a member of the FCS team and I look excitedly to the road ahead. I wish us all the best of everything as we prepare to begin the 2006-07 school year.
Sincerely,
Ivan J. Katz, Ed.D. Superintendent
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Quality Educational Statement:
The Fallsburg Central School District is an educational community committed to improving the lives of children and youth by providing a nurturing and well-balanced learning environment. Through a broad range of quality services, and the collaboration efforts of the best capable administration, faculty and staff, the School District will successfully foster social and academic excellence by:
- Promoting literacy and language fluency as the core component of all instruction and the benchmark for successful academic achievement;
- Engaging students in instruction that encourages exploration, inquiry, investigation and complex thinking skills;
- Using technology to broaden student’s perspective of the world around them and develop skills to prepare them for the workforce as they live in an ever changing technological society;
- Connecting school to students’ lives away from school;
- Exposing students to social and cultural experiences that build character and well-roundedness; and
- Respecting parents/families as important resources in students’ achieving social and academic successes.
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