JTAhrens Photo
Fishers Island School just earned, from the NY State Department of Education, the highest academic Student Growth Scores possible for improved student achievement at both the elementary and high school levels, ranking it in the 97th percentile of all New York public schools for improved student learning. The Growth Scores are based on students’ improvement from the 2014-2015 to the 2015-2016 school year as measured by their performance on the grade 3-8 NY State Tests and the grade 9-11 Regents tests. Our improvement in student learning earned us state status as a Highly Effective School.
Notable indicators of the success of our students in the rigorous state testing program include:
- Our grade 8 students earned the highest Language Arts score in Suffolk County and the third highest average score of all 683 public school districts in New York.
- Our overall students’ math performance demonstrated commendable improvement, with 100% of our students earning proficiency on the Common Core Algebra I Assessment.
- All grade 11 students who took the US History Regents test in June scored in the highest performance level (4), with three students earning scores of 98 of 100 possible points.
- All grade 8 science students scored at the rigorous proficient standard for the past four consecutive school years, and 91% of our students taking Chemistry last year scored in the ‘excellence level’ performance band.
In addition to these quantitative indicators of success, Fishers Island School teachers highlight successes that are equally as important to state assessment scores, including:
- The incredible learning opportunities that our recent grads were invited to be a part as a result of their acceptances to impressive institutions of higher education. (Click here for the list).
- The successful launch of the Spanish Exchange Program between our school and the Santa María del Mar school in La Coruña, Spain.
- Adding the courses in Coding and Building Apps to our curriculum.
- Incorporating the Fishers Island naturalist into 3rd/4th science and exposing students to the process of nature monitoring.
- Receiving First Place awards at regional and county competitions for band, chorus, science, and environmental research.
- Providing grade 10-12 students the opportunity to investigate their research topics using collegiate level resources at the UCONN Library in Storrs.
These extraordinary achievements are a result of deeply invested Board of Education members who hold high expectations for students and educators, talented and dedicated teachers and support staff, hard-working students who give their personal best, and supportive parents and community members who truly value education. I know I join the entire community in feeling tremendous pride in Fishers Island School.
Submitted by Karen Loiselle Goodwin, Superintendent/Principal
