Principal’s Message

Dear Students, Parents, Staff, and Community Members,

At the Elementary School, we are celebrating the end of another great year and looking forward to summer programming and summer time with family.  From construction to curriculum to our student activities, we have had a busy year, but one with many successes to celebrate.  

For our building renovations, we were happy to reopen our happiness hallway with brand-new pre-kindergarten classrooms and renovated classrooms for our self-contained classes.  The UPK rooms are beautiful, with an expanded footprint that meets New York State recommendations and offers better functionality for our youngest learners.  Our self-contained rooms have been revitalized with a new look and updated cabinetry to match the style of our classrooms in the third-grade wing.  These rooms are from the oldest section of our building and definitely benefited from some attention.  

Part of the construction project also involved the addition of the Saunders turf facility.  I am happy to report that our elementary students have been able to use the field for PE classes almost daily, which has expanded our ability to get our students outside in fresh air even though the ground has been very wet due to the rainy spring.  We are grateful for the ability to take advantage of the outdoor classes sooner than we would typically be able to, thanks to the opportunity the turf facility offers our PE program during the day.

The next phase of construction will involve updating our K-2 wing classrooms this summer, as well as addressing some necessary work to enhance the functionality of the music and art wing by removing unnecessary walls and updating the HVAC system. While we have had to make numerous adjustments during the construction process, it is great to see the end in sight and, even better, to see our students enjoying the new facilities and spaces.

We continue to update our curriculum in response to student performance on assessments and teacher feedback.  This year, we have been focusing on strengthening our English Language Arts (ELA) program to meet our goal of ensuring that all students leave elementary school with a solid reading foundation. We have been doing more training in the science of reading. Additionally, we are adding to and adjusting some components of our existing ELA program to strengthen the phonics acquisition for our primary-grade students. While we continue to find success in our program, we know that to maintain this success, we need to continue re-evaluating and strengthening the work that we do since the ability to read is such a fundamental skill that will be a critical factor in long-term success.

We have also continued to monitor our math, science, and social studies curricula to make adjustments as well.  We have expanded our Bridges Math program from UPK through grade 5 and are seeing success.  Our science program continues to shift to meet the higher demands of the next-generation standards.  Finally, we are beginning work to revisit our social studies program to make sure we are addressing those standards as well.

Beyond our academic curriculum, we have followed the district strategic plan and continue to work on strengthening our school culture and climate to help our students thrive.  We have introduced a fourth-grade career day tradition and the Biz Town career exploration unit, which culminates in a fantastic experience at the Kodak Center, where our students get to understand and practice running a business and managing personal finances through a simulated town experience. Our students truly enjoyed this unique opportunity and came away with a better understanding of career options and personal finance.

As we close the year, I would like to take a moment to thank our outstanding teachers and staff who have worked diligently to build positive classroom communities this year and who have also worked equally hard to ensure that our students are making appropriate growth.  We look forward to supporting that work through our summer programs and beginning the work to plan for next year to ensure our students continue to achieve and thrive.  Thank you for a great year.  We truly appreciate all of your support

Warm regards,
Casey Whittel
Phone: 346.4000 ext. 5001  |  Email