ATHLETICS AND ACADEMICS!!!
For the first time in over 20 years, all Central Square varsity athletic teams have received the NYSPHSAA Fall Scholar-Athlete Team Award!!! To receive Scholar-Athlete Team recognition, the team's average grade point average (GPA) for 75% of the team's roster must be 90% or higher. All of our varsity teams achieved this great honor, which include:
Football, Girls Volleyball, Boys Volleyball, Girls Tennis, Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer, Gymnastics, Boys Golf, Cheerleading, Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country (ALL 14 girls on the Girls Cross Country Team each achieved a GPA of 90% or higher). This is a huge accomplishment for all of our varsity athletes, and it is an amazing representation of our athletic program that promotes success in the athletic arena and in the classroom.
RETURNED TO NORMAL
Our outstanding staff was extremely delighted to start the 2022-2023 school year with zero COVID-19 restrictions. While, of course, we all respect a parent's wishes to have their own child wear a COVID mask, the overall sentiment across the District is one of satisfaction as it provides families with their right to choose. Without the required social distancing rules of the past, students are once again connecting in classrooms, which is such an important part of daily student collaboration. Our athletics, band/fine arts, and afterschool clubs and activities have been running very smoothly, and we are thrilled with the incredible student participation rates. Our message to all students is to be engaged in your school community in any of our various afterschool activities and the students have responded in tremendous numbers.
COLLEGE AND CAREER PATHWAYS
EARLY LITERACY FOCUS
All four of our elementary schools have a laser like focus on providing all students with a literacy program that will help students not only throughout their foundational elementary years, but throughout middle school, high school and beyond. Our teachers focus on all Five Pillars of Early Literacy (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension), which can be seen HERE
We have invested in the addition of several more reading teachers at the elementary level, but our literacy focus does not stop there. We have hired additional reading teachers at the middle school as well as additional academic intervention specialists at the high school. All of the research on literacy and student success rates show that students that are not reading on or above grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likes to graduate with their grade level cohort. This is a serious indicator that directly impacts our students' success, and we take it extremely seriously by frequently monitoring students' progress on common benchmark assessments, DIBELS and STAR data, and 3-8 NYS Assessments. There is not one single indicator that we use to monitor student progress, we use several so that we can make sure we are providing all of our students exactly what they need to be successful readers, which is a requirement for the majority of career pathways our students will ultimately select. Assistant Superintendent, Erin Phillips has presented at Board of Education meetings on our literacy focus and student data several times, and the most recent presentations can be seen HERE from November 7, 2022. (No individual student data is shown for student privacy) and HERE from February of 2022. To view how we performed on the 3-8 NYS Assessments that were given in the Spring of 2022, click HERE.
DISTRICT'S STRATEGIC PLAN
The Redhawk Winter Guard put on another fantastic performance over the weekend at the WGI Regional Competition at Corning, NY. Congratulations to the students, instructors, and the dedicated and extremely supportive parent volunteers that are so very much appreciated at every show.
The talented students
from Hastings-Mallory Elementary, along with their amazing music teacher, Mr. Ron Hurne, were recently at the Syracuse War Memorial as they belted out an amazing rendition of God
Bless America prior to the Syracuse Crunch hockey game. 
Thank you to the Millard Hawk Elementary PTO for hosting the Science Night event, as it was a perfect example of the type of hands on learning we encourage at Central Square. This brings the content to life and engages all learners. Thank you to Principal Dr. Viel and to the creative PVM teachers, Mrs. Duggleby and Mrs. Saunders for helping to organize this meaningful STEM event for our students.
