The school environment is safe and secure and students are equipped with the skills to confidently navigate their complex lives.
Goal: Implement board-approved recommendations from the district safety and security task force.
- The district entered into an agreement with the Town of Manlius Police Department to contract for two peace officers, called Special Patrol Officers, to augment the district’s existing School Information and Resource Officer program, which already included three full-time Manlius police officers. One special patrol officer is based at F-M High School, and the other is at Mott Road Elementary School.
Goal: Design and develop learning spaces that support student inquiry, innovation and collaboration.
- Construction that voters approved in 2017 continued throughout the school year at Wellwood Middle School. Work there includes an addition that allows for the relocation of the cafeteria and music instruction spaces and creating more collaborative spaces for students and staff to interact. Construction on the 2017 projects is expected to be complete in September 2023.
- The board of education’s facilities committee worked with the district’s architects, engineers and staff to define the scope of the district’s next capital project, which is slated to go before voters in December 2021. The project will include portions of Wellwood that were not in the 2017 project, as well as major renovations at F-M High School, where all F-M students complete their K-12 educational experience.
Goal: Enhance mental health instruction and develop social-emotional learning opportunities to support all students in an inclusive and flexible school setting.
- The district’s successful therapy dog program continued to grow. A third dog began visiting F-M High School to provide social-emotional support to students and staff, and Enders Road Elementary launched its program in winter 2021 with one dog visiting the school two days a week, supporting students with test anxiety and emotional regulation and serving as a reading buddy.
- At the three elementary schools, counselors and psychologists pre-recorded lessons for classroom teachers to teach social-emotional concepts to students learning in-person and remotely. They also held virtual and, when possible, socially distanced in-person weekly lunch and social skills groups.
- Schools offered assemblies that were pre-recorded and shared virtually so as to not lose traditional events and activities students looked forward to, such as Wellwood’s annual end-of-year awards and yearbook assembly.
- Schools, often in partnership with their affiliated Home and School Association, offered opportunities for families to come together following health and safety guidelines. Activities, such as drive-thru ice cream socials, movie nights and trick-or-treat events, allowed students to receive some socialization with their peers and school staff.
- In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, programs were offered to all K-12 parents: one on eating disorders and another on suicide prevention. The latter was presented to all high school students.
Goal: Investigate building programs and schedules that enrich student health and wellness and promote the development of the whole child.
- The district continued exploring changing its school start times and concluded its contract with Children’s National Health System, which specializes in a range of pediatric services and research, including sleep as it relates to school start times. The consultants presented their research during virtual public meetings, and based on the group’s findings, the district is considering shifting middle and high school start times later and elementary start times earlier.