Big thanks going out to...

• Our board members Mr. Aldrich, Mr. Johnston, Mrs. Powell Fortna, Mr. Marshall, Ms. Starkey Hahn, Mrs. Gullo, and Mr. Hawk, for their volunteer service to the district, as we celebrate School Board Recognition Week!
• Everyone who donated and collected food for our Feed Fredonia challenge
• Our Tri-M Honor Society students for creating handmade invitations to our Pops concert
• All of our principals & administrators as we celebrate National Principals Month!
• Our hardworking FHS Students of the Month who are fantastic examples of well-rounded students
• All those involved in celebrating our newest National Honor Society members - congratulations!

Dear Fredonia School Community,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying some of the fantastic fall weather recently. As mentioned last week, each year our district looks to move forward towards our vision by selecting a cross section of focus areas in the spirit of continuous improvement.

I wanted to take a moment to share a little more information this week about two of our district focus areas. The first is:

• Promote and sustain our updated mission, vision, and core beliefs as key philosophical touchpoints for why we exist, what we aspire to be, and the driving forces behind behavior and decision-making across the district
  
  

We are taking several action steps to make progress in this area, which include:

• Rebranding and updating our visual reminders of our mission, vision, and core beliefs that can be seen throughout our schools

• Creating and demonstrating transparent alignment between our core beliefs and decision-making throughout the district

• Sharing reminders and reiterations for the larger school community

• Providing consistent examples of our mission, vision and core beliefs at work in our classrooms embedded in our weekly Smores

• Highlighting our vision as a key feature within our upcoming print newsletter, which is mailed to all residents

• Using social media as an outlet for the good work being done across the district in relation to our mission, vision, and core beliefs
  
  

The second district focus area we would like to share more information about is:

• Develop a deeper understanding of our overall academic programs and assist in establishing instructional next steps to move closer to our vision.
  
  

We are taking several action steps to make progress in this area, which include:

• Revisiting and re-establishing the role of Instructional Leaders and Curriculum Council

• Held Curriculum Council Summer Summit 2021 and 2022 to create goals and review progress. For 2022-2023, subcommittees were established.

• Instructional Leaders from all areas attend BOCES Forums to gain content specific updated information and report back to Curriculum Council, as well as teams/departments

• Sharing updated information in the following content areas: Math, Science, ELA, Social Studies, PE, Art/IAAP, Music, World Languages, Technology

• Reviewing updates and analysis of 3-8 testing and Regents exams

• Transitioning from the Grade 4 Science Test, which is shifting to Grade 5

• Investigating the Next Generation Learning Standards for updates and changes, particularly in Science and Physical Education

• Exploring the requirements for the Seal of Civic Readiness within the Social Studies content area
  
  

Again, we look forward to working together over the course of the year to continue the tradition of Fredonia being a great place to teach and learn. Thanks in advance for everyone's contribution to this effort.

Respectfully,

Brad Zilliox

This week is School Board Recognition Week! Please join us in thanking our hardworking Board of Education members. It's important to remember that Board members are volunteers. Behind the scenes, they serve on committees, work as a governance team in partnership with the Superintendent, and review, discuss, and seek to understand a vast amount of information about the district. Thank you Mr. Aldrich, Mr. Johnston, Mrs. Powell Fortna, Mr. Marshall, Ms. Starkey Hahn, Mrs. Gullo, and Mr. Hawk!

Congratulations to a fantastic new group of National Honor Society inductees:

Jackson Bishop, Evelyn Cuthbert, Jaelyn Davis, Ashlynn Delcamp, Greta Frerichs, Mia Gorka, Molly Greenough, Jena Gullo, Sophia Gullo, Michael Hahn, Ava Hartung, Alana Holt, Abigail Joy, Ava Kehrer, Ella Koopman, Miriam LaBarr, Rebecca Lash, Jordan Lucas, Jacob Majka, Angelina May, Anna Normand, Chelsea Orr, Emma Patterson, Jack Pietro, Francesca Pucci, Audrey Quiles, Jameson Quinn, Kaley Robb, Ava Rukavina, Julianna Spacciapolli, Victoria Tate, Jack Tuccio, Lenieth Velez-Olmo, Bailey Wegrzynowski, and Jayden Yerico.

Thanks to everyone who donated food to our annual Feed Fredonia Challenge! Each year, we keep the tradition going of collecting non-perishable food items from throughout the school which are then donated to our Fredonia Food Pantry. Our kids are proud to serve and excited to learn about how they are helping others around the holiday season. Pictured is Emily Thie's class, who assisted with collecting and sorting the many donations. Thanks to everyone who pitched in!

Last school year, our high school students once again participated in the Memory Project. Over the summer the portraits were delivered to students in the Sierra Leone. This is the culminating video that was shared with us. It's sure to brighten your day!

Learn more about the Memory Project here.

Our Tri-Music Honor Society students have been hard at work in the Orchestra room during study halls and after school to create handmade invitations for music students in grades 4-8 to attend our upcoming High School Pops Concert. Who can say no to that?

Involved students are:

Cooper Stenger, Gracia Domenico, Aidan Burrell, Jacob Salisbury, Grant Abbey, Brady Crawford, Katherine Fortna, Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer, Madeline Saunders, Jena Gullo, Emily Schwertfeger, Lydia LaBarr, Ray Dai, & Elizabeth Joy. Nice work!

A message from Mrs. Tomaszewski, Ski Club Advisor:

So awesome to see such a big group interested in ski club this year! We had a total of 90 kids express interest (5th - 12th). Whoooo! It's going to be a great season! Everyone who attended the meeting has been invited to the Google Classroom. If you know of someone who would like to join please have them email me and I will add them to the Google Classroom.

REVIEW FROM MEETING:
-Order by November 1st or prices go up!
-Peek n' Peak
-FRIDAY NIGHTS are back!
-3:30 - 10:00
-Buy your passes using the QR codes given to you and attached to this message. Remember to choose Friday nights. The QR code will take you where you need to go to purchase passes. If you are looking for the one night a week pass or rentals, they can be found using the "menu" in the upper left hand corner.
-Bus money will be due at a later date (when we know how many students we have going) Probably after the Thanksgiving break.

-First ski date is January 6th. We ski for six weeks consecutively.

Detailed pricing plus QR codes to sign up are below. Do not hesitate to let me know if you have questions! You can email me at ktomaszewski@fcsd.wnyric.org.

We all know parenting can be one of the toughest jobs. We're here to help make it a little easier by getting you need-to-know info from area experts on issues you and your children are facing on a daily basis. Family Support Services at FCSD presents "Parent Academy: Timely Topics for Parenting Today". Sessions are free, and you can participate in three ways - you can attend the presentation in person, join live via Zoom meetings, or access a video recording and materials post-session. Any questions, please contact Kat Beyer, School Social Worker - kbeyer@fcsd.wnyric.org, 679-1581, ext 2759.

Click here to join us via Zoom on 10/26.

Our Unified Team has been having fun learning about bocce ball!

This is a fun fall activity for our players to enjoy while they wait for the official season of Unified Bowling. The courts were provided by the Special Olympics. We will have eight practices and then one culminating event in November with other schools. Thanks for everyone involved for bringing another exciting opportunity to our students.

Fredonia CSD is once again partnering with FeedMore WNY to assist families with food insecurity. The Food Bank and Meals on Wheels has joined to become FeedMore WNY. The program offers food free of charge to any family regardless of income. Our counseling team provides bags of non-perishable foods to classrooms on Fridays for participating students to take home over the weekend. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Cassie Farrell, Elementary Social Worker, at cfarrell@fcsd.wnyric.org or (716) 679-1581 x2440.

The Fredonia Music Department is once again selling car magnets and shirts. If you are interested in purchasing them please use the link below. The site will remain open until 11/6.