Welcome to Foley Public Schools! We are looking forward to a successful 2017-18 school year, are eager to have staff and students back in the buildings, and excited to continue with the many successful traditions established in our school district.
2016-17 marked the continuation of several “big” initiatives including the purchase and distribution of staff laptops, the transition to a new student information system (Infinite Campus), and the progression of construction of bathrooms, concessions, storage, and seating for our baseball, softball, and tennis facilities. Additionally, we have spent much of our instructional efforts concentrating on what we want students to be able to know and do.
Moving forward we look to implement student advisory at the high school and intermediate school, attend to the instructional question, “How do we know if the students know and can do?” continue to align our instruction with prescribed standards, and to utilize data to create opportunities for academic growth for each and every student.
The purchase and distribution of staff laptops will allow staff opportunities for mobility of teaching and learning. Having these devices not only updates our staff technology capabilities, but also creates an educational environment where staff are not restricted to the classroom or to an area of the district. As we transitioned to Google Platform, we also believed it is a continuation of our mobility efforts to provide devices to staff that will not limit staff.
The move to Infinite Campus from JMC will create potential to provide more flexible scheduling where we can better attend to dynamic student needs and abilities, communicate more effectively about student progress with parents and students, and will allow more access to assist students as they develop their post-secondary plans. Additionally, once we have utilized this platform, Infinite Campus will provide the conduit for more consistent levels of instruction.
Our outdoor athletic and Physical Education facility has long needed better protection for players and fans, has been in need of permanent seating and bathroom facilities, and has needed better access to storage and concessions. We begin the final phase of this facility improvement this fall and have November 20 as our target completion date. This will be the culmination of two years of improvements and will create top level outdoor facilities utilized by four activities and several Community Education activities.
Educationally, we have worked to align standards of instruction with our teaching practices. This means instructors and administrators have spent the past two years reviewing mandated standards, aligning curriculum, and organizing instruction around the standards. This work has answered the question, “What do we want students to be able to know and do?”
2017-18 we will focus our attention on the question, “How do we know if students know and can do?” This means we will look at our standards and instruction and design assessments that will not only tell us if the student understands the information presented, but will also provide a communication from the student to the teacher about where the student might be making errors.
As always, there is much to do and the Foley Public School District is committed to high expectations for all and to embrace a philosophy of continuous improvement.
