The 2023 portion of the 2023/24 school year is closing. Our accomplishments during the fall were many, and more success is on the horizon for the Niagara Falls City School District in 2024.
A constant review of our programs and the implementation of cutting-edge strategies keep us surging ahead, aiming for excellence and offering an excellent educational experience for students. We have concrete evidence that our learning methodology is working well when we see a jump in our graduation rate from 66% in 2019 to 85% in 2023. An increase of 19% is something to celebrate. We anticipate that the graduation rate for the class of 2024 will continue this upward trend, as high school graduation for all students is the mission behind everything we do from pre-K 3 purposeful play to college-credit bearing artificial intelligence (AI) classes taught straight from Stanford University.
Highlights from Fall 2023
Let’s start with the fun stuff. On Oct. 25, Hyde Park Elementary had some cool visitors and a story time unlike any other. That day, former Buffalo Bills players Ryan Fitzpatrick and Stevie Johnson stopped by the school to read Stevie’s new children’s book, “The Legend of FitzMagic — Mr. Nomadic” to two preK-3 and preK-4 classrooms and a large crowd of students and teachers assembled in the gym.
In anticipation of the Buffalo Bills-Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday Night Football (TNF) game the following evening, Oct. 26, staff, students and teachers were decked out in their Bills gear. The whole gym was a sea of blue, red and white and everyone had big cheers for the Bills and even sang the “Shout!” song. In keeping with the Buffalo Bills Foundation’s Huddle for Hunger Campaign, Amazon (TNF airs on Amazon Prime) presented a $25,000 donation to FeedMore WNY to support community nutrition programs. Hyde Park shared the national Thursday Night Football spotlight with the Buffalo Bills as Amazon presented a video of the day’s events during the Thursday Night Football pregame show.
More highlights
The extended school day for elementary students received high praise. With dismissal time moved to 3:20 p.m., the students enjoy extra time for important subjects such as art, music, STEM and physical education classes.
Niagara Falls High School expanded two courses and added five that are proving to be popular with students (enrollments are notated):
• African American Studies – 29 students
• Career and Financial Management (CFM 1 and CFM 2) – all students in grades 9 and 10 take these required courses
• Advanced Theatre Studies with African American History Unit – 18 students
• Jr. Law Enforcement – 7 students
• Education Pathway courses — 38 students
• Preparing for the College Environment — 20 students
The school district completed safety assessments at all of its buildings under the STOP School Violence Act. As a result of these appraisals, the district has completed all suggested changes.
Eight Niagara Falls High School Wolverine teams qualified as Scholar-Athlete teams for the fall sports season.
NFHS sophomore Torianne Franke competed in the New York State Championships in diving. Three Niagara Falls High School girls softball players received college scholarships: Ava White (St. Peter’s), Isabella Maynard (Ithaca) and Emilia Marra (PennWest Edinboro). NFHS started a girls’ wrestling program in partnership with Niagara Wheatfield.
The new partnership between NFHS and Stanford University has been exceptional. Stanford is providing a group of seniors with an introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) course. Two hundred students enrolled at Stanford are taking the same course. The class includes elite university instruction on coding, building databases, designing websites, and using artificial intelligence tools. Students earn college credits through this program that they can use at any college in the country.
We anticipate that the graduation rate for the class of 2024 will continue an upward trend. High school graduation is the mission behind everything we do from pre-K 3 purposeful play to college-credit bearing artificial intelligence (AI) classes provided by Stanford University. Our students are staying in school to graduate because we are keeping them engaged and challenged. Individualized learning sends students the message: you are unique, you are important, stay in school because we are going to help you have a truly fulfilling life.
Happy holidays.
Mark Laurrie is the superintendent of the Niagara Falls City School District.