The Marie V.
Duffy Elementary
School has a culture that supports students in
fulfilling the district’s mission for them to become responsible, productive,
life-long learners and productive members of society.
Parents are encouraged to be active participants
in the learning community. The school
year starts with invitations to serve as Class Parents. Parents are also encouraged to attend Back to
School Night, parent-teacher conferences and American Education Week
festivities and play a key role in holiday celebrations and community service
projects. Parents also have
opportunities for involvement in the PTA, district advisory councils and
School-Based Planning Team. Evening programs
for families include Family Math and Take Phonics Home.
Teachers and support
staff engage in a variety of professional development opportunities within the
building including study groups, collaborative planning meetings, common
planning times, grade level meetings, and intervisitations, as well as daily
informal conversations focused on improving practice. Professional development has addressed
effectively implementing the new reading series, improving students’ writing
and test-taking skills through the use of technology and how to maintain a
classroom environment that supports successful inclusion of special education
and English language learners. The learning community is also enriched by the
input of teachers enrolled in graduate courses and those hosting student teachers
and practicum students. The in-depth
discussion between professionals surrounding best practices and student achievement
results in purposeful instruction for our students. For example, our Math Day was the culmination
of intensive planning between teachers, administration and a Centenary College
professor. College students developed
math activities that contributed to our students at every grade level being
saturated with measurement and geometry for a very special day.
Students are
encouraged to take responsibility for their learning at Duffy. Educational experiences are tied to authentic
purposes, such as the fall author visits that serve to demystify the writing
process and spark interest in reading. Students
continue to study authors and genres throughout the year. Younger students relish the visits from older
students to read together. Students publish
writing to be enjoyed by the school community, as well as globally through the
Internet. Our second grade students contribute
to the training of a seeing-eye puppy, connecting an element of our curriculum directly
to the local community.
We have an array
of supports is available to meet the diverse needs of our student population; such
as Reading Recovery and literature groups facilitated by our Reading
Specialist, an outstanding Basic Skills program in language arts and math, an
impressive Gifted and Talented program, and clearly articulated Bilingual and
ESL programs. A firmly established Intervention
& Referral Service Team works hand-in-hand with teachers to identify
students at risk and strategies to ensure their success in school. Rainbows, a peer support program, provides
students with a caring environment, and an on-site Child Study Team expertly
determines specialized needs and creates effective plans to address them.
As a community of
people of various ages, walks and backgrounds, engaged in the process of
education, we seek to become responsible, productive, life-long learners and
productive members of society, in order to make a positive impact on our world.
