by gentrys | Nov 28, 2018 | Announcements, Archive, District Event
Throughout the past six months, the Franklin Special School District School Board and Leadership Team have begun the process of designing a new long-range strategic plan. We have guided our discussion around goals using the extensive feedback we gathered during the AdvancED accreditation process this spring, academic data from state and local assessments, and planning documents that the district uses each year to design instruction, improve culture, develop technology goals and improve academic performance. We are excited to have enough information and feedback at this point to have put together a draft Five-Year Strategic Plan. Called Reach 2024, this one-page talking points flier is attached to this email and the more complete plan is now ready for public review and input. This is where you come in! We invite you to one of two public review and input sessions. The public review sessions are Tuesday, November 27 and Thursday, November 29. Both sessions will be 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Moore Elementary School, 1061 Lewisburg Pike. During public review, we will explain how we arrived at our broad goals and what strategic objectives we have developed to achieve the goals. Best practice in strategic planning is to keep goals broad and limited to 3-5 achievable targets. While we have discussed and refined the current goals in the Reach 2024 document many times, we are ready to hear your thoughts regarding possible revisions to these goals. Please consider attending one of the two sessions mentioned above. Thank you for helping us to “Reach 2024” with clear, thoughtful and well-defined goals that will strategically guide our school district over the next five...
by gentrys | Oct 23, 2018 | Announcements, Archive, District Event
In order to foster understanding and improve inclusive peer relationships among students, the FSSD Special Education department is hosting a parent meeting on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, from 6:30-7:30 PM in the Franklin Elementary School Media Center at 1501 Figuers Drive. Haley Hatchell, Community Engagement Manager for Best Buddies Tennessee, will be joining us to talk about the importance of inclusive friendships for students with and without special needs. Best Buddies is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Child care is available. Many of our special education teachers and paraprofessionals donate their time for you to attend this very important meeting. You do not need to make reservations for child care, but it would be beneficial if you would let us know how many children you plan to bring. If you have any questions, please call FSSD Special Populations Supervisor Beth Farrar at 615/794-6624 or...
by gentrys | Oct 1, 2018 | District Event
Late Friday afternoon, districts across the state waited anxiously for the Tennessee Board of Education to ratify the Department of Education’s accountability results, which places schools and school districts in several distinct categories. Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced the 2018 District Designations as well as the Reward and Priority schools, which are two key designations under Tennessee’s school accountability system. There are 147 school districts across the state. The FSSD is one of only 14 districts to be named Exemplary. The good news didn’t stop there, though. Five of the eight FSSD schools were named Reward Schools, another top designation. “We were very excited and extremely proud of the Accountability Results released Friday. Being an Exemplary district and having 62% of our schools designated as Reward Schools are noted accomplishments,” said Director of Schools Dr. David Snowden. This was the first year Tennessee implemented its new school accountability model, which looks at multiple measures of success based mainly on the results of the TNReady tests given to students in grade 3-12 each spring. According to the Department of Education’s website, districts designated as exemplary are generally exceeding expectations on average for both all students and each historically underserved student group. “All of these positive results are due to the work of our passionate, dedicated and talented teachers, the hard work by our students and the support of parents, school and district leaders and the School Board,” Snowden...
by gentrys | Sep 11, 2018 | Announcements, Archive, District Event
On September 4, several Franklin Special School District teachers and administrators were able to participate in a roundtable discussion, along with other educators from across the region, with Governor Bill Haslam and state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen about the difficulties of the 2018 administration of TNReady testing. The Governor plans to take the feedback from the six events held across the state, as well as from an online form available to anyone who wants to provide input, and formulate a report by the end of September. The input will guide the discussion on TNReady assessment timelines, vendor selection, and the meaningful communication of the value of assessment results. The listening tour panels consisted only of educators; however, the state welcomes input from all teachers, staff, parents, and community members. If you would like to provide your input through the online engagement process, please go to www.tn.gov/governor/contact-us/listening-tour-feedback.html Hosted at Freedom Middle School, Governor Haslam and Commissioner McQueen listened as teachers, principals and testing administrators shared their experiences and frustrations regarding last year’s testing process. Feedback from around the region included concerns over lack of computers for testing, online testing failures and delayed test results. “Governor Haslam and Dr. McQueen were very receptive to each person’s input,” said FSSD Student Performance Supervisor Dr. Kay Boan, who was an invited member of the panel. The discussion was led by Wayne Miller, former executive director of Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS), who is serving as a consultant to the state on this project. Boan said the preponderance of concerns was for online delivery, particularly in schools without 1:1 technology, and for high school...
by jlbworks | Sep 10, 2018 | District Event
We still have spots open in the FSSD Pre-K Program! Apply Now! What is the Franklin Special School District/State of Tennessee Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program? Voluntary Pre-K provides a high quality educational program through an active learning approach. Young children learn skills at their own level in ways meaningful to them. A holistic approach to Kindergarten readiness prepares children socially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. If you walk into a Pre-K classroom you may see children playing house, putting on a puppet show, or building a miniature town with blocks and little people. Experienced, knowledgeable, understanding teachers and staff guide students through music, stories, songs, and play. All of these fun activities help children develop academic and social skills as they play. To be eligible, children must have been born on or between August 16, 2013 and August 15, 2014, live in the Franklin Special School District, and qualify in one of several ways. The Tennessee Department of Education Office of Early Learning requires school districts first serve students who are economically disadvantaged. Space permitting, students may be served who have disabilities, are identified as English Language Learners, are in state custody, or are identified as educationally at-risk for failure due to circumstances of abuse or neglect. Children attend Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Monday through Friday for a six hour day. Each class is limited to 16 children working with a teacher and paraprofessional. The program is free of charge although parents are required to provide transportation. For more information call any FSSD Elementary School or Lee Kirkpatrick at (615) 591-2802 and ask to receive application materials. Voluntary Pre-K has proven to be a...
by gentrys | Aug 16, 2018 | Announcements, Archive, District Event
The release of TNReady results August 16 demonstrates Franklin Special School District’s continued commitment to maintaining high levels of achievement and growth. “We are very proud of the district’s results,” said Director of Schools Dr. David Snowden. “The FSSD continues to be one of the top performing school districts in the state. We are proud of the work of our teachers and students that places us again in the top 10 districts in all grade bands (3-5 and 6-8) and all tested subjects.” The FSSD is one of only five school districts state-wide to hold this distinction. Snowden said the district is pleased with increased proficiency and growth in ELA/Literacy as this has been a focus for improvement in recent years. The district brought its ELA/Literacy growth score up from a 1 to a 5 this year. Another highlight the district is celebrating is the increase in growth in Science (from a 3 in 2017 to a 5 in 2018). The FSSD’s overall composite, which includes ELA/Literacy, Math, Science and Social Studies, also improved from a 3 in 2017 to a 5 in 2018. Other district achievements include: Percent of proficient students in grades 3-8 increased in ELA/Literacy. Of particular note was the growth of 5th-graders with 14% more students proficient in 2018 and 3rd grade with 9% more students proficient in 2018. Percent of proficient students in grades 3-8 fell slightly in Math. Fifth-graders again showed strong performance with 5% more students scoring at the proficient level in 2018. Percent of proficient students in grades 3-8 increased in Science. Fifth-graders continued to shine with 6% more students proficient in 2018....
