Owego Free Academy (2019)

  1. PLC Story
  2. PLC Practices
  3. Achievement Data
  4. Awards
  5. Resources

 (Updated 2023)

OFA’s PLC Story:

At Owego Apalachin we help all students achieve learning at high levels.  Our vision that we will meet the needs of each individual learner is demonstrated through our consistent PLC practices and through our collective belief that every child can learn at high levels.  We envision a district where all staff members are collectively committed to the well being of each student - physically, emotionally, and academically.  Each student receives the instruction, Intervention, and Extended Learning that will best help that student to move ahead in their learning.  The document "Mission, Vision, and Core Values" from our district website is included in Additional Documentation.  This was created collectively by a group of community members, staff members,  administrators, parents and students. A thought exchange survey was used so that anyone in the district could have input.  The group developed a strategic action plan and wrote the district mission, vision, and core values.    

Our teachers and staff have also come up with certain commitments that are agreed upon regardless of which subject or grade level is being taught.  They have met regularly over the last 6 years to create and revise what they feel are Essential Learning Skills for our students. (See Additional Documentation tab.) In addition, they have collectively agreed to several practices that bind our district together and help each student succeed:

  • Provide challenging curriculums that align to the NYS standards and are cohesive and aligned in our district from UPK-12th grades
  • Use collectively created blueprints as a guide for our curriculum with the knowledge that these blueprints are dynamic and may change to continue to best meet student needs.  Teachers work to be sure that the blueprints are aligned from one grade level to another as well as across subject areas, especially in the area of vocabulary.  Teachers regularly meet to assess any gaps or overlap in blueprint content.
  • Develop common formative assessments that provide useful data in accelerating student learning.  These CFA's are created by teams, analyzed in teams, and Interventions and Extended Learning opportunities are provided by teams so that all students have the best opportunity possible for learning.
  • Provide Interventions and Extended Learning at GOAL time (Grade Level Opportunities to Accelerate Learning) every day to prevent students from falling behind and to motivate learning.  GOAL time is collectively planned by teams after assessing common formative assessments as well as check-ins and daily monitoring.  Each student gets what they specifically need at this time.  It might be Intervention, practice of a newly learned skill, or Extended learning.  It might be small- group or individual.  When teachers meet to see what each student needs, they ask the Four Critical Questions of a PLC - What do we want students to know, how will we know when they know it, how will we respond if students do not learn, and how will we extend learning for those already proficient?  These questions are at the forefront of every team meeting that teachers have.  
  • Take part in staff development that promotes the PLC process and enhances understanding of the Four Pillars of a PLC as well as the Four Critical Questions of a PLC.  We have often had Solution Tree provide this Professional Learning to our staff and have also provided time for our staff to assimilate their new understandings through peer meetings,observations, and study groups.

Year Six: 2019-2020

This year started out strong at OFA.  Our collaborative teams were meeting regularly and were facilitated by our PLC Leads.  Interventions at our high school were timely and systematic.  Extended learning opportunities were increasing as teachers incorporated them into their regular curriculum and more enrichment courses were offered after school.  Teachers were focusing on power standards more than ever based on the curriculum work they did on their blueprints in the summer.   They were also committed to promoting student independence and continuously improving their common formative assessments and ways of obtaining helpful feedback from students.  We were on a path of continuous improvement.

Then schools closed due to Covid 19.  At the initial closing, it seemed that everyone felt like they were scrambling, but in retrospect, because of the strong tenets of Professional Learning Communities which were in place, we were able to move ahead relatively quickly.  Teachers adjusted their learning to on-line instruction.  Initially, the focus was on connecting socially and emotionally with students.  Then we focused on reviewing information that had already been taught.  Then we moved toward new instruction and teachers met daily to collaborate on the most essential of the power standards and how best to present them in the on-line format.  The goals that teachers had for the year didn’t change, but the format did.  One of the regular comments our high school teachers have made is that they were able to make this transition because of their team.  Our teacher teams became even stronger and more important than ever and they capitalized on one another’s talents and strength.

As in the past, the Owego Apalachin Central School District has been committed to the mission of “challenging students, within a caring environment, to become confident, contributing citizens with a lifetime thirst for learning”.  The PLC at Work process has allowed us to carry this mission forward with a collaborative intensity that we have never before experienced. Our staff is committed more than ever to making sure that all students are challenged and are learning at their full capacity through hands-on, engaging, capacity- building activities.  Our high school staff has been “learning by doing” as we have moved through the PLC journey for the past six years.  This year brought many new challenges, which were much more manageable due to the PLC process.

The day before the school closings, we had a Superintendent's Day event with LeAnn Nickelsen who provided an entire day of Professional Learning around "The Instructional Cha-Chas".  She tailored it to meet the needs of our district and gave great ideas for strengthening instruction and student independence.   Her ideas to “chunk it, chew it, check it, and change it” really made sense to our teachers and many realized that they may have been shortchanging students on one or more of these steps.  Our teachers were excited to implement LeAnn’s ideas to make learning stick.   

In addition, during the summer of 2020, our teachers worked in their PLC teams with the teams of grade levels adjacent to them to continue to refine alignment between grade levels and content areas while updating their blueprints.  We feel that this is very important in providing a seamless, continuous curriculum for students.  They also collaborated about remote learning instruction which we feel will be used for at least part of the coming school year.      

Year Seven: 2020-2021

Our students and their families had choices this year as to whether to come back to in-person instruction or to remain learning remotely. We began slowly with students coming to school in- person two or three days a week.  This increased to five days a week by the second half of the year.  Again, without a strong Professional Learning Community, this could have been chaotic.  Because teachers were committed to meeting regularly, the quality and equity of their teaching remained at the high standard it had been before the disruption of the pandemic.  The value of teamwork in solving problems was never more evident.  Teachers weren't burdened with having to figure out every single thing on their own.  And because the three big ideas that drive the work of a PLC remained intact, teachers still focused on learning, continued to nurture a culture that was collaborative, and used evidence of student learning to make teaching decisions.

Year Eight: 2021-2022

With most students back to full-time learning in the classroom, our faculty feel they weathered the storm well.  As with all students in our country, some needed more emotional support and others needed to catch up on things they missed academically.  Our staff tried very hard to not let any student slip through the cracks.  In addition to regular team meetings with similar content area teachers, our high school added regular meetings with teachers from an entire grade level.  This ensured additional support for our staff as well as for our students. 

Facilitating a culture of continuous improvement: (2019-2022)

We continue to make collaboration a priority by providing time in every teacher's schedule to meet with other teachers at their grade level and/or subject area.  This collaboration time was our first priority even when we revamped time schedules completely by having our elementary students come to school earlier and our secondary students come later following research- based information on student performance and start times at school.

Our GOAL time continues to thrive with students getting additional support to increase undertanding, extra practice to increase flexibility and fluency, or extended learning time to stretch our students who already know what is being taught.  The four questions that drive PLC's are at the center of what we do with students at GOAL time - "What do we want our studentsto know and be able to do?  How will we know if each student has learned it?  How will we respond when some students do not learn it?  How will we extend the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?"  

One area we are working to improve upon is in helping students to learn to set their own appropriate goals and then monitor those goals.  By the time our students are in high school, we are trying to get them ready for their world beyond high school and gaining independence through setting goals and monitoring progress is one way to do this.  For the most part, our high school students realize that their learning belongs to them and through access to their student accounts, they can monitor this and take responsibility for their learning.

In January of 2023, two of our 3rd grade teachers who attended the RTI at Work Live Institute, presented to our entire faculty what they learned.  See "Essential Standards" listed under Additional Documentation.

The systems for continuous improvement have been in place now at OFA for 8 years.  They are solid.  We realize, however,  we are never "there".  There are always things to improve upon and we hope to continue improving.

____________________________________________________________

Our early years - the beginnings of Professional Learning Communities: 

Year One:  2014-2015

Our high school (Owego Free Academy - OFA) was the first school in our district to begin assembling the building blocks of a PLC.  We began collecting data on student achievement on a regular basis and began using it to inform instruction and intervention. Teachers began working together in teams to determine what students needed to know and do, how we could determine if each student has learned it, how we would respond if students didn’t learn it, and how we could extend learning for those who were already proficient.  

Year Two: 2015-2016

This year OFA introduced LINK, a voluntary, team based, after-school AIS program in the four core content subjects and Special Education.  It was offered four days a week for an hour with transportation provided. In addition, a 9th grade Academy was started which offered intensive intervention in the four content areas with a team of teachers helping students one period each day to accelerate learning.

Year Three: 2016-2017  

 Our main goal this year was to get teachers collaborating in the entire district, not just the high school.  Our new Superintendent, Corey Green, had experienced Professional Learning Communities at his previous district, and was eager to establish them in ours.  We recognized a teacher from each team who was determined to help create a system and process to ensure learning for all, and made them data facilitators. We trained administrators and these teacher leaders in the process we hoped to follow, and determined what we would be tight or loose about as a district.  We introduced the idea of Professional Learning Communities to teachers and let them learn about culture and collaboration from some of the experts- Anthony Muhammed and Laurie Robinson-Sammons, Solution Tree consultants. Teacher teams created norms to follow at their PLC meetings and also began the process of creating SMART goals and common quarterly assessments.   Blueprints were developed which gave teachers a format for documenting their curriculum.

Year Four: 2017-2018

Our main goal this year was to be sure we had strong structures in place that would support our work in Professional Learning Communities.  We continued to learn with Laurie Robinson Sammons who tailored her various presentations for administrators and teachers. We felt that it was important that all of our administrators be strong instructional leaders so administrators attended trainings offered through our local BOCES that brought administrators from our region’s districts together for professional learning about PLC’s.  We created time for teachers to meet with their teams and with other teams on a daily basis. We were tight about them meeting three out of 6 days in their cycle. Schedules became more important than ever and teachers began to see true value in their collaborative time with their teams as well as time with students to intervene or extend learning. In addition to common quarterly assessments, teachers were now creating common formative assessments (check-ins) that they gave to students at least every two weeks.  Blueprints were revised as needed.

Year Five: 2018-2019

This year was all about responding appropriately to students so that all students were continuously learning.  We created a common Intervention/Extended Learning time in all buildings called GOAL time - Grade- level Opportunities to Accelerate Learning.  Each grade or subject area had a 30 minute daily block of time when teachers could intervene with students who were having trouble learning, extend the learning of those students who already demonstrated proficiency and give additional practice time to those students who just needed a little confidence boost.  All teachers met during their 30 minute PLC meeting times to discuss what these learning opportunities would look like, what students might be shared so that experts were addressing particular student needs, and how student progress would be assessed. These PLC meetings were facilitated by our PLC Leads (formerly called data facilitators) who received training in working with PLC teams from Jason Andrews of Solution Tree.

 

Facilitating a Culture of Continuous Improvement

There are many ways we are facilitating a culture of continuous improvement.  Collaboration is key. Our teachers and staff are working together in teams like they have never done before. We have provided them with time to collaborate - during planning time, lunch, and also during PLC time.  Some teams take advantage of all of these times to work together because there is a cultural shift taking place. Teachers see the value of interdependence and learning collectively by working together.  

Our high school and middle school have common GOAL times. This allows teachers the potential opportunity to share students within and between grade levels thus assuring that all students will be getting what they need.  This includes purposefully extending learning for those students who would benefit. Student learning is at the heart of the schools and the four questions of a PLC are driving our teaching.  

Advanced class enrollment has doubled in recent years with continued good performance.  This has allowed more students higher- level opportunities. Honors classes and AP classes have also increased.  

Our district has also implemented College and Career Pathways, a STEAM Academy, and Internships.  These are all extensions of the idea that “all means all”. High school students are given many choices and opportunities to demonstrate evidence of their learning.  They know that if something is difficult for them to learn, they will have access to expert teachers and a STEAM and Co-op team who want to help them succeed.  

Through professional learning sessions, teachers worked together as a district Professional Learning Community (K-12) to come up with the top 10 essential learning skills that they felt students would need when they graduated to ensure their success in college, careers and life.  In addition, all grade levels and subject areas dug deeper into their individual standards to revise their power standards and blueprints. We continued to expand our learning with Solution Tree’s Tim Brown who spoke about RTI and modeled collaboration. Faculty all read the book Simplifying Response to Intervention and discussed it and have it as a resource.  In addition, staff were encouraged to follow the practices of the growth mindset and to model and praise effort.  Teachers also wanted more opportunities to watch and learn from one another so we implemented Praise Walks (Educational Leadership, Nov. 2018 Vol. 76 Number 3 - Barb Philips).  Through Praise Walks, we opened the doors to further collaboration between buildings and grade levels. Teachers could see good things going on in other classrooms and replicate it in theirs.   

Systems are also in place to help create a culture of continuous improvement.  Teachers have regular PLC meetings where they analyze data, set student learning and achievement goals, identify essential learning skills, develop common formative assessments and common benchmark assessments, share teaching strategies, and research and implement best practices.  These meetings have agreed- upon norms to foster good use of time. Teachers have Google Drives where they store their assessment data so it is usable to them and to others. Our teachers also use blueprints they have developed to document their curriculum. In a district PLC handbook there are also Instructional Guidelines which exemplify good classroom instruction in the areas of setting instructional outcomes, creating a culture for learning, communicating and questioning, and checking for understanding.  With many of our teachers developing a growth mindset themselves, there is the understanding that we are in a cycle of continuous improvement and that our efforts will be instrumental in assuring student success.                                  

 










 

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

*(Updates 2022)

*When we went to virtual learning in March 2020, we knew we had to monitor student progress in different, yet effective ways.  Teachers worked as teams to help one another learn a variety of methods and techniques which would allow teachers and students to receive continuous feedback that would make monitoring simple and useful.  Some used technological methods like quizlet or various surveys.  Some used virtual whiteboards where teachers could see student responses.  Some met with students in breakout rooms so that they could meet the needs of individuals or small groups of students.  All PLC teams worked together to monitor attendance and progress of their students.  

Teachers still met virtually for collaborative team meetings to analyze student data and to plan instruction together.  They were so used to working together in teams, that it made the switch to remote learning much smoother.  Teachers were also able to work virtually this past summer to once again revise curricular blueprints so that they were sure they were teaching to the most essential standards, that vocabulary was aligned vertically, and that they would be ready for whatever the school year might bring - in-person, hybrid, or virtual.

Now that we are back to in-school instruction, teachers continue to use a variety of check-ins to monitor student progress throughout a lesson.  This is something administrators look for in our teacher observation system, but it is also a must because our teachers understand that they need to do this to facilitate learning. 

Check-ins, formative assessments and summative assessments are used on a regular basis so that teachers know what their students have grasped or still need to learn.  Teachers look at the results of these assessments when they collaborate at team time and use this data to inform their instruction. The most immediately useful of these are the check-ins which are done daily and often many times throughout a lesson.   

 

(Prior to 2019)

Our school has created and implemented a guaranteed and viable curriculum focused on student learning. Our teachers have worked with their teammates to determine essential learning skills, power standards in their subject area, pacing, appropriate benchmark assessments, common formative assessments (check-ins), interventions and extended learning opportunities.  Teachers have also collaborated with other grade levels and subject areas to ensure sequencing and vertical alignment of skills, vocabulary, and content.  

Blueprints are created collaboratively so that if a teacher should need to be changed for whatever reason, there is a well-developed, living document  that a substitute or another teacher could use as a guide to the curriculum. Also, if more than one teacher is teaching a course, they will both be using their team-created blueprint that guarantees unit by unit the skills, knowledge, and behaviors every student must achieve to be successful in the course. 

Curriculum work is done on an on-going basis at regularly scheduled PLC meetings throughout the year as well as in the summer when teams are given time to collaborate and revise curriculum, assessments, check-ins, etc.  It is a never- ending process of continual improvement.  

Student learning is monitored in a variety of ways.  Teachers use formative assessments on a regular basis as part of their daily teaching to both inform their teaching and to let students know how they are progressing. Teachers also collaboratively plan for common formative assessments (check-ins) at least every two weeks to help determine which students are learning what is being taught and which students might need additional help or enrichment. These check-ins are planned for and documented on their blueprints.  In addition, most teachers check in with students on a daily basis as well, noting students who need support as well as those who need for their learning to be extended. These check-ins might be in the form of bellringers, exit tickets, quick-writes, answering questions via technology, verbal answers, demonstration, etc. There is no limit to the creativity our teachers have shown in determining how they know if students have learned what they have taught.  

In addition, students are given quarterly benchmark assessments to assess the units that have been taught each quarter.  These assessments are created collaboratively with each team and are revised as needed. Assessments are based on state standards, power standards that the team has determined, and essential learning skills that our entire district has determined.  Depending on the subject, the quarterly assessment can have a variety of formats, but as a district, we are trying to get away from just multiple choice which focuses on memorization rather than real thinking and problem solving. When considering the 4 big questions of a PLC, teachers will base them on the power standards and will consider the depth of knowledge and complexity of each standard so that students are always learning at the highest level possible.  

 

 

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

*When we went to remote instruction, we continued our GOAL time (Grade- Level Opportunities to Accelerate Learning) so that students could receive Intervention or Extended Learning virtually.  This was done usually in small groups with students receiving targeted instruction and intervention based on check-in feedback and common formative assessments. 

Teachers did whatever necessary to connect with students.  Special Education and AIS teachers worked with classroom teachers to provide students with additional time and support for learning beyond what the classroom teacher was already doing.  All teachers used virtual breakout rooms to meet with students individually and in small groups.  Instruction was both synchronous and asynchronous which benefited students in different ways.  Teachers made themselves available at almost all hours of the day for virtual meetings and office hours. 

We began the 2020 school year with a hybrid model of instruction with high school students in school 2 days a week and remote 3 days.  Our teachers provided Intervention and Extended Learning in both modalities.  Students had a variety of ways to receive prompt, targeted, data-driven Intervention or Extended Learning.  

Now that instruction is primarily in-school for most students, our strong system of GOAL time continues to provide students the Interventions, practice or Extended Learning to support them and give them what they need as learners.  


  (Prior to 2019)

Our high school has implemented and continues to perfect several means of intervening with students as well as a variety of ways to extend their learning.  We have GOAL time (Grade Level Opportunities to Accelerate Learning), regular in-school Academies where teachers intervene with students, and a LINK after-school program as well- although our LINK program is phasing out due to the effectiveness of the other interventions.  Achievement Academy, which is on-line, and standard AIS for those not passing state mandated assessments are also options.  

During GOAL time, the entire high school building has a common time every day when teachers can request to meet with students, and at the high school level, when students can also request to meet with teachers.  E-hall passes are used so that students can move from place to place and still be accounted for. It is a time for classroom and AIS teachers to provide intervention as determined by data that has been analyzed at PLC time.  It is also a time for teachers to help students reach their goals. During this time, some students may be working with teachers because they did not learn what was taught. Others may just be getting a little more practice on something that was newly learned.  Still others might be extending their learning through a project, technology, STEAM activities, research, additional reading or writing, a book club, etc. We also offer enrichment courses after school and throughout the summer in a variety of areas including athletics and music as well as academic areas.   

The Academies started with 9th grade in 2014-2015.  This was an innovative intervention designed to create a team- teacher approach to working with at-risk students who would normally be place into a traditional AIS setting.  It was proposed by a school PLC Lead Teacher through collaboration with the 9th Grade Academy action research group. 

This year the Academy strategy will expand to include grades 7-10.  Each grade level will have a common period every day where a team of teachers work with students needing intensive, targeted Academic Intervention Services.  This is in addition to the GOAL time period.

For those students not passing the Regents (NYS mandated state tests at the high school level), an option is standard AIS with an AIS teacher who will help them prepare to take the Regents again.  

Achievement Academy is another alternative for those not passing the Regents or for those who need to recover from failing a course or a marking period. This is facilitated by a full-time teacher where targeted AIS is provided through on-line learning videos.  Students must pass an assessment before moving on to another topic. The coursework can be done at home, but the assessments must be done at the Achievement Academy.  

The LINK program will be phasing out this year due to the success of the interventions listed above. This was a voluntary after-school intervention for the four core subject areas as well as Special Education.  All students are getting what they need through the interventions and extended learning options listed above.   

 

 

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

*For the 2019-2020 school year, collaboration may have been the most important word in a teacher's vocabulary.  Our teachers felt that their teamwork is what got them through the changing landscape of instruction.  They learned quickly to use the strengths of each member of the team to benefit the whole group.  They really didn't have a choice and there was simply no opportunity to be a resister.  They learned the true power of teamwork - the ability to come together, especially in a crisis situation. 

The most basic question they needed to address when we switched abruptly to remote learning was, "Which area of student need should we address first?"  It wasn't academics.  Teachers needed to make sure students and families had the most basic needs during the initial shutdown.  They worked with food services and meals were made available for students to pick up or have delivered.  Once they knew they had nutrition, the social and emotional aspects of their classroom community came into play.  Staff members went above and beyond to connect with students.  Sometimes it was virtually or sometimes they would drop off art supplies, ipads, or books at student homes. Some teachers made birthday bags for students and dropped them off or had drive up graduations and award celebrations.  The main thing was to let students know that despite being apart, they were still part of a classroom community.

Because our high school had been practicing all of the pieces of a PLC for the past 6 years, the academic piece fell into place.  The difficult part was not knowing from the start how long students would be out of school.  Once we went from only reviewing to learning new information, our teachers went back quickly to the 4 basic questions of a PLC - What do we want our students to know?, What if they've already learned it?, How will we respond if some students do not learn it?, and How will we extend the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?  They could now focus on learning again, using their collaboration to analyze results of their virtual teaching and student achievement.

Summer work this past year involved teachers working in grade-level and content area teams to update curricular blueprints, collaborate on vertical alignment of curricula, and to be sure we are ready for any scenario of teaching - in-person, hybrid, or remote.  Attached in the area for "Additional Documentation" are several samples of work that teacher teams created.  

Our teachers continue to work together now that everyone is "in-person" and collaboration is as ntural as breathing for them.  Their time together focuses on how they can improve the learning of each student.  They use the formative and summative assessment data they collect to inform their teaching - both with first-time, direct instruction and with GOAL time instruction.

 

 
(Prior to 2019) 

Our teachers in our high school have been working together on teams for the past six years.  They collaborate regularly at daily PLC meetings. They discuss curriculum and instruction, data which has been collected and analyzed, criteria for success, goal setting, assessment - both formative and summative, differentiation, interventions, extended learning, celebrating, co-teaching, best practices, etc.  District-wide instructional guidelines are in place that guide teachers in the areas of setting instructional outcomes, creating a culture for learning, communication and questioning, and checking for understanding.  

All teams have team norms which they have established together.  Most team norms include procedures to be followed, expectations of team members, and what to do if team norms are not followed.  Some underlying district expectations are that teams will work collaboratively, data will be analyzed and used, and that ALL students will be considered in answering the four questions of a PLC.  

Teams collect student achievement data on a Google form and save it in a file that they can all access as well as administrators.  This means that it is easy to view students’ information and check on their progress. Teams can indicate on the form if students are above, at, or below expectations.  They can then use this form to help determine interventions and group students appropriately. Whether a student needs targeted intervention, additional practice, or extended learning, they will receive it based on the data collected from check-ins and from benchmark assessments.    

Teacher teams not only work with their own grade-specific or subject-specific team, they also collaborate with AIS teachers, Special Education teachers, and teachers at adjacent grade levels.  There are PLC meetings specifically designated for such collaborations. At the meetings with adjacent grade levels, teachers can check on vertical alignment of curriculum, vocabulary, skills, and expectations.  Our Special Education teachers often co-teach with classroom teachers so they are able to have a specific time to meet and discuss lessons, differentiation, and student progress without having to do it on the fly.  

In addition to collaboration within and between teacher teams, our high school also sees the value in collaboration with the outside community and professional groups.  Here is a list of their collaborative efforts:

  • Solution Tree presentations

  • Internships with Lockheed Martin

  • Ti-Ahwaga Theater

  • Binghamton Community Orchestra

  • Binghamton University Wind Ensemble

  • Special Olympics

  • Unified Sports

  • Binghamton University - guest speakers and presenters

  • High school mentors for our elementary students

  • BOCES - PLC’s for administrators

  • Combined Superintendent’s Days with Windsor Central School District (a model PLC School)

  • Visions Federal Credit Union - office in HS run by students

  • Cornell Cooperative Extension

  • Tioga Rural Ministries

  • Art exhibits in the community

  • Donated 100 pieces of art ot Tioga Arts Council for fundraiser

  • Distance Learning with Spencer Van Etten School District

At Owego Apalachin we understand that collaboration is key in a PLC.

 

 

Achievement Data Files

Additional Achievement Data

(Updates 2023)

Our graduation rates continue to remain some of the highest in the region.  While some school districts saw big swings in their rates due to the pandemic, we did not.  

Also, in general, our NYS Regents data shows that our high school scored above the state level in most of our regents exams from 2019-2022.  No Regents exams were given in 2020.  We have included quarterly data above for 2020-2022.

We continue to perform well within our BOCES region  as well.  We are consistently in the top quarter of the schools in our region. 

Areas of growth for Owego Free, Academy:

  • In the 9th grade Algebra I Regents, OFA students outscored the state average in 2019, 2021 and 2022
  • In the 10th grade Living Environment Regents, OFA students significantly outscored the state in 2019, 2021, and 2022
  • in the 10th grade Global History regents, OFA students outscored the state in 2019 and 2022 (not given in 2021)
  • in the 11th grade ELA regents, OFA students outscored the state in 2019, 2021, and 2022
  • Overall Regents proficiency data shows we outperformed BOCES, our region, and the state in 2019 and 2021
  • Overall Regents proficiency data for 2022 shows we outperformed the state and were equal in performance to our BOCES and our region

 

 

____________________________________________________________

(2016-2019)

*We were especially proud of our graduation rate of 99% for the 2019-2020 school year.  It increased even more than the previous year and was the highest it had ever been!  Please note the graduation rate and retention rate data above that has been added.  Students truly want to come to school and take part in all that our high school has to offer.  In addition, this year we had 8 seniors receive their Associates Degrees by the time they graduated high school.

We continue to show improvement in our data and our district is a leader in our BOCES region and in our county in terms of data and achievement.  In our county, we are also at the forefront in student achievement, technology, STEAM, and enrichment options.  This year as a Model PLC high school, we upheld the honor with a ceremony for students and staff. Throughout the year and as we moved into the format of remote learning, our staff displayed a growth mindset while keeping the most important concepts of a PLC as the focus for everything they did.  We could not have been more proud of them.  It is one thing to become a model PLC school in the best of times, but our high school was able to continue to be a model PLC school in the most difficult and traumatic of times this spring when everyone was forced into remote instruction with no warning. As administrators, we feel they are very deserving of a continuation of the Model PLC School designation.  

List of Enrichment Class offerings 2019-2020 at OFA:

Advanced Technologies

Making the Band

OFA Chamber Music

Math Club

Boys Volleyball

Future Farmers of America Club

Athletics

Community Swim Program

 (Prior to 2019)

Our state assessment data continues to improve overall.   The Owego Apalachin (OA) district is competitive with schools in our region and in the state, usually scoring higher than the state average.  In Tioga County, we consistently outscore our neighboring districts.  NYS has continued to raise the bar on its assessments and Owego Apalachin has continued to perform well.  There are so many supports in place for students that there is really no reason anyone should fail.

List of all Enrichment Classes offered in the district after school and summers 2018-2019:

 

OES Hummingbird Robotics

 

OES Cool Tools 

 

OES Cool Tools Jr.

 

OES Rock Band

 

OES SEEDs

 

OES KidArtLit

 

OES Ocean Adventure

 

OES Kid News

 

OES Animated Video

 

OES Astronomy

 

OES Colorguard

 

OES Design Code

 

OES 5th Grade Chimers

 

OES 4th Grade Chimers

 

OES Design Code 2

 

OES Jazz Band

 

OES KidArtLit

 

OES Jazz Band

 

OES Science Fun!

 

OFA MTB Camp

 

OFA Mindfulness & Meditation

 

OFA Chamber Singers Mini Camp

 

OFA Freshmen Academy Mentor Prog.

 

OFA Historical Mapping of Owego

 

OFA Chamber Singers Fall

 

OFA Chamber Singers Spring

 

OFA MTB Fall

 

OFA MTB Spring

 

OFA Screen Printing

 

OFA YesLeads

 

OFA Pep Band to SU

 

OFA Fly Fishing/Owego Creek

 

OAMS Math 7A

 

OAMS Rock Band

 

OAMS Algebra I CC - Brainard

 

OAMS Algebra I CC - Tobey

 

OAMS Peer Leadership Program

 

OAMS Book Club

 

OAMS Creative Writing Workshop

 

OAMS 6th Gr. Select Chorus

 

OAMS African Drumming

 

OAMS Algebra Brainard

 

OAMS Algebra Tobey

 

OAMS Chorus Honors Hour - Fall

 

OAMS Chorus Honors Hour -Spring

 

OAMS Inst. Honors Hour - Fall

 

OAMS Coding/Robotics

 

OAMS Creative Writing   

 

OAMS LINK - 1Q

 

OAMS LINK - 2Q

 

OAMS LINK - 3Q

 

OAMS LINK - 4Q

 

OAMS Fall Genius Hour

 

OAMS Math 8

 

OAMS The Possibilities Rock Band

 

OAMS Peer Leadership  

 

OAMS Robotics Fall

 

OAMS/Dist Aquaponics

 

OAMS Genius Winter Hour

 

OAMS Robotics Spring

 

OAMS/OFA Music Production Club

 

OAMS/Dist Aquaponics

 

OAMS Math Enrichment

 

OAMS Citizen Science Club

 

OAMS STEAM Success with Vex IQ Robots

 

OAMS Personal Website/Blog Dev.

 

DIST - Summer Lessons/Camp(Williams)

 

DIST - Summer Lessons/Camp(Burrell)

 

DIST - Elementary Summer Band

 

DIST - Chamber Music Fall

 

DIST - Chamber Music Spring

 

DIST - Tech Suite

 

DIST - Tech Suite

 

Aquaponics

 

DIST - Creating Electronic Music

 

AES Mad Scientists

 

AES Ready, Set, Drone Camp

 

AES Golf Club

 

AES Garden Club

 

AES 5th Grade Rock Band

 

AES Board Game Geeks

 

AES Board Game Geeks 2

 

AES Elementary Ceramics

 

AES Climbing Wall

 

AES Green Team

 

AES Keyboarding Plus

 

AES Ceramics

 

AES Think Team

 

AES Talent Show

 

AES Move It!

 

AES Green Thumb Group

 

AES Keyboard Camp

PE

History of Sports/Games (Elem)

PE

Games and More Camp (Elem)

PE

Outdoor Adventure Camp (Elem)

PE

Softball Skills and Performance

PE

Summer Sports Camp (Elem)

PE

Boys Youth Lacrosse Camp

PE

Owego Fit

PE

Youth Football Camp

PE

Youth Field Hockey

PE

Girls Basketball Skills Academy

PE

Swim Program

PE

Youth Volleyball

PE

Tennis Camp

PE

Wrestling Philosophy/Technique

PE

Wrestling Camp

PE

Summer Strength/Conditioning

PE

Pee Wee Basketball

PE

Unified Sports

PE

Swim Program

PE

Year Round Racquet Sports

PE

Spring Strength

PE

Winter Strength

  • Utica National Insurance Group- 2021 School Safety Excellence Award
  • 9th Annual AP District Honor Roll
  • Certificate of Congressional Recognition Tioga County Chamber of Commerce 2020- Community Impact Award
  • Student Kelsey Jenks- Section 4 Sports Hall of Fame
  • Teacher Sarah Kneller-WICZ Teacher of the Week
  • Teacher Heather Chrysler- Tioga County Coach of the Year
  • Teacher Therese Hans- NYS Master Teacher designation
  • Teacher Barb Melby- NYS Master Teacher Designation
  • Student Grayden Stanton in FFA program- 1 of 15 students nationwide to receive a $1,000 grant from the National Supervised Agricultural Experience
  • 2022- 4th year receiving award for Best Communities for Music Education from the National Association of Music Merchants for outstanding commitment to music education
  • GST Boces Vex Robotics Competition: May 2022-  Many Individual 1st Places and Overall Team Champion
  • GST Boces  ROV Competition (Underwater Vessels) May 2022-   1st Place Team
  • SUNY Broome Robotics Competition April 2022- Many Individual 1st Places and Overall Team Champion
  • GST Boces Vex Robotics Virtual Competition: Dec 2021-  Many Individual 1st Places and Overall Team  Champion
  • SUNY Broome Robotics Competition April 2021- Two Individual 1st Places and 3rd Place Overall Team
  • "Best Use of Labels" award for the Kids Can Build STEM contest

OFA Awards prior to 2019:

  • Owego Free Academy received the Solution Tree PLC Model School designation.  We are one of two high school in NYS to receive this award.  
  • A senior at OFA, Jacob Dove, has been selected to play trombone wih the 2020 All National Modern Band Honor Ensemble sponsored by the National Association for Music Education.
  • Owego Apalachin Central School District has been ranked 30th of the of the top 50 school districts with the best teachers in upstate NY from Niche.com.  They use data about student achievement, parent/student surveys, teacher salaries, absenteeism, tenure, and other factors.  See methodology used in "Resources"
  • NYS Rewards School 16-17 based on Achievement

  • Literary Club received a National Board recognition from NCTE for “The Minds’ I” Magazine 

  • Gold medal Scholastic Art award

  • Agriculture grant received

  • WBNG Teacher of the Month - recognized as outstanding Yorkers advisor - won state championship- Holly Greenman

  • NYS Master Teacher recipient- Barb Melby

  • National Board Certification - Tonya Alexandra

  • All State Instrumental Music Students  - 6 Owego Apalachin students performed with NY All State ensembles - the most in OA history

  • Chamber Singers were selected to perform at the Capitol for Music in our Schools month

  • OFA junior, Ashleigh Allen, performed with the National Association for Music Education All Eastern 

  • Created a music technology component to the music department this year.  Students have access to creating music with some software and state of the art hardware that is used by professionals in the music industry

  • OFA named as NYSPHSAA (NYS Public High School Athletic Association) School of Excellence.  75% of Varsity Team students had GPA of 90 or better

  • Section Championships in Volleyball, Boys Cross Country, Boys Basketball, Boys Lacrosse, Unified Basketball

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