Our Mission and Vision
OUR VISION
Children learn best when they are in a nurturing, beautifully diverse environment where they feel loved, safe, encouraged, heard, and understood. Children thrive in endless possibilities to learn and broaden their knowledge while celebrating differences in order to promote an inclusive environment. This empowers students to practice a growth mindset, engage positively with their community , and foster a love of learning.
OUR MISSION
The PS 354Q school community seeks to provide academic and social emotional support to our students, families, and community both virtually and in person. Students are challenged to think critically, independently and collaborate with each other in a supported and risk-free environment. We use data to support and design individualized learning experiences to meet the evolving needs of students and families. Students engage in hands-on, inquiry-based tasks; cross-curricular, STEM-based activities; and exploratory lessons to support conceptual understanding and student agency and advocacy. Students explore diverse cultures through a variety of events and activities to broaden their view of the world. Student voices are amplified to empower decision-making through critical thinking and problem solving to become civically responsive change agents, thereby contributing to the society of their time.
Core Values
Secure within Self: We empower our students to be confident in their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Teamwork: We encourage our students to work collaboratively to discuss various approaches to a task.
Resilience: We encourage and celebrate our students in reaching their goals and overcome obstacles/barriers to achieve them.
Inquiry: We have our students engage in peer questioning and discussions to reach new understandings.
Dedication: We teach our students to continuously challenge themselves and stay the course in the face of adversity.
Empathy: We care about others and strive to understand and share their feelings.
Self-Control: We teach our students how to express their feelings, beliefs, and ideas in a positive manner.
We are making S.T.R.I.D.E.S. on the Southside
ProBL is a student-centered pedagogical practice where students within cooperative/collaborative groups engage in complex, real-world, and inquiry-based tasks that foster students to extend their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This offers students the opportunity to showcase their thinking through innovative and creative representations that identify who they are as learners. Students are then able to be reflective of the learning process, thereby taking ownership of their learning.
OUR INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS
We will foster student agency and continue to strengthen our core instruction by
- providing rich STEM experiences,
- analyzing data to inform instruction and groupings,
- Embedding foundational literacy and mathematical skills in instruction, and
- reimaging and tiering explicit instruction
Absolute #1: Student Designed Assessment and Progress Monitoring
Absolute #2: Crafting HOT Questions
Absolute #3: Student Driven Discussion
Absolute #4: Actively Engage with Academic Vocabulary and Writing
