Students and parents,
As spring begins to come into our minds and the joys of summer ahead, we are tasked with the NYS ELA and Math assessments each April.
This is a required mandate in the educational process as we take time to find out what we know and what we do not know.
We try to use these results to improve our school each year and help to teach each of you the things that you will need to learn to be successful in life.
However, we are often concerned that these days of testing do not assess some of the most beautiful aspects that each of you bring to our school.
Each of you bring a personality, kindness and love for learning that makes Town of Webb UFSD a terrific place to learn.
These tests do not assess how much each of you practices skiing, horseback riding or kickball.
The people who create these tests are unaware of the time that you share with your neighbor when he/she needs something.
They do not assess how well each of you have done collecting pennies for the humane society, food for the hungry and less fortunate members of our community or even the great cards that you write to members of this community who help us learn each year.
Some of you excel in areas that this test could never grasp or begin to measure like helping to watch a younger brother or sister after school.
The people who grade these tests will never know that you care about each classmate you have and look out for them every day from getting off the bus with all their supplies, to getting through the lunch line with all of their food.
These tests do not take into consideration the joy that you have for learning, and the happiness that you bring to every person you see with your smile each morning.
They have never heard the story you told your friend, the places that you have traveled or the books you have read.
These tests do not measure how kind, thoughtful, or compassionate you are to your classmates and neighbors both in Old Forge and around the world. These tests will never show how much you enjoy spending time with your family and friends.
The scores that you receive on these tests will tell us something but they will not tell us everything.
There are so many ways to show the world what a terrific person you are. These tests are only able to measure you in a couple areas in just a few days.
I am writing this to let each of you know that you are a talented, beautiful and gifted child and we are proud to call you a Town of Webb UFSD student no matter how you are scored on these tests.
Sincerely,
Mr. Swick
K–12 Building Principal
