Our Mission

Our Educational Philosophy, Vision, Mission, Values & Goals

Educational Philosophy:

The Tuckahoe School District Board of Trustees is dedicated to educating students to develop desired moral, ethical, and cultural values, love of learning, and an understanding and appreciation of the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, which will enable them to function effectively as independent individuals in a democratic society.

The educational programs will provide each child with the fundamental academic skills and basic knowledge required for his/her maximum educational development, the opportunity for each child to develop his/her interests and abilities to the fullest extent according to his/her individual potential, special services to promote the physical, mental and emotional development of each child, and also develop a desire to learn good work habits, integrity, self-discipline, good sportsmanship, self-confidence, and a sense of purpose.

The Board encourages parents and teachers to offer their expertise in developing a school environment that is academically challenging, psychologically satisfying and socially fulfilling for students at all levels. The objectives of an educational program are best realized when mutual understanding, cooperation, and effective communications exist among the home, community, and school.

Our Vision:

All learners believe in their power to embrace learning, to excel, and to own their future.

Our Mission:

The Tuckahoe Common School District in partnership with parents and the community will create a safe, nurturing and challenging environment. Where the spirit is one of open inquiry and pursuit of knowledge and understanding. The core purpose of Tuckahoe Common School District is to establish a community of learners and learning. One student at a time to become productive members of society.

Our Core Values:

Excellence

We believe in meaningful learning that stretches people to the frontiers and boundaries of their abilities.

Young People

We believe young people deserve the best we have to offer. Each individual child is capable and has the right to safety, mutual respect, and learning.

Community

We believe in our collective responsibility to work together in a cooperative effort to achieve common goals by building communities of practice, establishing a high quality learning community, and listening to the community.

Respect

We believe in treating all individuals with honor and dignity.

Our Strategic Goals:

Goal 1: Prepare all students to succeed as members of a global community and in a global economy.

The rapid rise of technology in the late 20th century broke down geographical barriers, creating a global community and economy. In today’s information age, students can expect to collaborate, as well as compete, with people around the world for jobs and business. Lifelong learning represents the skills and attitudes needed to succeed in the multi-cultural, fast-changing global community. Developing graduates capable of acquiring new knowledge at all stages of life and applying it is a necessity.

Goal 2: Strive to Eliminate the Achievement Gap.

Every child possesses potential but children don’t arrive at the public school door with the same level of readiness or support. Gaps in achievement among different groups of students often mirror inequalities in aspects of home circumstances, early life, and school. We must eliminate what factors we can in the school environment to level the playing field so all students have the same chance to pursue their dreams. We are committed to the development of every student’s individual interests, potential, and character. Building relationships, setting high expectations for every student, and providing equal access to high quality learning opportunities will lead to elimination of the achievement gap faced by some of our students.

Goal 3: Recruit, retain and develop a diverse cadre of the highest quality teaching personnel, staff, and administrators.

To give students the very best learning experience we can offer our employees must be the best they can be, whether the employee is the teacher in the classroom or the school bus driver. Attracting and retaining high quality personnel and a commitment to building the quality of our own workforce is essential. Competitive compensation packages, comprehensive staff development opportunities for all employees, and effective strategies for increasing the diversity of the workforce play important roles in bringing and keeping the best people in our classrooms and schools to support students.

Goal 4: Achieve recognition as an exemplary New York educational system.

To be exemplar means ranking among the foremost in the world through demonstration of best practices in an industry or field. Being among the State’s best requires constantly asking what can be done to improve our learning organization and then doing it. Through scrutiny of our performance results and the use of data to make decisions, we will make changes to improve our value to our students and stakeholders. A continuous quality improvement model will be utilized to help us identify exemplar best practices and put them into action here.

Goal 5: Establish efficient systems for development, allocation, and alignment of resources to support the District’s vision, mission, and goals.

Achieving our goals requires us to make an investment in our collective future by strategically funding teaching and learning innovations, and initiatives that help employees conduct the daily business of the school District. Aligning our resources to our goals will increase our effectiveness. We will continue to take a hard look at our processes and focus our decisions and resources on our mission. This will drive the actions we take to move our vision for students into reality.