South Orangetown elementary principals outline tech, character and literacy goals as district adopts IMSE phonics

Principals and staff from William O' Schaefer and Cottage Lane presented the district's elementary goals at the South Orangetown Central School District board meeting, detailing classroom practice and assessment plans for technology use, character education and literacy.

The presentations emphasized two strands of the district's work: teaching responsible, ethical use of technology and building the social‑emotional and leadership skills in a districtwide "profile of a graduate." Presenters described practical classroom routines, family engagement efforts and assessment timelines tied to those priorities.

"We don't want to just teach our kids how to be consumers, but how to be contributors," the presenters said as they explained lessons on information and media literacy, privacy, cyberbullying and digital habits for young students. The schools said instruction starts with basic device care and privacy for kindergarteners and progresses to evaluating sources and using Google apps in later grades.

The schools also outlined a multi‑year rollout of a profile‑of‑a‑graduate rubric focused on independence, risk taking, critical thinking and collaboration. The presenters said students will encounter the rubric repeatedly in assemblies and classroom lessons and that the district plans a second‑grade self‑reflection and a fifth‑grade capstone project tied to leadership activities.

Character education work is anchored in the RULER framework and a mood‑meter approach, the presentations said. Schools described class charters, student‑led assemblies and monthly feeling‑word instruction intended to build a broader emotional vocabulary by the end of second grade.

On literacy, both schools said the district is implementing the IMSE phonics curriculum. Staff training began last May and initial baseline assessments have been given to place students appropriately in the program. The district plans ongoing coaching and open "lab" lessons so teachers can observe IMSE instruction in practice.

Cottage Lane presented cohort‑to‑cohort state test data it said showed notable gains: increases in the percentage of students scoring at proficiency levels in ELA and math compared with the prior year for the same cohort, and a reported rise in fifth‑grade science pass rates. Presenters credited targeted teacher training, revised intervention structures and alignment of assessments and report‑card indicators with the new phonics program.

The superintendent and board members praised teachers and instructional coaches for the work and noted the presentations tie together the district's goals across social‑emotional learning, literacy and digital citizenship.

Presenters asked the board to support continued coaching time, family engagement around technology, and continued data collection to monitor implementation and student growth.