Pelham board holds work session on student outcomes; administration cites strong assessment and participation rates

PELHAM, N.Y. — The Pelham Union Free School District Board of Education spent its Nov. 19 work session reviewing student-performance data and district strategies aimed at boosting personal growth and achievement across grades K–12.

Administrators framed the session as part of year two of the district’s strategic plan. "We are in year 2 of our new strategic plan," Dr. Commerford said, introducing the student performance report and a station-based work session designed to let board members examine data in small groups.

Why it matters: The presentation packaged assessment results, program participation and extracurricular achievements as evidence that the district’s curriculum and supports are producing consistent outcomes. Administrators emphasized that data informs instruction and improvement while stressing that "data is very important, but it's not destiny," a point Dr. Commerford repeated.

Key findings presented by district leadership included: more than 80% average proficiency on 10 of 12 New York State ELA and math assessments in grades K–8; strong early results on the newly implemented fifth-grade science assessment; and a headline result that, according to the presentation, 100% of Pelham Middle School students taking the Algebra I Regents achieved proficiency in each of the past two school years. Dr. Commerford said Pelham Memorial High School students took a large number of AP exams in 2024–25, with about 89% scoring 3 or higher, and that dual-enrollment participation rose substantially from 2019 to 2024–25.

Administrators also pointed to broad extracurricular engagement: the district fields 80 interscholastic teams across 31 sports and reported high unique-participant counts at middle and high school levels; arts programs earned regional recognition, and the 2024 Pelican Yearbook won a national Scholastic award.

How the board worked: Rather than a standard presentation, administrators set up four rotating stations. Board members had roughly 15 minutes per station to review three data pieces presented as a celebration, discuss drivers of success and identify priority growth areas. Short classroom clips were used to illustrate "authentic learning," including a two-minute math talk led by Ms. Finkelstein, described in the presentation as the district’s K–5 math staff developer.

Board response and next steps: Board members praised the session as "impressive" and "valuable," and several said they left with follow-up questions. The administration said the full student-performance report will be posted on the district strategic-plan dashboard and distributed in the board wrap-up report; members were invited to follow up with administration for data clarifications.

What was not decided: The work session was informational; no district policy changes were adopted during the session.

Source: Presentation by district administrators at the Nov. 19 board meeting; comments by Dr. Commerford and board members.