Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams Knight spoke predominantly to the successes of last school year in her 2024 "State of the Schools" address on Wednesday at SUNY Buffalo State.
Specifically, Dr. Williams Knight spoke to the successes of reaching the targeted learning goals for economically-disadvantaged third graders, an identified group that was targeted due to the amount of projected learning lost, as they missed out on essential in-class learning time as preschoolers during the height of the pandemic. The group of third graders exceeded their proficiency tests in both math and reading.
"It's a game changer," said the superintendent.
The superintendent mentioned other accomplishments that align with "Five by 2025" plans, her broad but focused plans that pertain to student equity, excellence and accessibility to quality education as well as addressing security and safety concerns, in addition to providing an opening ear to the thoughts and concerns of parents and community stakeholders.
This includes the expansion of the district's Little Scholars Program, a program for three-year-olds to be taught by certified teachers in the Buffalo Public School buildings, this program is a subset of the work of Say Yes! Buffalo.
"It's helping to close opportunity gaps. Remember that five by 2025, that was one of our first tenants that the community said they wanted for us to close opportunity gaps. It provides our beautiful, sweet littles, whose brains are like little sponges, with equitable opportunities to improve and develop their vocabulary, foundational and pro-social skills."
The superintendent also spoke to the district's STEM programs and the recent implementation of finance management courses.
Williams Knight said the district is adding two locations to the program, one being Frank Sedita School and the other being Harvey Austin. 100% of 3Ys moving up have enrolled in BPS, she said.
And although the Board of Education will not task the superintendent with specific goals until later next month, she believes they will be aligned with the goals that she had last school year, with measuring how well the students are learning.
The superintendent also mentions new policies being implemented for athletic events, such as having all attendees go through Evolve scanners and having security doing sweeps around the perimeter of events. In addition, there have been discussions around making sure parents accompany their children at games and potentially having visiting teams exit the facility before the members of the home team do.
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