Academics

APPR | Core Curriculum | Response to Intervention | School Counseling Program

The mission of Monticello Central School District to provide our students with the opportunities, skills, and knowledge to become contributing and responsible citizens. The academic program is foundational to our mission. We have created a learning environment that prepares students for a diverse and changing global society. We nurture close partnerships with families and community members in pursuit of our uncompromising commitment to excellence.

Our focus is on ensuring that our graduates ultimately gain meaningful, sustainable employment, attend post-secondary education, or serve in the military. We provide preparation for life-readiness through (focus) on developing and maintaining seven life-ready traits:

  1. Goal setting and getting
  2. Awareness
  3. Communication
  4. Tenacity
  5. Collaboration
  6. Responsibility
  7. Integrity

Academic programming decisions, both content and instructional, are made and priorities are set based on the following core values and beliefs which are held by every member of the Monticello Central School District Community.

Core values and beliefs

  • High expectations for all students
  • Relevant and rigorous academic programs
  • Skills and strategies for lifelong learning
  • Reciprocal responsibility and accountability
  • Productivity and success
  • Flexibility and adaptability
  • Personal ethics and integrity
  • Dignity and respect
  • Safety and security

Classroom instruction models the current best practices in teaching by meeting the following criteria:

Rigor – all lessons are challenging for every student in the classroom

Relevance – all activities are connected to real-life issues and applications

Relationship – every student has a personal connection to several staff members in the school

By working on these criteria in all grade levels, we are preparing our students with the skills and strategies they will need to work in our region or anywhere in the world.

Core Curriculum

Elementary School

Faculty and staff in our three elementary schools provide a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment for our students. The growth and development of our students’ literacy and math skills are priorities in Monticello Central Schools. Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and listen to communicate effectively and with authority to a variety of audiences as we make sense of the world. Math skills, or numeracy, include the ability to confidently access, use, interpret, and communicate mathematical information and ideas in school and in our everyday lives. We know that these skills are crucial to enabling our students to achieve success in school, and in life beyond. While there is a focus on ELA and math, students develop problem-solving skills in science and STEAM initiatives, connect to understandings of citizenship and culture in social studies,  become more conscious of wellness and fitness in physical education,  and explore and develop their passions and creativity in our visual and performing arts programs.

Middle School

At the middle school level, students are assigned grade level teams, to allow for teachers to develop personalized approaches across the different subject areas. Additional teaming allows all teachers to focus on social-emotional wellness as they can created a synchronized approach to support students. In the middle school there are more accelerated math and science classes, which expands the number of students accessing upper level coursework to prepare for the rigors of a global society and opens the possibilities for advanced coursework in the high school.

Technology, music, art, home and careers, study skills, and a foreign language program are part of the curriculum.

High School

We offer a comprehensive program of academics, sports and co-curricular activities. Program offerings provide college preparation, as well as career and technical training (through BOCES). The high school program is designed to prepare students for college and the global economy with access to college level courses, advanced computer technology, a comprehensive foreign language program and our Academy of Finance, which is a nationally recognized program that prepares students with skills in computer applications, accounting, banking and credit, economics and international finance.  Monticello High School has comprehensive and well-regarded visual and performing arts programs as well as four-year sequences (or Journeys) in a variety of STEAM fields.  

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is an educational strategy used in schools to: (1) provide effective and high-quality instruction, (2) monitor all students’ progress to make sure they are progressing as expected and (3) provide additional support (intervention) to students who are struggling. RTI can be considered an early intervention tool that is designed to quickly identify students who need extra help, thereby preventing long-term failure. The monitoring of students allows teaching professionals to identify the exact skill areas where pupils need additional instruction that’s targeted to a student’s individual needs. If the student is not responding, other instructional approaches are used and/or the intensity is increased. This progression through more intensive instructional practices is the reason RTI is often described as a “multi-tier” system. 

Learn more about Response to Intervention.

Common Core Learning Standards

Imagine a building stairwell where essential knowledge for kindergarten is found on the first floor and essential knowledge for college is found on the 12th floor. As you work your way to the top, you might stop at each landing to see how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. For public schools in New York, those “landings” between each floor, or grade level, are known as the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS).

CCLS are benchmarks that set clear standards for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics.

Learn more about the Common Core Learning Standards.

Monticello CSD’s APPR Plans

The Monticello Central School District Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plans for teachers and administrators were officially approved by the New York State Education Department in September 2018.  The new APPRs create high expectations for teachers and administrators, yet at the same time provide flexibility to meet the diverse needs of students and staff. Student performance on local and state exams will factor into a teacher’s evaluation. Other factors include growth in student work and assessment of classroom skills through observations by a trained evaluator.

APPR plan