The Central Square Central School District is very special and unique for many reasons.  Our staff is highly qualified and extremely dedicated to empower all students to excel as citizens in a changing world.  This is not only our official mission statement, it is our daily focus and responsibility to all of our students and their parents/guardians that put their children on school busses every morning and expect the very best outcome.  The Central Square Central School District encompasses more than 200 square miles, spanning three counties (Oswego, Onondaga, and Oneida), making it the largest school district by land size in New York State.  Some could view this as an obstacle that disconnects students because they live very far from most of their peers, but we know that is not the case, as we pride ourselves on our great sense of community. We view the entire District as one strong community, as illustrated in our District’s motto, “As one we rise, together we soar.”

Each year we focus on four priorities that directly impact the success of our District, and they are to:

• increase instructional engagement
• implement sound fiscal practices to support student learning
• provide an atmosphere that promotes 21^stcentury citizenship
• foster a partnership between the District and the community 

Setting clear goals is essential to the success of any organization, and we set measurable annual achievement goals such as continually improving our graduation rate, percentage of students reading on grade level, by utilizing STAR and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) data, scores on Grades 3-8 State Assessments and Regents exams, and our students’ attendance, etc.  We also fully understand that there are other important factors beyond State test scores that greatly contribute to the academic success and the social and emotional well-being of our students. Our focus is to develop the whole child by providing each student with the tools, resources and support that directly impacts our students’ ability to become contributing citizens, and most importantly, to be happy and healthy individuals that possess the skillsets needed to succeed no matter what obstacles lay in front of them. We witnessed this throughout the pandemic. We are grateful to have such dedicated staff members, students, parents/guardians and community members that have participated on District-wide committees such as the College and Career Readiness Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Mental Health Task Force Committee, and the Safety Committee, to name a few.  We value the support and effort from parents, guardians and community members for their involvement on our committees.

Besides having school psychologists in each of our schools, in the fall of 2021, we added a school counselor and a school social worker in each of our schools as well. The additional elementary counselors and elementary social workers will allow us to better accommodate the social and emotional needs of our younger students.  This will also improve the transition for elementary students entering our middle school so they are ultimately prepared for high school and the rapidly changing world that awaits upon graduation.  

Preparing students for college and/or career remains a major focus for us as we look to strengthen the multiple pathways we provide our students. 

We are very excited about our new career center located in the commons area at Paul V. Moore High School, next to the cafeteria that showcases the following pathways:

• the military pathway through military academies, enlistment, and college ROTC opportunities,
• the college/university pathway,
• the career/technical (CTE) and trade school pathway,
• the non-traditional pathway based on the emergence of new industries that were not in existence a few years ago.

Our belief is that if we provide only one pathway for our 3,800 students, we would be doing them and their parents/guardians a major disservice, and if we did that, our mission statement “to empower all students to excel as citizens in a changing world” would be merely words and an empty promise.  Years ago, school districts advertised only one pathway, the traditional (four year) college pathway, and organized their high schools and course offerings that solely aligned to that one pathway.  We recognize and value the fact that college is not for everyone, and that is why we provide an array of electives for students so they can explore different interests.  These interests could very well become a career opportunity after graduating from our high school.  

We believe our students at Central Square deserve the very best environment to learn. Beyond having amazing teachers, administrators, and support staff, we feel that the conditions of the schools themselves need to reflect the high standard of excellence that our community expects. The recent capital projects have provided our students and staff with the very best learning environment and a great sense of pride.  The state of the art performing arts center located at our high school will be utilized by all of our schools and will serve as a great environment to display our students’ extraordinary talents.

In a time when rural counties are experiencing a steady decline in student enrollment, Central Square is doing everything we can to make this District a coveted place to live, where our students not only excel academically, but also musically, athletically, and socially.  We believe in fostering a welcoming environment that provides all students with numerous opportunities to become effective communicators and collaborators, innovative and critical thinkers, emotionally intelligent, and contributing citizens.  The College and Career Readiness Committee created a list of key attributes/competencies for all pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students, and we feel that if these are embedded appropriately in daily instruction and through our clubs, sports, and extra-curricular activities, we are assisting in the development of truly well-rounded students. (The full list of key attributes/competencies is hyperlinked, so clicking on the words “key attributes/competencies” in the previous sentence will take you directly to it.) 

Mr. Thomas J. Colabufo
Superintendent
Central Square Central School District