W.B Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” These words ring true daily in our schools. At every grade level, our schools are dedicated to developing the talents and potential of all students in the Fair Lawn Public Schools by providing them with the opportunities and support to grow into educated and responsible young people.

 As a K-12 district, the Fair Lawn Board of Education has placed major emphasis on programs and initiatives that focus on student success: differentiated instruction that addresses strategic learning in every classroom, high standards in every discipline, authentic student assessment, rich opportunities for family involvement, infused classroom technology and the implementation of the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards across content area. In addition, the district has begun the process of mapping our curriculum and implementing a framework for the development of Professional Learning Communities, with emphasis on building teacher collaboration teams that focus on student learning.

Visitors to our schools are impressed by the literacy rich environment of our classrooms. Our curriculum supports high level thinking and problem solving skills which require all students to develop the reading and writing abilities that are essential to success.

 To this end, our rigorous elementary and middle school curriculum provides challenging opportunities for academic excellence. The high school program offers students a wide range of courses, from an abundance of college preparatory, honors, and advanced placement courses, to concurrent college enrollment opportunities for students to follow their particular interests while receiving college credits.

 Overall, our students performed well on the 2009 NJASK and HPSA. This is a clear reflection of the high expectations and rigorous curriculum developed by our instructional staff and subject supervisors. In the first year of the Federal No Child Left behind Mandate (NCLB), 100% of our faculty was identified as Highly Qualified Teachers (HQT). This was achieved through our many years of hiring and bringing into the district the very best teachers and administrators.

Indeed, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” While each of our accomplishments, including test scores and ranking, is important, we must never lose sight of the equally important accomplishments and successes (large and small) that take place every day in each of our schools. The Fair Lawn Public Schools and community in which we thrive truly believe that “The leaders of Tomorrow Attend Fair Lawn Schools Today.”