FALLS VIEW ACADEMY Established 2009
About Us
Falls View Academy (FVA) is an innovative learning community providing tutoring and supplemental enrichment education services. Committed to success through growth, FVA helps students reach their unique and full potential - nurturing individual strengths through highly personalized educational experiences. We strive to foster the motivation to discover new knowledge, an appreciation for diverse and creative methods of instruction, and a desire for academic achievement. We’re not your average franchised tutoring company where the ratio is up to three students per teacher, or more. In other tutoring settings, much of the time is often spent working on standardized lessons and tests by themselves. We believe there’s a better way. At FVA tutoring follows a one-to-one apprenticeship model and the curriculum is truly customized for each individual; in other words, one-size-fits-one learning. Of course, we build on past successes and when a best practice is identified, we recycle those approaches. However, we believe our individual tutoring and small courses enhance the distinctive talents of each student, providing challenges appropriate to a student’s level of development. We are a dynamic and caring community of teachers/tutors, staff, parents, and students. At FVA, we understand the needs of students and parents, and the strategies-based learning system that we utilize has been developed and tested for over thirty years and really works! Thank you for allowing me to welcome you on behalf of Falls View Academy. Please stop in, visit and get to know us. You will undoubtedly be amazed by the excitement for learning that permeates the Academy and the ease with which relationships are formed. Ken Tomaszewski, Ph.D. Our Philosophy
Our philosophy of teaching is based upon a firm belief that every individual can succeed, given the proper goals, encouragement, motivation and tools. We believe that one of our most important jobs is to listen and observe how one works and learns, and then provide strategies to increase effectiveness. Our aim is to authentically reach students in the learning style that suits them best and teach them lifelong learning strategies and problem solving skills. This instills a cycle of motivation, confidence and academic success that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Today’s new generation of students have been characterized as smart but impatient, rejecting the old school model of lecturing by texting their way through classes to stay awake. While we would argue against this stereotype of the youth generation, we acknowledge that students today have the desire to learn, but seemingly only what they are minimally required to learn, and they want to learn it in a style that suits them. Best practices in teaching and learning indicate that students who are actively engaged in constructing their own understandings about the world around them retain knowledge better. "Education is not preparation for life, rather education is life itself."
John Dewey John Dewey was a big believer in inquiry-based learning, the process of seeking knowledge when it is needed for a particular task in a particular situation. If the factory was the model for the typical American school of the past, a new model for a 21st century educational delivery system in our global, knowledge-based economy is much needed. That is, whereas in the factory model educational content was to be transmitted uni-directionally from teacher to student for rote memorization; we at Falls View Academy (FVA) recognize that the importance of gaining knowledge lies within the active, ever changing process of learning itself. At FVA, we strive to provide a student-centered, multi-modal learning environment in which student and teacher/tutor are partners in the learning process. Our goal is to customize educational experiences to be compelling and relevant to individual’s real lives; to personalize learning to play on one’s passions using topical examples designed to fascinate and stimulate a thirst for knowledge. When a student enters a tutoring relationship at FVA, an individualized learning plan will be constructed. Assignments will be tailored to target a student’s zone of proximal development - meaning that we set the bar in the sweet spot, right above what a learner can do on his/her own without help providing that proverbial “leg up” in problem solving guidance that he/she needs to clear the bar. Our small group courses are also customized to the particular needs of the class in an effort to engage each student as an active learner. Regardless of where you start or your goals for the finish line, FVA will help you reach success through growth. Assessments and Research Based Accountability
FVA relies on a vast collection of NYS based, internally designed assessments. In conjunction with the FVA Student Education Plan (SEP) and Student Growth Model we will be able to track ongoing student performance and academic growth. FVA will use its wealth of knowledge and expertise in the research field to monitor student performance and growth, parent involvement, services utilized, and in-classroom outcomes. These accountability metrics will be used to aid FVA in our constant review and improvement of our services as well as provide an even more tailored educational experience to our students and their families. Helpful Links
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