Education

Potsdam location offers outstanding educational opportunities as the home of Clarkson University and SUNY Potsdam - as well as a nearby neighbor to Canton’s SUNY location and St. Lawrence University.

Clarkson University, a Ph.D.-granting institution, has 160 full-time faculty members and over 2,900 students enrolled in programs in its schools of Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Science; and its Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management program. It is also home to the state’s Center for Advanced Technology in Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP).

CAMP’s researchers work to create new materials and physical processes to shape, mix and fasten materials together. CAMP projects have been conducted with over 50 companies, including Xerox, IBM, Kodak, Corning, 3M and Alcoa. For additional information on CAMP, visit their web site.

Suny Potsdam located in the Village of Potsdam on 240 acres, offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees to over 4,070 students in arts and sciences, music, and teacher education programs. The college has 271 faculty members and an additional staff of more than 650. An integral part of the college is the Crane School of Music - half of all the public school music teachers in New York State are Crane graduates. Each year the school’s symphony orchestra, numerous ensembles, chamber groups and choruses present over 200 concerts from classical to avante-garde music.

The William C. Merwin Rural Services Institute is also found at SUNY Potsdam - conducting research on regional economic trends and providing information to industry, government and the media.

A testament to the quality of Potsdam's schools appeard in the September/October 2000 issue of Offspring - The Magazine of Smart Parenting as the Potsdam School District was ranked among the country's top 100 schools, and 11th for the entire Northeast.

Offspring enlisted the services of SchoolMatch, a research firm that specializes in public school data, to determine the top schools for the United States, and for each region of the country. Criteria included costs of living, academic performance and academic expenditure per student.

Fries named New York State Teacher of the Year
POTSDAM -- A. A. Kingston Middle School Teacher Carol Fries has been named 2003 New York State Teacher of the Year. She was presented with a certificate of recognition by state Regents Chancellor Robert Bennett and Education Commissioner Richard Mills at a luncheon Monday. She is the 33rd recipient of the award.

Fries has been teaching in the Potsdam school district for 20 years, 13 of them in her present position. According to her students and fellow faculty members, she brings history to light in her classes.

Fries was chosen by a screening committee which reviews all nominations and selects 10 semi-finalists. Five finalists were then chosen by a selection committee and interviewed prior to the final decision. Both the screening and selection committee decisions were made through a process that involves parents, students, teachers, administrators, community members and business representatives.

To better insure the future of our children, New York State has enacted Regents school performance standards and more rigorous graduation requirements. In 1996, the state Board of Regents approved Governor George Pataki's plan that for the first time requires each school district to release an annual report card that measures performance. Report cards detail how students scored on standardized tests administered at various ages in the areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

New York State is addressing the vexing issue of putting computers in classrooms through an innovative partnership that combines the resources and expertise of government, schools, educators and the private sector. The comprehensive approach, called New York Wired for Education, has vaulted New York into a national leadership role.

Potsdam Senior High School’s Report Card for 2000:

6% more Potsdam High School students passed the Regents English exam, as compared with similar schools*.
97% passed the Mathematics Regents, compared to all other similar public schools* 83%.
Dropout rate is only 1.7% compared statewide at 4.1%.

A.A. Kingston Middle School’s Report Card:

Grade 8 English Language Arts Performance showed 15% of Potsdam’s students exceed the Regents’ standards compared to 10% of similar schools*.
Mathematics scores for Grade 8 show that 59% meet or exceed the standard, compared to other schools at 51%.
Student to teacher ratio is 15:1 between grades 5 and 8.

Lawrence Avenue Elementary School’s Report Card:

Grade 4 Mathematics test results show that 29% of Potsdam elementary students performed well above typical levels, compared to similar schools* average of 19%.
Grade 4 English Language Arts Performance in January of 2000 was 14% higher than similar New York public schools*.
Student to teacher ratio is 13:1.

(*Similar schools are schools grouped by district and student demographic characteristics for comparison purposes.)

For more information, visit the State Education Department’s web site