Mr. Patterson's Website

Gardner Road Elementary School: PK-4th Grade Principal

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Upcoming Events at Gardner Road

Recent Gardner Road Photos #LearningatGR

Mr. Patterson's Educational Beliefs/Philosophy!

This section highlights some of my current thinking about education and learning in our school. I am honored to be part of such a great community where everyone is 'all in' for the best interest of our Golden Stars. Seeing each child take their educational journey step by step in their early years is such a reward and privilege. I look forward to working and learning alongside each and every parent, staff member, community member and of course each student. Here are some of my belief statements about learning in our school:

- I believe a balanced, hands-on, differentiated, rigorous and relevant learning curriculum is key to maximizing each child's learning and growth.

- I believe it is critical to embed inquiry, literacy, numeracy and technology intentionally and thoughtfully each day so each student is future ready.

- I believe students should be engaged in collaboration with peers, critically think to solve problems, explore creativity and communicate learning in a thoughtful and authentic way.

- I believe students learn best when they are part of a caring and positive learning environment that celebrates positive character.

- I believe it is essential to provide a safe learning environment within our school and beyond as digital citizens.

Growth Mindset at School & Home:

We focus on building a growth mindset in all of our students at Gardner Road. Check out some of the following videos that highlight/define a growth mindset: Power of Yet, Being Brave, Celebrating Failure, Using Grit, Never Give Up and more. We highlight growth mindset in our monthly town hall meetings and it is also discussed/practiced in our classrooms daily.
Carol Dweck - A Study on Praise and Mindsets
Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet
Girls first Ski Jump
Meet the Robinsons - You Failed!
Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg

Character Education at Home & School

We focus on the six pillars of character education in our school: Respect, Responsibility, Citizenship, Caring, Fairness and Trustworthiness. We have a character education mascot name Zeke- Captain Character that reminds us how to be the best we can be! Each month, each student can earn that months character award in their class. We also have challenges that engage students with intentional acts of character each month.

MakerSpace - Inquire, Explore, Make:

Makerspace is part of our students learning at Gardner Road. The space is a place where students can engage in engineering challenges, investigate their own curiosities, invent, design and more.

Literacy Instruction

Our reading program is Treasures. It is supplemented with a variety of other research based instructional methods including: interactive read aloud, guided reading, independent reading, interactive writing, shared writing, independent writing and word study.
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Math Instruction

Our math series is Go Math. Our teachers supplement math learning with manipulatives, hands on activities and other research based instructional materials.
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Social Studies Instruction

Check out the updated NYS Social Studies standards with an embedded inquiry focus.

Science Instruction

We teach science with an inquiry approach using materials from FOSS. Check out the newly updated NYS standards based off of the Next Generation Science Standards.
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Specials at Gardner Road:

Our students go to at least one special each day and our cycle rotates on a 6-day cycle. Students will go to physical education two times, music two times, library one time, art one time and learning lab one time. Classroom teachers also utilize the computer lab and Makerspace as additional learning spaces in our school.


Art: Mr. Lamar

Learning Lab: Mr. Lamar & Mrs. Herforth

Library: Mrs. Herforth

Music: Mr. Hamilton

Physical Education: Mr. Monks

Gardner Road PTO

We have an amazing PTO at Gardner Road that hosts many wonderful events and sponsors multiple others for our Golden Stars. Check out their Facebook page by clicking on the link below.

Positive & Safe School Culture

It is critical to have a welcoming and safe school for our students. One fun way we do this is with #CelebrateMonday. Each Monday we have surprise guest greeters welcoming and encouraging our students for the week in a positive way. We also focus on being upstanders and digital citizens as we are preparing our students to be future ready.
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Be an Upstander - Prevent Bullying in 4 minutes

Parent Resource Links:

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Thank you for Visiting the Gardner Road Elementary Page!

If you need more information, please feel free to contact us.