The Fredonia Central School District continues to look for ways for students to succeed and enjoy school, and one such program that will be unveiled next year is the Individual Arts Assessment Pathway.

The program will be unveiled across New York state for the upcoming school year and will allow high school students a different track to graduation.

“New York state over the last couple years has tried to create for students to have different pathways to graduation,” said Superintendent Brad Zilliox. “One of the things they’re offering is the Individual Arts Assessment pathway, and we’re going to explore this this coming school year.”

Students looking to pursue this pathway must participate in three courses over three years to complete the pathway program, and they can choose whichever medium they would like, with pathways offered for visual art and music at Fredonia.

Fredonia art teacher Brandy Noody, also the art department’s instructional leader, said the program will give students plenty of good opportunities for the future.

“We feel the pathway offers students an opportunity that will prepare them for future professional and educational experiences and opportunities in the arts,” Noody said. “But it will also make them a more marketable candidate.”

The pathways will be offered based on student interest, with no minimum number required.

Noody said if even one student benefits by the program, it will be considered a success, though there’s not exactly a cap on the number of students who will be allowed to participate.

“If one student participated, I would be happy,” Noody said. “But I do think starting small so we can feel it out and see what issues we might have. I expect like anything, we’ll have years when we have a larger population and years where we have a smaller population. I think it will ebb and flow like all our courses do.”

Students looking to enter the pathway will still have to take and pass their core four regents of math, science, social studies and English, but their fifth regents credit will be fulfilled by this pathway. The exam itself will be more hands on, and not a traditional pen and paper exam.

While for the pilot year, the program will begin with the Fredonia sophomores, Noody said that overtime they anticipate expanding the program to include the freshman, and could even start as early as eighth grade.

All students will learn about the program in the fall, and it will be a student-selected pathway, though the students who will participate in the pilot program will be selected by the school. The program also includes classes already offered at Fredonia that are now just enhanced by the program.