To kick off the 2025-2026 school year, Abington School District proudly unveiled the official “Portrait of a Graduate”, a collaborative and collective vision that provides an enriched community-wide understanding of what being a graduate of Abington Schools means. This initiative builds upon district efforts already underway, and defines the knowledge, skills, and traits every student should develop from grades K-12 in order to prepare them for success in college, career and life.
The Abington School District Portrait of a Graduate features the following attributes:
Problem Solver
Skilled Communicator and Collaborator
Resilient Learner and Achiever
Creative and Innovative Thinker
Informed and Engaged Citizen
The portrait was informed by a fall 2024 stakeholder survey that garnered more than 700 responses, which was further refined by a districtwide committee who met over the course of the 2024-2025 school year to identify and prioritize the desired key skills and attributes. Abington Senior High School students enrolled in the Design, Photography, and Illustration program at the Eastern Center for Arts and Technology helped bring that vision to life by developing the Portrait of a Graduate graphic.
“We appreciate the input of our staff, students, parents/guardians and community members who came together to help us build a framework that reflects the priorities and aspirations of the Abington Township and Borough of Rockledge communities,” Dr. Jeffrey Fecher, Superintendent of Schools, said. “It emphasizes not only academic excellence, but also the essential competencies students need to thrive in an ever-changing world.”
As the Portrait of a Graduate provides a foundation of common outcomes of an Abington School District education, it also serves as a roadmap to guide future educational programming and District initiatives that are aligned with school operations, resources, pedagogy and student experiences.
The Teaching and Learning Department is developing a multi-year districtwide plan to determine how these indicators will be infused into the K-12 curriculum. In the months ahead, the Portrait of a Graduate committee will meet to discuss how this framework will shape efforts at Abington Senior High School. A similar committee will be formed at the Middle School to outline how the Portrait of a Graduate will be utilized in grades 6-8, with an elementary committee for grades K-5 being formed next year.
“The Portrait of a Graduate skills and attributes are an end-goal for all of our students across our district’s nine schools,” Ms. Laura Enama, Assistant Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning, said. “However, what resiliency looks like in a first grader will differ from how we measure that trait at a 9th-grade level, just like it will vary based upon a student’s individualized educational goals. As a result, the ways we infuse the Portrait of a Graduate into the programs within each grade will vary, but the aim remains the same — to ensure that every student is building upon this foundation as they move from grades K-12.”
The Portrait of a Graduate can be viewed on the Abington School District website, under the “Who We Are” page.