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Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School
Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School, nominated by Big Picture Learning, is a high school in New York, New York, that describes itself as a public district school serving learners from a primarily urban area.
Location New York, New York
Governance Public District School
Grades High
Students 415
Locale Urban
Principal Jeffrey Palladino
Demographics
Percentage of students*
13%
English Learners
97%
Free/Reduced Lunch
33%
Students with Disabilities
African American or Black 27%
American Indian/Alaska Native —
Asian 1%
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —
Hispanic or Latino 68%
White 3%
2+ Races —
Why Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School was nominated
Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School is a member of the New York State performance assessment consortium, exempting them from most required end-of-course Regents exams. This flexibility has enabled Fannie Lou to create a robust portfolio assessment system where students present and defend their work and learning through their pathway to graduation. In the highest poverty Congressional District in the nation, Fannie Lou Hamer partners with the Children's Aid Society to provide out of school learning experiences, health and counseling services, and summer youth employment for 70-80% of students each summer. Additionally, the school focuses intensely on teacher collaboration, developing a school-wide schedule to allow team professional development and collaboration for three hours weekly. Fannie Lou's focus on social justice and student activism has resulted most recently in the students petitioning local legislators to re-name their street to honor the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer. Additionally, each year the students host a birthday party for Fannie Lou Hamer, with events to educate the community about her contributions so social justice. In the past two years, the school has quickly built an internship program under the direction of a teacher who is herself an alumna of Fannie Lou. ,As a school in the Big Picture Learning network, this school supports the organizational mission of activating the potential of Schools, Systems, and Education through student-driven, real-world learning. Its design helps to scaffold and facilitate student learning aligned with the "10 Expectations" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K96c-TGnSf4) and it is organized to implement the "10 distinguishers" (https://www.bigpicture.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=389353&type=d&pREC_ID=902235) to deliver "one kid at a time" personalized learning situated in the communities it serves.
Student experience design
FLHFHS's academic program stresses intellectual development and political and social involvement in our society.
Core Practices
| Core Practices | Length of Use |
|---|---|
|
College Advising & Support |
5+ years
|
|
All Courses Designed For Inclusion |
5+ years
|
|
Multi-age Classrooms |
5+ years
|
|
Project-based Learning |
5+ years
|
|
Performance Based Assessment |
5+ years
|
All Practices
Advancement On Mastery
Anti-racist Practices
Assessments For Career Readiness
Assessments For Deeper Learning
Assessments For Social-emotional Skills
Career Exploration
Community And Workforce Partnerships
Family And Community Support Services
Competency/mastery-based Education
Culturally Responsive Practices
Flexible Staffing & Alternative Teaching Roles
Mental Health Services
Industry Networking
Peer To Peer Support
Restorative Practices
SEL Integration School-wide
Students Access Their Own Data
Student-led Goal Setting
Trauma-informed Practices
Tutoring
key reasons for innovating
Address systemic inequities
Demonstrate what’s possible for other schools
Increase student agency
Artifacts
Date Updated: 4/1/2026
*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.