Curriculum The school focuses on graduating all students with the minimum of a
Regents Diploma, but some may also graduate with a less advanced local diploma. The
Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation may be achieved with extended studies in a foreign language. Though the curriculum is developed and sanctioned by the
New York State Department of Education, and classes are developed to prepare students to achieve success on the required
Regents Examinations, most core courses offer one or two components that explore more advanced topics. The school offers standard level Regents courses, but also offers more advanced Honors courses, Interdisciplinary courses (in English and History),
Advanced Placement (AP) courses, as well as
Syracuse University courses offered through Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA). SU courses offered through Project Advance are taught at the high school by F-M faculty members (qualified by the university), and follow the same curriculum and are given the same credit as courses taught at the university. A large percentage of students opt to take SU courses offered through Project Advance instead of AP classes because their equally challenging curriculum is often more widely accepted for transfer credit by the students' successive colleges or universities. F-M is part of an extremely small percentage in the country that does not rank students publicly with the exception of awarding
valedictorian to a graduating senior. The school also uses a 100
grade point scale, as opposed to the much more common 4.0 scale, and weighs the GPA based on class difficulty level (Regents, Honors, AP, etc.). In addition, the athletic department does not participate in academic
All-America honors.
Notable achievements • Science Olympiad National Champions in 2004 • Other National Finishes: 3rd Place: 2005. 4th Place: 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 5th Place: 2009 • New York State Championships in ten consecutive years 2003–2012, 2014, and 2018. • 2005 gold medal and 2006 blue ribbon,
Expansion Management magazine's Education Quotient • 1999, 2000, and 2006 GRAMMY Signature School • Six-times named one of the American Music Conference's "Best 100 Communities for Music Education in America". • The high school is consistently honored by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards as having one of the best art programs in the country. In 2006, students from the high school received a record number of national awards, including the prestigious National American Vision Award. • The district consistently exceeds average state and national performances on the
SAT. In addition, 99% of F-M students take the exam at least once. The average scores for the Class of 2010 are as follows:
Graduation data In 2006, the school graduated 100% of its
senior class, 69% of whom received a
Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, and 28% of whom received a
Regents Diploma. Of these graduating students, 98% continued on to
higher education, 84% to a four-year college, and 14% to a two-year college. Of the remaining graduates, 1% continued into the
workforce, and another 1% had unknown plans. The dropout rate also remained under 1%, about half of whom enrolled in a High School Equivalency or
GED program.
Extracurriculars The student activities program offers more than fifty clubs and activities in a wide range of interests. Student-run publications include the
Oakleaves yearbook, the student newspaper called
The Buzz (formerly
The Sting, formerly the ''Hornet's Nest
), and a literary magazine, Voices''. The school has a Quizbowl team (which has appeared in International Academic Competitions' National History Bowl in
Crystal City, Virginia) and Amnesty International Club. Fayetteville-Manlius also boasts a Model United Nations club with more than a hundred participants. The club hosts an annual Central New York MUN Conference (CNYMUN), often inviting over a thousand delegates from around New York. Another extracurricular area in which the Hornets excel is Mock Trial, where in 2016, Fayetteville–Manlius High School won the New York State Mock Trial Championship with an undefeated season record. In 2020, they placed third in the same competition. The school has a chamber orchestra, string orchestra, concert orchestra, symphony orchestra, jazz ensemble, two bands, concert band, and wind ensemble as well as a very powerful Pep Band, and three vocal groups: choir, the select group's chorale, and Swing 16. The school also has the top Ukulele Ensemble in the Central New York area. FM also has three major stage productions during the year. The final production of the year, called
Showboat, is the annual student-run talent show, a tradition reaching back several decades. Fayetteville–Manlius High School also hosts a π memorization contest, which along with other events, culminates in an annual assembly called "pi day", which typically takes place on March 14 (the date signifies the first three digits of pi.) The assembly includes song performances as well as competitions. ==Athletics==