WEEK ENDING December 8, 2023| VOLUME 3 ISSUE NO. 14

Good afternoon,

Now that we are in the second quarter of the school year, and students have completed fall iReady assessments, it's a good time to take a look at how our students are doing academically. At the Board of Education meeting this week, members of our administrative team provided an end- of-the-year data review for 2022-2023 and first quarter review of the current school year. The team provided a summary comparison of assessment results from fall to spring of the last school year as well as a summary of fall iReady assessment results. iReady is a diagnostic tool that helps us determine where students are in English Language Arts (ELA) and math, and helps us determine how we can best support them. I'm happy to share that overall, we experienced growth.

When looking at last year, students at all grade levels, K-8, showed an increase in proficiency in reading and math from fall to spring. Our student math results show that four times as many students were on grade level in the spring when compared to the fall. That means we were able to get many kids who were behind at the start the school year, caught up by the end of it.

As we look at the fall of this year, data indicates that there are more students in grades K-8 performing at grade level and we have fewer students performing multiple years below grade level. That makes sense given the growth that we saw last year. While overall, results demonstrate an improvement, we still have work to do to decrease disproportionality for racial groups, students with disabilities, and English Language Learners (ELL).

While we should be proud of the progress we made in many areas, we still have much work to do. We do have a plan that includes professional development, strengthening curriculum, and targeted interventions and supports. Our team reviewed some of the steps that have been taken or are underway toward making improvements in both ELA and math. These include:

Ongoing professional development for teachers for the second year of implementation for Wit & Wisdom (K-8 English Language Arts curriculum)
Implementation of Rising Voice curriculum (Library Program)
Providing an array of literacy resources and interventions
Selection of a new math curriculum for 2024-2025
Professional learning with SIOP strategies, which is a framework for planning and delivering instruction in content areas.
Implementation of a new elementary intervention program
Continued professional learning through instructional coaches and others.

The academic update also provided a review of first quarter attendance. The results are encouraging with all schools showing improvement with the exception of Schenectady High School, showing a slight dip. This is something that we continue to work on improving.

Most of the assessment data is encouraging. The iRead data should be a predictor to how students will perform on state tests. This data is important because it helps teachers identify how students are progressing and can use it to differentiate instruction based on student need.

You can review the entire report here.

Earlier this week, our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) participated in a day-long retreat led by ILO Group. We had a productive day of collaborative problem-solving, goal-setting for our pillars of excellence and team-building. ILO Group is working closely with our team as we develop our 6-year Strategic Plan.

We also had a fantastic principals' meeting this week. While we talk alot about processes and procedures, the majority of our discussions are about student achievement, problem-solving, collaboration and coaching, and reaching academic goals.

Strategic Plan

Please don't forget to participate in our Strategic Planning Survey which will be open through the month of December. We want to know what is important to you as we design our district's Strategic Plan for 2024-2030. You can take the survey here.

We are also holding seven focus groups in January. See the flyer below for dates and times. You can sign up to participate in one of those by clicking here.

Superintendent's Student Council provides feedback on strategic plan

On Thursday, December 7, fifty students representing each of our schools met with district leadership to provide input on the district's strategic plan. The meeting was hosted at miSci and also included a presentation from the local NAACP Chapter about future opportunities to represent Schenectady's youth voice. Watch the video to hear directly from students about what they think the district does well and what needs to be improved upon.

Congratulations

Scholar Athlete Teams

Six of our varsity sports teams are being recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Associatioon for earning Scholar Athlete team awards. This means 75% or the team membership earned a grade point average (GPA) of 90% or higher. Congratulations to:

Varsity Girls Swimming and Diving
Varsity Girls Tennis
Varsity Boys Soccer
Varsity Girls Soccer
Varsity Girls Cross Country
Varsity Boys Cross Country

School Spelling Bee Winners

Student spelling bees took place across the district this week. Congratulations to all the participants and good luck to the winners who will advance to the districtwide spelling bee that will take place on December 20, 9:30 a.m. at Schenectady High School. Below are just a few photo from events held this week.

Tenure

I wish to extend huge congratulations to the following who were granted tenure by the Board of Education this week. Tenure is a right that is earned following time, experience, oversight, and evaluation. Tenure is not given. It is earned. Congratulations to the following:

Jocelyn Hoffman, Cohort Principal
Jennifer Bradt, Elementary
Mary Breslin, Social Work
Lori Cannon, Teaching Assistant
Justine Erikson, Elementary
Carrie Laurenzo, Elementary
Shireen Milkins, Elementary
Alison Nilsen, English as a Second Language
Patricia Quaranta, Elementary
Kelsie Voris, Elementary

Swim Lessons

We will be offering free "Learn to Swim" lessons for students in grades 6-8 beginning in January. Lessons will be held Thursday evenings. To sign up, click here. If you have questions, please contact Brian Melanson, melansonb@schenectadyschools.org

We will also be offering more sessions for elementary school students in February or March as well as an 8-week session after spring recess. Watch for more information soon.

For those who are participating in sessions now, Coach Melanson and the team is looking for feedback. Please provide feedback here. Our program is growing. So far, we've had 625 students participate in our "learn to swim" program.

STEAM Camp

We will be offering a STEAM camp for students in grades 1-5 during the February recess. While that is a few months away, we are asking , if you are interested, to sign your child up by January 19. The camp will rn from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Follow this link to sign up.

Reminders

The Schenectady High School Winter Concert will take place Wednesday, December 13 at 6:30 p.m.

High school information sessions for incoming freshmen are underway. See the flyer for details.

Flyer 8th grade high school information sessions

Flyer 8th grade high school infor seessions Arabic

flyer 8th grade high school information session

Please check our winter sports schedule. If you have some time, please come out and support our athletes.

Have a great weekend and stay warm,

Anibal Soler, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools

Holiday Fun at Lincoln Elementary School

Congratulations and Welcome

The following were appointed by the Board of Education on December 6. If you are new to the district, "Welcome to Schenectady."

Administration

Andrew Jablonski, Assistant Principal, Mont Pleasant MS

Operations & Maintenance

Jesus Espinoza Navarette, Maintenance Mechanic
Gloria Smith, Cleaner, WIE
Harold Sukram, Custodian, Hamilton ES

Nurse

Victoria Cross, SHS

Secretarial

Jade Daniels, IPS I, Yates ES
Norma Mangroo, IPS I, Paige ES
Nicole Stabinski, Senior Transportation Assistant, Central Office
Ravan Sukham, IPS I, Lincoln ES

School Safety Officer

Earl Herndon, Mont Pleasant MS

Security Monitor

Devon Diego, Districtwide
Nathan Robinson, Mont Pleasant MS

Parent Liaisons

Brandi Moore, Howe ES
Angela Parbhudial, Van Corlaer ES

Instructional

Erin Burns, Hamilton ES
Elishia Marocco, School Social Worker, SHS
Andrea Music, Lincoln ES
Laura Naumovitz, Library, SHS
Amira Rophael, ESL, SHS
Brenda Santana, Foreign Language, Mont Pleasant MS
David Steadham, Mont Pleasant MS
Tessa Steller, Remedial Reading, Mont Pleasant MS
Catherine Tidball, Paige E
Alvin Waterhouse, School Counselor, SHS

Teaching Assistant

Brandi Clews, Hamilton ES

Atlas Tutor

Aleesa Karria, WIEC

Paraprofessionals

Danielle Ames, Hamilton ES
Paywantee Balkishun, Woodlawn ES
Kristi-Ann Caddie, Mont Pleasant MS
Samantha Clarke, Woodlawn ES
Malida Goins, King ES
Nurun Popy, King ES
Jenna Price, King ES
LaToya Rivera, SHS
Olga Rodriguez, Mont Pleasant MS
Heather Taglieri, King ES
Iresha White, King ES

Lunch Monitors

Chantol Beckford, Paige ES
Gina Carter, Lincoln ES
Gary Haggray, King ES
Tobias Holmes, Zoller ES
Selena Hoyt, Yates ES
Carleigh Hubert, Keane ES
Tyrone Jenkins, Keane ES
Janet Maisonette, Howe ES
Veronica Singh, King Es

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Holiday Fun at Lincoln Elementary School

Congratulations and Welcome

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