This week the board of education reviewed and approved our District's Comprehensive Education Plans which prioritize five commitments that everyone in our school community should be aware of. The commitments are as follows:

Commitment 1
All schools, regardless of designation, will make sustainable progress toward meeting their goals and commitments, as evidence by increasing graduation rates.

Commitment 2
We are committed to prioritizing access to high-quality educational experiences and programs for our students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELLs), leading to improved academic outcomes.

Commitment 3
We are committed to ensuring that all teachers implement research-based practices to ensure students are engaged in their learning through access to grade-level material and experiences that are rigorous and aligned to standards. This will be through intentional and purposefully designed professional learning opportunities in culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, engagement, and WICOR (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and rigor) strategies.

Commitment 4
This commitment focuses on increasing and enhancing parent and family engagement and communication to support student success with collaboration among SCSD staff, parents, families, and community partners.

Commitment 5
We are committed to increasing the districtwide average daily student attendance by 3%, reducing districtwide chronic absenteeism by 5%, and reducing suspension rates by 2%, with a reduction to relative risk ratio of suspensions among Black students with disabilities, with a goal of 1.30.

The board of education had a fantastic discussion about the proposed Grading Policy on Wednesday evening. This work is not easy but is very important. I want to be clear about one thing. The proposed grading policy does not lower standards or expectations. Our district does not currently have a policy. This policy serves to ensure that grades reflect how well students understand subject content and to show mastery level against core standards while giving every student the best opportunity to be educationally successful. Report cards and interim reports will also provide a variety of information including status, updates and progress on homework, attendance, conduct, effort, projects, and more. The policy committee did work on a revision that considered board member feedback and input. The board is doing a subsequent review and will consider approval of the policy at the next meeting on October 4. Thank you to the leadership and work of Carmella Parente and Michael Silvestri, who have been working on the development of a grading policy for over a decade. I also want to thank and acknowledge the board of education for engaging in the difficult but necessary conversation, allowing our district to fulfill its mission and vision that "Everybody Counts. Everybody Learns." This policy reflects our values of equity, collaboration, and learning.

We continue to focus on our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Earlier this week, our district and school leaders participated a development session with Tangible Development, a group that is guiding our efforts. We also have subsequent sessions scheduled. This work is important but takes time. As I mentioned previously, last year Tangible surveyed district faculty and staff to gain insight to views and experiences. This fall, we will be asking parents, students, and community members to participate in a survey. This is all part of our work to improve. There's much more to come on this.

I want to give special thanks and recognition to our Deputy Superintendent Lynne Rutnik for her nearly two years of service in our district. On Wednesday, the board of education accepted her resignation. She will be leaving us in October to become the district superintendent of Wayne-Fingerlakes BOCES. In a short time, Ms. Rutnik has shared her courage and vulnerability with all of us. She has shown us her passion for working with both children and adults. I wish her well as she takes on her new role. We will miss her.

Congratulations to Joe DiCaprio, assistant superintendent of district initiatives, planning, and accountability, for being selected as one of 20 educators across the state to participate in Fordham University's "New York Education Policy Leadership Program." The program explores education policy and leadership issues at the macro, strategic level through immersive, virtual and interactive sessions. This is an honor and fantastic opportunity for Mr. DiCaprio.

I also wish to congratulate Schenectady High School Senior and JROTC cadet Alyssa Cook who earned a private pilot's license and was granted a flight certification badge by Lt. Col. Ritmo. She was pinned with wings at a special presentation held on Tuesday at Schenectady High School. Alyssa was one of 300 pilots selected to participate in the Flight Academy in Washington State. She is the first Schenectady student to achieve this honor. Alyssa is a remarkable young woman. She has a 4.1 GPA, is a starter on the girls lacrosse team, has accumulated 150 hours of community service, earned a bronze star in the Presidential Fitness Test, and served as Color Guard commander. She was chosen as a Vice Corps Commander for 2023-2024. Thank you to Assemblyman Santabarbara and Senator Tedisco for attending the celebration and congratulating Alyssa on this amazing achievement.

Yesterday more than 350 dads and male figures representing our Schenectady community schools, brought their kids to school Thursday. Students were all smiles as they posed for photos with their dads before heading to classes. The dads spent the morning at the school, meeting with school leadership and the school parent liaisons. Next year we will look to expand this across the district.

"Dads bring your children to school day" is a national initiative to encourage fathers to engage in their children's education. It presents an opportunity for dads to get to know one another and for schools to get to know the dads and encourage involvement throughout the year.

Thank you to our community schools team, our parent liasions, principals, and everyone involved in making this a huge success

Last week I mentioned that this week is Community Schools Coordinator Appreciation Week. So, I will again say thank you to Kayla Ambesi and Ryan Williams who continue to work tirelessly to ensure the success of our community schools. I appreciate all they do for us. Please note, Ryan is featured as our alumni profile this week.

I'm excited to share that if you can't make it out to our athletic events, you can now catch highlights and watch a livestream of events that take place on our field and in the auditorium. Just click here to watch. Of course, we always prefer to see you in person cheering our athletes on. We appreciate your support.

After School Programming will begin October 10. It will be held Monday through Fridays and will include homework help, enrichment, tutoring, social-emotional learning, STEAM and STEM, a daily snack and dinner. You can sign up now by clicking here.

Reminder that there is no school and the district is closed on Monday, September 25 in observance of Yom Kippur. I wish all who celebrate Yom Kippur a wonderful and peaceful holiday.

Have a great weekend. We will see you next week.

Sincerely,

Anibal Soler, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools

If you graduated from a Schenectady high school, we would love to feature you in an Alumni Profile. Click here to provide your information.

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

MOBILE APP SUPPORT Click here to watch a short video on how to set your school and language preferences on our mobile app: hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saNC9ek2Lqg

PREVIOUS BRIEFS: For the index of Volume 1, 2 and 3 briefs click here.