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STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT During the
2007/2008 school year all major indicators show improvement
in student achievement in the Watervliet City School
District. While the 2006/2007 School Report Card has still
not been released (more than a year late), we are already
looking at our 2007/2008 New York State Assessment results.
The District administration is confident that our 2007/2008
school accountability report will indicate that we have
achieved Annual Yearly Progress in every category.
The Watervliet Junior Senior High School remains a school in
need of improvement and the District is still subject to the
enhanced accountability of the Contract for Excellence. In
response to this identification, the District
administrator’s, faculty and staff have embarked on the
second year of our School Improvement Team. The work being
accomplished by this team has been outstanding. Key areas of
focus have been identified and aggressive action plans have
been implemented with profound results. We firmly believe
that it is the work of this team that has enable us to
improve student academic achievement over the last two
school years.
The District’s School Quality Review by the State Education
Department state that the School Improvement Team, District
Administration and the School Board are addressing the
achievement issues in a positive and effective manner.
The Contract for Excellence site visit team from State Ed.
was equally positive, requiring only slight changes in our
action plans.
The graduation rate remains an area requiring attention.
Seventy three percent of our student are graduating, leaving
twenty seven percent of our student either as non-completers
or still enrolled. This is an unacceptable statistic that
must be improved immediately.
CURRICULUM AND PROGRAMS
Over the last three years multiple new programs have been
implemented in both Watervliet Junior – Senior High School
and Watervliet Elementary School.
In 2006/2007 highlighted programs included: Reading First,
Universal Pre- Kindergarten, CEIP and our new Special
Education Programs. Each of these programs will continue in
2008/2009.
The 2008/2009 school year will include several new
initiatives. The movement toward curriculum mapping will be
a strong focus of our K-9 staff over the next twelve months.
This initiative aims to effectively align our curriculum
with the New York State standards and provide a useful tool
for our teachers. We will also be adding a Reading teacher
to the Junior – Senior High School staff. This will free up
the current Reading Teacher to serve as a Literacy Coach.
This Literacy Coach will provide support and imbedded
professional development for our staff as well as monitor
data, assessments and Academic Intervention Services.
A Math Specialist has been added to the Elementary School to
assist struggling students in mathematics, as well as
monitor our Academic Intervention Services program at
Watervliet Elementary
Two more In-District Special Education Classes will
be added at the Watervliet Junior – Senior High School as
laid out in our three phase plan initiated in 2006/2007.
Academic based extra-curricular activities have increased
dramatically, in both offerings and participation:
Elementary Robotics, Elementary and Middle School Odyssey of
the Mind, Enviro-thon, Master-Minds, and Future Cities Team
to name a few. |
