January 6, 2012

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Changes in the scores required to pass the New York State assessments have resulted in major increases in the number of schools that have been identified as “Schools in Need of Improvement” this year.  This is primarily due to the federal No Child Left Behind law which now requires that each school make Adequate Yearly Progress not only for the total student population, but also subgroups of the total student population.  Although our school has met or exceeded our Adequate Yearly Progress goals for the total student population, we have not met the goals for all of our students with disabilities on the state’s English Language Arts assessments.  As a result, we have been notified that we are a School in Need of Improvement in this specific area.

In anticipation of this designation, the school has already started the required actions. First, the school has created a School Quality Review team which is working with a Special Education School Improvement Specialist to review our programs for students with disabilities.

Second, we have initiated contact with over 70 Supplemental Education Service (SES) providers. Federal regulations require that the school use Title funding to provide SES to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Contracted SES providers will offer tutoring services to qualifying students outside of the normal school day. It is our hope that parents of qualifying students will make use of this powerful opportunity.

Although over 400 New York State schools are now designated as Schools in Need of Improvement, we are committed to taking every step possible to remove our school from this list.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Walsh-Rurak

Principal