Dear Stockbridge Valley Families and Community,

I hope this letter finds everyone well. I am excited to share these updates with all of you as we continue to move forward at SVCS.

Last year we worked hard to adopt one mascot, one cougar for our district with the intent of building school/community spirit and consistency. With your help, we achieved that goal.

As I mentioned in the September Newsletter article, the Board of Education and Administrators worked on developing a new vision for the district this summer. I have collaborated with the faculty and staff here at SVCS and I am pleased to introduce our new vision:

            “We embrace a culture of respect and support that allows every student to recognize their worth, realize their purpose, cultivate their passions and achieve their ultimate potential.”

Our new vision will help us build a Culture of Hope for our students. We believe that a Culture of Hope, guided by the principals that our students think every graduate should strive to be: courageous, optimistic, united, generous, ambitious, and resilient, will ensure success for our students. Please watch for a video on the school website in the upcoming weeks to explain our vision further.

NYS Assessments: Students will be taking State Assessments in the spring. Thank you for allowing your students to participate in the assessments. Through your efforts, SVCS has achieved the highest participation rate in our area! We appreciate your support and your commitment to your children’s education. The district uses the results of these tests to help guide classroom learning, program gaps and align our curriculum K-12 and the state uses the participation rate as part of the districts accountability rating through ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act.) I want to remind you that the tests are no longer tied to teacher evaluation, teachers are involved in developing the tests, the tests are untimed, they are two days instead of three, and 75% of the questions are posted to help districts use the results to make decisions that are more informed. The commissioner and the Board of Regents are diligently working to make the assessments more meaningful and untie the results to teacher evaluations permanently. I support their efforts.

Attendance: I cannot stress enough the importance of attendance to school.

The state uses missing 10 percent (or about 18 days) of the school year as their barometer for chronic absenteeism and equates this to low achievement. We need your help. While our unexcused rate continues to decrease, many of our students are currently chronically absent by state standards. We need to work together for the benefit of your children. There are things families can work on to help improve attendances, visit Attendanceworks.org for some ideas. Thank you.

Historical Timeline: The historical timeline of the district is moving along on schedule. We are still planning to have this completed and unveiled this spring. Combined history and traditions make up the foundation of what the school is today and should be preserved and cherished.  I look forward to sharing this with all of you.

Budget: As we enter into budget season, I want to thank you all for supporting the 2018-19 budget. The governor has provided his state aid runs for the district. I will continue to advocate with our legislators for more adequate funding for our district. The Board of Education remains committed to delivering a fiscally sound budget while maintaining programs and educational opportunities for students.

The annual Stockbridge Valley Central School District budget vote and school board election will take place on Tuesday, May 21 at the school.

School Safety Thank you for using the Elementary Tunnel as the one point of entry to the school during school hours.

Best Wishes for the New Year!

Cindy