I have never looked forward to a school year as much as I am looking forward to this one!

Welcome back!

It is with great excitement that I welcome everyone, students and staff alike, back to school this fall. The progress that we have made as a district in recent years and the prospect of what lies ahead is so exciting and inspiring that I can say without hesitation that I have never looked forward to a school year as much as I do this year.

The mission of the Watervliet City School District is to inspire, educate and challenge every student, every day. And our staff is truly living up to this mission. Our school improvement team and sub-committees have provided us with new and more effective ways to ensure that our students are learning what they need. We made great strides in aligning our curriculum to ensure we are in line with New York State Standards. And as a result, we have seen unprecedented improvement in student performance.

I am very pleased and proud to announce that last year, our students achieved the annual yearly progress goal, as set by the State Education Department, on every test, in every grade level and in every sub group. We have been removed from the School In Need of Improvement list for the 2009-2010 school year.

Now we must continue to improve. Our goal is to not only be proficient but to achieve mastery. We must continue our forward momentum, raise the bar and challenge our students to even greater feats. As educators, our expectations of our students must be limitless and we must back these expectations with support and a commitment that just as we are asking for their best, we will give them our best each and every day.