North Colonie appoints new Director of Pupil Services

August 10, 2009 - The North Colonie Central School District has named David Semo as the new Director of Pupil Personnel Services. Semo, formerly the Assistant Director, replaces Sheelah Lucier, who retired in June, after serving over 37 years in the district.

Semo’s vision as Director includes not only creating an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for all students with disabilities, but taking the services North Colonie currently provides and expanding upon them. One of the services that means the most to Semo is the Inclusion Program that North Colonie boasts.

“The majority of our students with disabilities are educated in the North Colonie community,” Semo said. “A total of nine students have been placed in either a BOCES program or a day-treatment program, out of about 700 students with disabilities. The goal is to eventually re-integrate those students back into the North Colonie community.”

The graduation results in relation to Inclusion Program speak for themselves. Seventy-four percent of all students with disabilities at North Colonie graduate with a Regents Diploma.

“That is a statistic that we are very proud of,” Semo said. “It’s among the best in the state. We’re educating our students with success and opening up opportunities for them to go to college. This is wonderful.”

One of the reasons why North Colonie students with disabilities have had the academic success they have had is due to two new programs entitled RISE and REACH, offered at Shaker High School and Shaker Junior High School, respectively. Both are intervention programs that have had a tremendous positive impact on students at risk of academic failure.

In 2008, North Colonie was one of sixty schools in New York State that received the Model Transition Grant. This competitive grant awarded to North Colonie was based on what the district does to prepare its students with disabilities for transition after they leave high school.

“It is a tremendous honor,” Semo said. “It speaks to what we are trying to accomplish here.”

The grant was awarded for three years, but the district plans to continue the services offered after the grant runs out.

“We’re committed to continuing to provide these services after the three-year period,” he said. “We will continue to connect our students with VESID (an agency that provides similar services after graduation) and make sure that our ‘Transition Officers’ follow up with them.”

Semo’s overall vision is clear: Provide the best possible educational services for students with disabilities and carry on the remarkable graduation rate for students with disabilities that North Colonie possesses.

“Mr. Semo shares our commitment to providing a very high quality special education program in North Colonie,” Superintendent of Schools, Randy Ehrenberg, said. “He has already proven himself to have the best interests of our students in mind, and he is passionate about making a difference in the lives of our students.”