Posted October 1, 2012

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

The first full month of the 2012-2013 school year has gone well as the students have adjusted to the daily grade level routines. This school year will be one with many new challenges facing not only students, but faculty and administrators as well.

As you may be aware, schools in New York State are mandated to implement a new evaluation system for teachers and principals for the 2012-2013 school year. This is known as the Annual Professional Performance Review, or APPR. Part of this new process involves measuring the growth and achievement of students. In fact, according to the law, forty percent of teacher and principal evaluations will be comprised of student achievement data.

As we begin to develop baseline data to help inform our instruction and to identify what students may already know in a particular class, many classes completed pre-assessments during the month of September and will finish in early October. The assessments will not be factored into the student's grade-point average or appear anywhere on a student's report card. They are merely meant to allow us to improve instruction and the performance of students in class.

While these assessments will not carry any academic weight, we expect our students to take these seriously and do their best so that we can gather the most information possible to help our students grow and succeed.

Once again, I thank you for your continued cooperation and support. I look forward to
seeing you soon.

Sincerely,

D. Joseph Corr

Superintendent of Schools