The Greece Central School District is moving forward with a mandated improvement plan for underperforming schools.
This follows New York state Education Department citations at four elementary schools for low academic achievement among students with disabilities, and Black students.
Deputy Superintendent Mark Fleming said in a recent school board meeting that the district is on an upward trajectory when it comes to improving student academic achievement.
“We started the year with five schools that were cited by the state as being in need of improvement,” Fleming said. “We're very happy to report that one of those schools, Olympia, has met the requirements.”
It took a concentrated effort at that school, he said, and district leaders learned what can work when addressing state concerns over student achievement gaps.
“One of their lead measures was to have an extended school day for students that they saw were on the cusp and with some added support, were confident that they could get across the finish line,” Fleming said. “So, we're learning about the instructional moves we have to make to help move the needle forward.”
The other four schools — Pine Brook, Buckman, Craig Hill, and Lakeshore — are the focus now. Superintendent Jeremy Smalline says it will take a concentrated effort.
“Before there was a lot of autonomy for a school to select what strategies or action steps that you would see an improvement plan,” Smalline said. “In this one coming up, there's instructional strategies that are evidence-based strategies that you must have in your school improvement plan.”
District leaders said the goal is to increase English language arts proficiency from 37% to 53% across grades 3 through 8 by the end of next school year.
