Education

Parents, business leaders and local clergy came together Monday afternoon to call on the state to ensure all students have access to critical courses in high school.

A new report from the New York Equity Coalition shows that many black and Latino students don’t have the same access to high level and advanced placement courses as their white peers.

Cell phones will be off limits for students in the Greece Central School district starting this fall.

The new policy says the personal devices have to be turned off and stored out of sight during class time.  Students who violate the rule will have their phone taken away during the school day.

Olympia Middle and High Schools had already given teachers the option of banning cell phones in classrooms for the past two years.

Principal Marc Fleming said virtually every high school student owns a device, and they are distracting.

New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia made a number of stops in Rochester Monday and Tuesday along with members of her administration and the State Board of Regents.

Regents T. Andrew Brown and Wade Norwood, who are both from the Rochester area were involved with the visit, as was Regent Roger Tiles, who is the Chair of the board’s cultural education committee, and Mark Schaming, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education.

NYS Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has named a new “Distinguished Educator” to help the Rochester City School District improve its academic performance.

Jaime Aquino was named to that post on Wednesday. Elia says that Aquino has worked in education for more than 30 years, starting his career as a bilingual teacher in Queens, and then working in leadership roles in Los Angeles, Denver and Hartford, CT.

University Preparatory Charter School in Rochester has named an interim president.

Edward Cavalier spent nearly 15 years as principal at East High School. After retiring from that position, he held positions at the city district’s Dream Schools Program and Rochester Leadership Academy, as well as spending five years as CEO for Urban Choice Charter School and interim principal at Young Women’s College Prep.

RIT used an evening of arts and entertainment on Thursday to announce a $1 billion fundraising campaign.

President David Munson told more than 2,000 invited guests at RIT’s Gene Polisseni Center that it is the largest fundraising effort in the university’s history.

Longtime West Irondequoit School Superintendent Jeff Crane is retiring. 

That word came Thursday from the school board, which notes that Crane has served that district for more than 21 years, including the last 15 years as Superintendent.

Crane will retire as of January 1, 2019.

Officials say Crane has overseen numerous projects including the implementation of full day kindergarten, and worked to foster long-term financial stability for the district.

He has also served as Chairperson of the Urban-Suburban Transfer Program Governance Committee

The president of a charter school in Rochester who has been part of a story that gained national attention after the school’s valedictorian wasn’t allow to speak at graduation has left that school.

A statement released Monday from University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men says it has accepted the retirement of the school’s president, Joseph Munno.

The Rochester City School District has been awarded almost $4 million in grant money to support “well-rounded educational opportunities.”

The $3.75 million grant distributed by the state comes from a $28.5 million pot of federal money designated for “persistently dangerous” low-income schools with “consistently underperforming subgroups of students.”

Schools could apply for grants in one of three categories: safe and healthy students, effective use of technology, and well-rounded educational opportunities.