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Schenectady School Year Off to a Great Start
Commissioner
welcomes faculty and staff to new school year
Announces that Sch’dy H.S. is being removed from
state dangerous list
John
B. King Jr., Commissioner of Education, greets
Schenectady City School District faculty and staff
on September 6, 2011. King announced that
Schenectady High School is being removed from the
"Persistently Dangerous Schools" list. |
New York State
Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., joined Board of
Education President Cathy Lewis and Superintendent John
Yagielski in welcoming back the Schenectady City School District
faculty and staff Tuesday morning at Proctor’s Theatre. The big
news of the morning came when King announced to the staff that
Schenectady High School is being removed from the ‘Persistently
Dangerous Schools” list.
 Keynote
speaker Sister Anne Bryan Smollin helped kick off the school
year with her energetic and clever use of humor and story-telling
to deliver the message that laughter, living in the moment and
attitude are the keys to happiness and the best way to reduce
stress.
“This is a great
way to start of the school year,” said Yagielski in response to
the commissioner’s announcement. “What wonderful news for our
high school and our school district,” said Yagielski.
“I want to
compliment you for the progress you’ve made in recent times
under Superintendent Yagielski,” said King. About 1,400 faculty
and staff in attendance applauded loudly when the commissioner
announced that the high school is coming off the list. “This is
an indication of your hard work,” said King.
Schenectady High
School was given the persistently dangerous designation in
2008. Since that time, district administrators and high school
students and staff insisted that the label was not a true
reflection of the school climate.
Superintendent John Yagielski congratulates the
administration and faculty of Schenectady High
School for their hard work. |
Yagielski
applauded the hard work and efforts of the high school
administration and faculty. “This is because of their hard
work.” He also said that the high school faculty and students
never agreed with such labeling. “They never thought their
school was unsafe.” Over the course of the year, he has said
that the students and staff he has talked with are proud of their school and are
upset with the designation.
King also spoke
about the challenging fiscal times and the roles of schools.
“We have to have laser-like focus on college and readiness,” he
said and emphasized that students must achieve for the economy
and democracy.
The commissioner
also talked about his personal experiences in school and noted
the ability teachers have to inspire students. “The teachers
who meant the most to me were those who inspired me,” he said.
“There are a countless number of students in this school
district whose lives will be changed by you.”
King told the
faculty and staff that the job of State Education Department is
to help them make those differences.
“Focus on
students’ long term academic and personal success,” said King.
 School
Board President Cathy Lewis said she is excited to start the new
year and that she is impressed with how much good work has been
done over the last year. “On behalf of the Board of Education,
thank you for joining us today as we start what I’m sure will be
a great year for the Schenectady City School District.
Yagielski gave a
brief overview of the goals that were set last year when he took
over as superintendent and the status of those goals. At the
time, he had appealed to all school and community members for
help writing a new chapter to add to the long and distinguished
history of the school district.
“While there is still room for more growth, my personal
assessment is that collectively we have made Adequate Yearly
Progress on our writing efforts,” said Yagielski. “The start of
the new chapter is well underway and we have gathered enough
evidence to support an accountability status of ‘In Good
Standing’.”
The superintendent
reviewed the three key goals:
-
Rebuilding
community confidence in district leadership
-
Setting the
stage for attracting high qualified candidates for the
Superintendent position
-
Preparing a
2011-12 School Year budget
“It is my belief
that we have made good progress on each of these goals,” said
Yagielski.
When completed,
the budget preserved a full range of programs and services;
continued and sharpened focus on student achievement; reduced
the overall costs by $7.1 million to match available resources;
and held the line on property taxes.
He also said that
in recent months he has received calls from other
superintendents wanting to learn more about the district and
when a search would begin. “This is solid evidence that
conditions are being viewed positively by potential applicants,”
said Yagielski.
Yagielski also
outlined district directions and priorities for the upcoming
school year. “We need to expand our focus for this year,” he
said. The list of priorities includes items such as
implementing the initiatives and changes included in the budget;
implementing school improvement plans, hiring a permanent
superintendent and high school principal; bargaining new
contacts with three employee units; and preparing the 2012-13
budget.
“As we start a new
school year, it is clear that two forces will combine to require
significant changes for school districts across the state,” said
Yagielski. “There will be very limited state and local
resources available for education, plus we need to deal with a
new 2% cap on property taxes.” The second force is the
aggressive reform agenda put in place by the Board of Regents as
part of the Race to the Top initiative, including the new APPR
requirements for teachers and principals.
Yagielski said
Schenectady will feel the impact of these two forces more than
other school district. “Our NCLB accountability status will
lead to greater state oversight, directives and requirements,”
said Yagielski. “Secondly, our local property tax base been
decreasing in value, and most likely will continue to decrease
yielding less local revenues.”
Yagielski said he
has shared the “less than positive” comments so that the
district can be proactive and shape the plans. “We cannot
control or change the forces that impact us,” he said. “But, we
can choose how we respond to those forces.”
Yagielski thanked
the faculty and staff for responding to his request to write a
new chapter. “Each and every day of this past year, I felt your
strong and unqualified support. Your collective resilience and
commitment to our students and our school district provided me
with inspiration throughout the year.”
Sister
Anne Bryan Smollin is a therapist, international
lecturer on humor, laughter, stress and
relationships as well as author of multiple books
gives advice to faculty and staff. Smollin
says "seize the moment." |
Smollin, an author
and international lecturer on humor, laughter, stress and
relationships encouraged the faculty and staff to look at how
they can live in each moment and enjoy the day. “We have to
slow down to the moment in front of us,” she said. “We are
living in yesterday. We can’t change yesterday. We have now.”
Her advice is to
laugh often, be positive, have a positive attitude and avoid
negativity and negative people.
Smollin explained
that happiness is a choice and attitude is important. “Seize
the moment,” she said. “We each need to make the choice to be a
happy person.” She also said that all the district employees
have to be there and support each other.
According to
Smollin, laughing, crying, yawning/stretching and touching make
people feel better. “Laughter helps you cope and deal with
difficult situations,” said Smollin. “It gives us a chance to
relax and swallow energy.” She said we all need to keep
laughter in our day.
Smollin gave all
the members of the staff an assignment. “By 5 p.m. tonight,
identify two laughing buddies,” she instructed.
Starting the year
with a new piece of paper and looking for surprises in your day
are among the many suggestions that Smollin offered the faculty
and staff to stay positive and live happy. “They are things
that allow you to see things different and keep a positive
attitude,” she said. “Hold on to those surprises.”
She also said to
smile and keep eye contact. “Once you look, at them, they are
no longer anonymous,” said Smollin. “You need to do this with
students and faculty.”
She told the
teachers that they have the most important job in the world.
“It’s up to you. You define what this year will be,” said
Smollin. “My wish for you is that Schenectady has the best year
you ever had.”
Schenectady High
School JRTOC presented the Colors for the assembly.
Schenectady
teacher musicians provided musical entertainment while faculty
and staff assembled in Proctors.
Piano: Dave
Gleason
Bass: Mike Lawrence
Drums: Greg Cortelyou
Trumpet: Joel Servant
Trombone: Ben O'Shea
Sax: Keith Pray
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