Welcome to the Lake Shore Central School District web site.

It is hard to imagine that we are already more than two months into the school year and have successfully gone through the Opening Day, Homecoming festivities and various other fall celebrations.

I am always reinvigorated at the start of the school year as it is an opportunity for new beginnings and implementing various change efforts. More significantly, it has been apparent since the beginning of the school year that there is a sense of growing pride in the Lake Shore School Community. Students and Community members are commenting that they are proud to be in the Lake Shore School Community because, "It is a great place to live"; "We have one of the best schools"; "The teachers are nice"; "There is a wonderful partnership with the Parent Teacher Groups"; "We have a Bully Program"; and one of my favorites from a second grader, "I like to do fun stuff like Math".

These comments are just some of the reflections, but are indicative of the apparent ground swell of pride that the School-Community is experiencing. This feeling will continue to be infectious and, in turn, be the catalyst necessary to allow us to accomplish some very lofty, yet achievable goals.

The key goal that I would like to focus on in this issue of the Eagle Express, is the first Board of Education goal for the 2006-2007 school year. This goal is critical on two fronts. First and foremost, it addresses student achievement. Secondly, it is essential, that, as the Lake Shore School-Community, we have a collective understanding of achievement so that in the end we can attain this goal together.

The first goal for the Board of Education is as follows:

1. By June 30, 2008, there will be a 10% improvement in the achievement gap for students in grades 3-12 on the NYS assessments.

You may be asking yourself, "Okay, so what does this really mean?" Well, I am sure you are aware that through the No Child Left Behind initiative, New York State has instituted a new assessment format that formally assesses all students in the third through eighth grades in Mathematics and English Language Arts. This is coupled with the standard commencement assessments in high school (Mathematics, English Language Arts, United States History, Global History and a Science).

Through these required assessments, a student's achievement is progressively measured and ultimately, if successful, earns a high school diploma. We are committed to ensuring that all of our students will learn and achieve and, in fact, by 2013 every student needs to demonstrate proficiency in all areas of the core curriculum. Proficiency is measured by achieving a level of a 3 or 4 on the elementary and middle level assessments or a 65 percent or higher on the commencement assessments.

In the areas and/or grade levels where there is a gap between the current achievement levels and the goal of 100 percent proficiency, we intend to make a 10 percent improvement in each gap in every area and/or grade level by June 2008. Please consider the following chart and explanation below:

 
We currently have a performance index of 169 for grade 6 English Language Arts. The performance index is identified by the percentage of students achieving at levels 3 and 4, which is 73 percent, and the percentage of students achieving at levels 2 through 4, which is 96 percent. Therefore, the percentage of students achieving at levels 3 and 4 are counted twice and the percentage of students at level 2 is only counted once for a total performance index of 169. We need to be at a performance index of 200 by 2013. Therefore, the current achievement gap is 31, and the Board of Education goal is to close that gap by 10 percent by 2008. Ten percent of the achievement gap of 31 is 3. We realize that this goal is aggressive; however it is essential if we are to stay committed to ensuring every child learn and reach the mandated performance index of 200 by 2013.

All parents are encouraged to engage in a conversation with their child's teacher with regard to achievement. In fact, at the Parent-Teacher Conferences scheduled for December 7th and 8th, Parent Guides to the New York State Assessments for grades 3 through 8 in English Language Arts and Mathematics will be distributed and can be used for the critical conversation starter. It is vital to remember that the New York State assessments are designed to help ensure that all students reach high learning standards. They indicate whether students are getting the foundation knowledge they need in order to succeed at the elementary, middle and commencement levels and beyond.

In order to bolster the District's efforts in achieving this goal, the Board of Education has identified four key strategies. They are as follows: 1.) Benchmark and assess progress toward the goal; 2.) Educate the Board of Education about current programs, resources and data; 3.) Provide the resources to improve achievement and 4.) Celebrate successes in improving achievement. These key strategies will be monitored throughout the 2006-2007 school year.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to update the School-Community on the progress of the Elementary Attendance Committee that has met three times since the beginning of the school year. The committee has been dedicated to:

Recommend a plan to the Superintendent that balances elementary enrollment, makes appropriate use of elementary buildings, is fiscally responsible, academically sound and in the best interests of the entire district. Such plan should consider current and projected enrollments and class sizes as well as current elementary attendance areas. The recommended plan should be presented to the Superintendent by January 15, 2007.

Thus far, the committee has explored a tremendous amount of data. It has identified several options, including the closing and/or reusing of various elementary buildings or a combination of buildings and, as a result, balancing enrollment accordingly. Another set of options include leaving all elementary buildings as they are currently configured and then balance enrollment across the district to better utilize all buildings. The committee is continuing its efforts and weighing the positive and negative implications of all of these options and will be prepared to make a recommendation shortly. The minutes from all of the meetings can be accessed from our district's web site at www.lakeshore.wnyric.org. All meetings are in the High School Library Media Center and are open to the public.

I wish everyone a wonderful upcoming Holiday Season and a Joyous New Year.

Jeffrey R. Rabey
Superintendent of Schools