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Mount Vernon School Officials Report On 'State Of The District'

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. -- Mount Vernon Superintendent of Schools Kenneth R. Hamilton, and his team of administrators and principals presented the "State of the District" address Thursday. 

Mount Vernon Schools Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton

Mount Vernon Schools Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton

Photo Credit: MVCSD

Hamilton explained that each school is giving its own “State of the School” address to parents, but the districtwide presentation was an opportunity to show city residents all of the improvements made over the past year and update residents on statistical information on its student body. 

Highlights of the presentation included the following: 

  • The Superintendent’s Office is now providing a greater level of engagement with families, the community, as well as state and federal officials after a realignment of central office procedures and protocols to enhance customer service. The district also launched its Family and Community Engagement Office.
  • Mount Vernon passed its largest bond ever for capital improvements ($108 million). About $50 million is bookmarked for physical repairs to the school buildings.
  • The district now has 8,209 students, an increase of 19 over last year.
  • The district is looking into more benchmark and formative assessments to drive its instructional practices. It is also revising curriculum mapping to ensure that programs are vertically aligned.
  • Students read nearly 100,000 books this year in the Ongoing Literacy Initiative reading challenge. Students who meet the district’s reading challenges will be invited to an end-of-year carnival.
  • The district implemented four full-day pre-kindergarten classes, which will be used as a model for expansion to full-day pre-K districtwide.
  • Career and Technical Education enrollment is the highest it has been in four years as there has been an 83.3 percent increase in course options over the prior year.
  • Human Resources has introduced two professional development coordinators and is redesigning professional development and training for both principals and administrators as well as teachers.
  • The number of students enrolled in advanced math courses (Algebra 2, PreCalculus, Calculus, Statistics and AP Calculus) has more than doubled – to 496, from 231 the previous year.
  • The district inked a $44 million energy performance contract, the largest of its kind in New York State history. There will be no cost to taxpayers.

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