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South
Orangetown Central School District
160
Van Wyck Road • Blauvelt, NY 10913 • (845)680-1050 • Fax
(845)680-1900
September, 2009
Dear Parents:
Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year! This is the time when we
again set aside the pleasures and relaxation of the summer to
begin a new school year. Teachers and administrators have been
working and learning throughout the summer in preparation for
what has the potential to be an exciting year for our students.
Beginning my second year as South Orangetown Central School
District’s Superintendent of Schools, I am looking forward to
continuing some of the projects that were identified in 2008 or
continued from previous years. Our website has information about
such work, and I encourage you to visit it for periodic updates
about various school initiatives.
While 2008-2009 was fraught with significant fiscal
challenges, the Board of Education, administrators, and staff
collaborated in order to develop a fiscally responsible budget
without seriously impacting the quality of instruction. I want
to assure you that such an approach will continue.
In 2008, I had indicated that the district had identified four
priorities:
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Provide Students
with Skills for the 21st Century
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Address the
Diverse Needs of Learners
-
Foster a
Respectful Learning Environment
-
Enhance Student
Literacy
While it is true
that we should always be preparing students for the future,
ensuring that they are equipped with the fundamentals of
civility and literacy, and meeting the learning potential of all
of our students, it was determined that the district needed to
develop a set of formalized goals with a more systematic
approach towards enhancing the nature of the work that we do in
these areas. As a result, we have developed K-12 multi-year
action plans that are addressed in various ways at each school
and articulated across the system. Drafts of the action plans
can be found on the district website, along with related
information.
As part of this work, in the fall we will be asking the
community to provide us with their perceptions about the quality
and ways in which the district educates its students. Additional
information about an on-line survey will be made known to all in
the next several weeks.
During my first year, I have learned that with few exceptions
this is an active professional staff that is engaged in an
ongoing effort to develop their instructional skills, create an
exceptional curriculum for our students, and assess current
programs and practices to support student learning. I have also
learned that the community places a high value on the reputation
and quality of its school system and wants to ensure that its
excellence will be maintained.
Last year, I wrote that “our future as a country and as members
of a global community will be contingent upon the success of our
graduates; hence, it is imperative for all that we provide them
with a robust foundation that includes curricular flexibility
and challenges that will prepare them to be creators and
innovators who are ready to tackle life’s challenges.” This will
continue to be the case. We cannot overemphasize the importance
of having an education that will provide our students with those
skills that have been identified for success in an assortment of
rapidly changing environments (e.g., technological, political,
ecological, economic, etc.):
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Critical
thinking, problem solving skills
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Collaborative
leadership skills
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Adaptability and
the ability to use a variety of tools to solve problems
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Initiative and
entrepreneurialism
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Effective oral
and written communication abilities and presentation skills
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Ability to
access and analyze information and process this information
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Curiosity and
imagination
These attributes
suggest that students graduate with the abilities to be ready to
change, adapt, and create throughout their lives when there is
such unpredictability and rapid change. Assuring that all of our
students leave the South Orangetown School District with such a
preparation is a daunting responsibility. But we are not in it
alone, and operate with the assumption that parents, teachers,
and all of the system’s educators are partners in making this
happen. While there may be times when we may all not agree on
the ways to achieve this goal, it is safely assumed that there
is agreement about the outcomes that we want for our children.
Once again, I ask you to join us in this partnership and wish
great happiness, success, and health to all students, teachers,
and district families as we begin the 2009-10 school year.
Ken Mitchell, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Tappan Zee High School South Orangetown Middle School
Cottage Lane Elementary School
Tappan Zee
Elementary School William O. Schaefer Elementary School
Early Childhood Program
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