To: Nyack School Community

From: Roberta R. Zampolin, Superintendent

Date: October 25, 2001

Re: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EFFORT BOLSTERED BY MEMBERSHIP IN STATE ALLIANCE: Alliance Visit Scheduled for mid November

Nyack Schools' efforts in recent years have been focused on helping each child become the best he/she can be through continuous improvement in all facets of the educational process. To build upon the District's progress we are pleased to report that Nyack has joined the School Alliance for Continuous Improvement (SACI), a coalition of about 30 New York State districts committed to rigorous standards, data- based evaluation, and the sharing of best practices.

SACI provides a blueprint and support for a quality approach to education for membership districts through the exploration of a specific subject area, in Nyack this year Language Arts K-12. Through SACI activities each district learns what their most effective existing programs are, ways to improve from others, how to foster and maintain systemic and continuous improvement, and how to measure and report progress within their schools and to the broader community.

A key to a district's evaluation process, and a requirement of SACI membership, is a comprehensive site visit from a "critical friends" SACI team. Nyack is now preparing for such a four day visit during the week of November 12. Through a well-organized process the team will review District documents, interview members of the school community, visit all of our schools, and analyze District plans. The result will be information and feedback for improvement from a positive perspective that will be extremely valuable as we move ahead.

SACI participation is an exciting, collaborative growth opportunity. We expect the benefits to be far reaching for both the staff and our students. I look forward to keeping you updated about the visit and our SACI partnership.