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The
mission of the Watervliet City School District is to “Inspire,
Educate and Challenge Every Student, Every Day.”
So, what does this statement
mean for our broadly diverse community of young learners?Our academic philosophy: Educators face many challenges every day. Here at WCSD we are working very hard to close the achievement gap, increase graduation rates and help create a world-class workforce for New York — and we’re making steady progress towards these goals. Our challenge is not to jump over a bar set at a specific height, because the bar should always keep rising. We must set both short- and long-term goals for improvement and put systems in place that provide for constant upward movement. As educators we will have done our job if students leave WCSD prepared to excel in the complex world of the twenty first century through their ability to think, problem solve, and work collaboratively and cooperatively.
Success of all students: Watervliet City Schools is focused on building every students' confidence in themselves as learners, instilling in them both a love of and a desire to learn and developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to communicate effectively and understand the world around them. We want our students to be the best that they can be. We challenge students to show up for school every day, ready to learn and excited about the knowledge they are about to acquire. And we want them to expect the same of us — their teachers, their principals and even the superintendent. All staff members of Watervliet City Schools are focused on student success. Students have many avenues and opportunities to learn, achieve and celebrate academic, personal and employment success. All students will leave our schools prepared for college, career and citizenship.
High Expectations: At Watervliet City Schools, expectations for students, parents and staff are clearly defined, understood and communicated. Students, parents and staff are empowered, supported and trained to meet high expectations. However, expectations alone will not get the job done. Support, understanding, patience and hard work are needed to help us as we rise to meet these high expectations. Watervliet City Schools is proud to be an integral part of the greater community. We know our residents depend on our ability to prepare their children to be the future of their city, the state and our nation. They depend on us to deliver rigorous, relevant education with curriculum that is aligned with learning standards to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century.
Continuous improvement: At Watervliet City Schools, staff, parents and students work together to evaluate progress using multiple, reliable measures and make adjustments when needed to improve student achievement. Good is always the enemy of great. We can never be content to be just "good" enough; we must always strive to be our best. We must encourage our students and ourselves to continuously improve everything we do. We must aim higher, dream bigger and shoot for the stars.
Respect and integrity: Communication and interaction amongst Watervliet school and community members is defined by mutual respect and support. A community of learners must be a community of respect. Positive results can’t occur in an atmosphere that lacks respect. As a school district we must be respectful of our students, our community and each other.
