MCS April Break Changed by Commissioner of Education

At its regularly scheduled meeting on September 6, 2011, the Marcellus Central School District Board of Education changed the school calendar for the 2011-12 academic year by moving the April Spring Break ahead a week (April 9 to 13) from the one originally adopted on February 15, 2011. The reason for the mandated change by the Commissioner of Education is so that the New York State Education Department is able to comply with the new NCLB Testing schedule (for Grades 3 to 8) in both English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The new independent vendor for the NYS ELA and Mathematics Tests (Pearson) recently set the test dates in August after they were awarded the NYS contract for these services. The rationale to move the tests up from May is because the scores from the new tests will be used to evaluate teachers and principals as required in the Race-To-The-Top federal grant funding and by the new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) legislation. Please use this new April calendar (located within this newsletter to replace the page in the school calendar mailed out earlier to district residents. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.