April 2024

Hot off the Press! 

On behalf of the Office of District Initiatives, Planning, & Accountability, we hope you all had a wonderful April recess, and we look forward to a strong finish to the end of the 2023-2024 school year, between now and the end of June. Between the launch of ServiceNow to engage data requests, and our continuous examination of using best practices to support systems and growth in using data to inform actions, our office remains busy! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions or wonderings, and we wish everyone a terrific last quarter to the year! 

Mr. DiCaprio & the DIPA Team 

NYSED has posted information for the School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP) development

See the linkS for information at:  School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP) 

The School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP) is the tool developed by the Department to support schools in planning and organizing their improvement efforts in the upcoming year.  Any school that is supported through the Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) support model, the Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) support model, or the Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) support model will be required to work with stakeholders to develop an SCEP for the upcoming school year.  The Department has organized the work teams will do into six different team activities prior to writing the SCEP:

After the school has completed the steps above, the school team will write a plan to guide the school for the upcoming year.  The template provided by the Department for schools in the CSI, ATSI, and TSI support models is organized around the following components:

DUE:  July 1, 2024 TO THE OFFICE OF DISTRICT INITIATIVES, PLANNING, AND ACCOUNTABILITY


NYSED has developed an improvement planning process for all schools rooted in the concepts of:

The Data Dish:

The Data Team has moved over to Servicenow.   We appreciate your help with this new process.  This will allow us to ensure we capture all requests and create an efficient system for the Data Team.  Please access Servicenow on your Launchpad on Classlink and follow the instructions below:

https://scribehow.com/shared/Log_in_to_ServiceNow_and_access_District_Initiatives_Planning_and_Accountability_catalog_items__zR_Bzj0_TAaqgYBuKr6N8w


New Dashboard Additions - The Early Warning Dashboards below now include additional filters for program involvement:

Elementary Early Warning System

Middle Early Warning System

High School Early Warning System


Grade Attendance Dashboard now includes a filter for team sports

The Transportation Times

UPDATE - Trip finder is up and running! Our focus was to go paperless and it has been a success. Trip finder is a 4-step process for approvals to submit field trips from all schools and programs. It is imperative that all PO'S (BLUE COPY) be submitted to Transportation 1 week prior to the trip date to make sure our vendors are being paid timely and your service is being scheduled. Thank you for your cooperation and feedback. We will continue to progress with this program to include billing and other features which will allow you to run multiple reports to keep you informed. 


Schenectady City School District has approximately 6 afterschool programs that are actively running. We have approximately 300 students who attend these programs and they end between 5:30pm and 6:30pm, with some students being transported home by 7:30pm. Now that the colder weather and dark nights have arrived, please make sure our students are properly dressed for the walk and bus ride home with hats,coats,boots and mittens. For any students who require a parent at a corner stop, please make sure they arrive 10 minutes prior to the drop off time to ensure the students have a safe walk home. 


Please note that all transportation hardship requests should be emailed to hardshiprequests@schenectadyschools.org.


Lastly, I wanted to share that your feedback is important and continues to help us ensure our efforts to provide safe and efficient transportation. This feedback is invaluable for us now and into the future if we are going to continue to make progress. Thank you for your support and communication.

The Registration Record

UPDATE - Our office has moved - our new address is 530 Liberty Street, Schenectady, NY 12305.

Hours are 7:30am - 3:30 pm  


Remember ALL changes In Infinite Campus must come to Registration  to be done   Please contact registration@schenectadyschools.org with questions.


Please send all hardship requests to hardshiprequests@schenectadyschools.orgThe committee meets once a month and families receive their responses within two weeks.

STAFF TRAC

UPDATE - All Conference Requests for 2023-2024:  Please allow 6 weeks for any conference approval AND 10 weeks for the approval process to take place for any overnight and long distance travel.  Also, please ensure you receive approval from your Principal or direct supervisor and secure funding before entering into StaffTrac.  NOTE: even if the District is sponsoring the conference/event, your Principal/direct supervisor must give approval to attend.   All conference request forms available in SchoolFront for all employee groups.  We are working on clarifying this information for certain groups. Teachers/admin should be using the SchoolFront forms already. 

Building Principals/Secretaries - Please remember to enter ALL building faculty meetings in StaffTrac.  Each event must have a description and/or agenda attached.  All staff enrolled need to be marked as 'Attended' or 'Did not attend' after the meeting.  

If you would like StaffTrac training, please contact Natasha Bangaroo at: bangarooh@schenectadyschools.org.

The HomeSCHOOL review

Home School/Instruction continues to be supported for 2023-2024! If you have interested families looking for information, please inquire to see that they have reviewed their intent with the Principal or Counselors.  Please remember to ask the following questions of families/guardians before referring to homeschooling:

We have developed a "Fact Sheet for Counselors" to assist the conversations with families about homeschooling.  Please let us know if  you have any questions.


Homeschooling families are required to complete an end of the year assessment each year.  They are able to participate in the Gr 3-8 NYS Assessments if they wish; however, would need to make arrangements with the Office of District Initiatives, Planning, and Accountability first.  Please direct them to contact Tracy Angelini, if there are any questions.

the grants gazette

UPDATE - Please check your Grant-Funded Timesheets for accuracy before signing and sending them to the Grants Department. Timesheet comments must align with the description in the budget.  For instructional staff, indicate contact hours when working directly with students; and non-contact hours for staff meetings and professional development.  Timesheets also need accurate totals. All grant-funded timesheets will be returned to buildings for revision if not filled out correctly.    

Please contact Christy Ferri at ferric@schenectadyschools.org if you have any questions regarding grants or title funding. 

Wait, there is more! 

Supports for CSI and ATSI schools

DTSDE Framework 

The DTSDE Framework outlines effective practices organized along the DTSDE Tenets. The framework is a reference tool to assist schools in examining the practices and engaging in reflective dialogue to improve practice.


School Comprehensive Education Planning (SCEP) for 2024-2025 is beginning.  Each school building is required to complete a SCEP for the next year.  Each building will be including stakeholders in this development (i.e., staff, teachers, students, families).  Some of the SCEP development is referenced in the following:

School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP)

The School Comprehensive Education Plan (SCEP) is the tool developed by the Department to support schools in planning and organizing their improvement efforts in the upcoming year.  Any school that is supported through the Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) support model, the Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) support model, or the Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) support model will be required to work with stakeholders to develop an SCEP for the upcoming school year.  The Department has organized the work teams will do into six different team activities prior to writing the SCEP:









NYSED has developed an improvement planning process for all schools rooted in the concepts of:

AND, YET - MORE GOOD NEWS - NYS GR 3-8 TESTING FOR 23-24

2023–24 School Year Elementary- and Intermediate-level Testing Schedule per NYSED

UPDATED - SCSD Testing Schedule for 2023-2024



NYSAA ELA, Math, and Science

Monday, March 11 - Friday, June 7;  Make-ups must be given within the testing window


Regional testing window for each content by NERIC - dates for SCSD - all district Gr 3-8: 

We finalized the dates to administer the CBT and PBT as follows:


Middle Schools (Gr 6-8)


Elementary Schools (Gr 3-5)


NOTE:  NYSESLAT - 4/15 thru 5/24 - PBT only


Contact Tracy Angelini if you have any questions.

our crew

518-881-3405

Joseph DiCaprio - Assistant Superintendent of District Initiatives, Planning, and Accountability (X36979)

Tracy Angelini - Director of Planning & Accountability (X36976)

Christy Ferri - Assistant Director of Grants and Title Funding  (X36917)

Julia Ciaccio - Grant Writer (x36942)

Natalie Cable - Manager of Data and Information  (X36972)

Hector Gallardo - Senior Data Analyst  (X36973)

TBD - Data Analyst  (X36919)

Natasha Bangaroo- Assistant Manager of Data (X36937)

Jimmy Rampersaud - Assistant Manager of Data (X36926)

TBD - DIPA Project Manager 

Alissa Diamond - Executive Secretary II  (X36974)

Katy Vacca - Registrar/Principle Clerk  (X36928)

Aimee Demarest - Registration Secretary (X36929)

Al Valachovic - Transportation Supervisor  (X36911)

Nicole Stabinski - Transportation Assistant  (X36912)

Heather Wilson - Transportation Assistant  (X36940)

Bianca Rivera - Secretary (Transportation) (X36979)