As we begin, yet another exciting school year, one that is filled with challenges and even some unknowns, it gives me great pleasure to reach out to the members of the ICI community with words of welcome.
As the Chief Executive Officer of the Integrated Curriculum and Instruction Learning Support Organization, an organization designed to support schools and school leadership by customizing services and providing differentiated professional learning opportunities in curriculum integration and leadership development, I look forward to this exciting time in educational history.
Last year was a stellar year for our support organization; despite a more rigorous Quality Review process, 94% of our schools either maintained or improved their Quality Review score. As you visit our website, you will find additional evidence and data to support that this organization had impressive growth on our New York State ELA and mathematics assessments, as well as the our achievements at the high school level on the NYS Regents and Advanced Placement program expansion. These overwhelming results are a source of great pride and accomplishments validating the good work currently underway in ICI schools.
I am committed to insuring that this year is even more successful and that we, as an organization, will continue to provide high-quality instructional and organizational support to each of our schools, thereby maintaining our commitment to the goals of Children First. Thus, I have designated this year as the “ICI 2008: Year of Sustainable Leadership for the 21st Century” because I firmly believe that committed educators such as those who lead ICI schools, work extremely hard to accomplish great things and achieve their goals and when those successes occur, the next phase is to insure that the evidence of that success be maintained and sustained for those who follow.
As we move forth during this 2008-2009 school year, ICI-- 363 schools strong-- we will continue to be a learning support organization that is “unique” in nature, “diverse” in structure and “differentiated” in our approach to building the capacity of our schools in this era of accountability. I urge and challenge you to continue working as a collaborative community knowing that I, my Senior Leadership Team, Executive Officers for Instruction and Research and Development team will continue to support your efforts to sustain your great achievements. I invite you to visit our website and to find out more about what makes ICI the unique community that I am proud to lead into the 21st Century.
