School Improvement

The Office of School Improvement provides leadership, support, and technical assistance by offering a wide variety of services and resources customized to meet specific needs.  The Mount Vernon City School District is dedicated to providing all students access to a higher and more rigorous level of extended day programs. These programs are designed to target students whose NYSED Assessment scores are below proficiency. The content areas run the gamut from ELA K-8, Literacy, Math K-8, STEAM, Living Environment, Integrated Algebra, ENL, and History. Through sustained partnerships with REACH and Just Inspire, we are able to analyze data and make individual prescriptive educational plans that support student growth, school building leadership and instructional planning.

Students selected to attend these programs engage in meaningful activities that enhance student morale and empower their intellectual mindsets in order to achieve academic success in all subject areas.  These extended day/year programs are held at various schools throughout the District. Funding for these extended day programs come from the following Grants: a) Title I, b) Title IV, c) Sig 6 grant, d) Sig 7 grant, e) Empire State Afterschool Grant, f) NY Gear UP, g) MBK Family & Community Grant, h) community set-aside funding and i) Smart Scholars Grant.

We are very proud to announce that 14 of our schools are “Schools in Good Standing” by the NYSED Office of Accountability. We are ecstatic about the news and equally proud of our principals and their teachers, students, and parents. In conjunction with this truly collaborative effort, we will continue to work hard and develop strategies that will keep us on this upward trajectory for years to come.

Our Priorities: 

• District, School, and Educator Improvement
• State and Federal Accountability Support
• High Quality Professional Learning Opportunities
• Turnaround for Low Performing Schools
• Statewide System of Support
• Student, Parent, and Community Support
• Collaborative Partnerships for Student Success  

Our Plans: 

• Academic Support
• Professional Development
• Analyze data/assessment
• Partnerships
• Funding/allocation of resources
• Family and Community Engagement

Our Partners:
The Office of School Improvement encompasses the programs of Family & Community Engagement, My Brother’s Keeper, Mount Vernon Basics, Title I and Grants.

Our Programs and Community Partnerships:
Our 2024-2025 program offerings and community partnerships include, but are not limited to:

• Summer Distance Learning Programs and STEAM Camps at K-8 Schools
• Mount Vernon STEAM Summer Transitional Program
• Summer School for all schools
• Mount Vernon Basics Training for parents in schools, the community and virtually.
• Pipeline to College Partnership Program at Lehman College
• Smart Scholars Early College High School Program at Concordia College
• Family Microsoft Office Workshop Series, CPR Training, Family Math Night, Family Literacy Night and Parent Parties
• Academy Power Hours after school in all buildings
• NY Gear Up tutoring at Thornton & Mount Vernon High Schools
• Regents Prep and Credit Recovery Academies at MVHS, Thornton, Mount Vernon STEAM Academy, Benjamin Turner Academy, Pennington, and Graham
• Sundown Alternative Program
• Partnerships with College of St. Rose, Concordia College, Syracuse University, Monroe College, SUNY Farmingdale College, Lehman College, and Fordham University
• Mount Vernon Police Department Gang Prevention & Youth Police Academy
• Principal Preparation Program
• MBK Ambassadors Clubs in all schools
• Principals Leadership Academy
• Teacher Center of Central Westchester
• Parent Liaisons