One Mount Vernon Digital Newsletter
April 5, 2024
MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
Greetings MVCSD Community,
In our math classes, students are partaking in interactive projects that allow them to create rather than just solve problems. In Miss Cruz’s class at Edward Williams School, her students were fully engaged as they completed their geometry work this week. They created shapes, solved equations and went home with a great understanding of the mathematical concepts she taught them. In all subjects, we are using hands-on learning and exciting lessons to make learning fun. As I have said before, we are taking our students Back to Basics and Forward to Mastery.
Our Summer Reading Challenge was also geared towards making learning fun. Students went on a summer reading adventure with guided lessons, and our top readers were celebrated last Friday. Students in Lincoln School read the most minutes this summer, and they were rewarded with a visit from Clifford! Clifford also visited five other schools to personally award the top readers of each grade level. Thank you to Marybeth Rhodes, our Director of Humanities, for giving our students such an exciting opportunity to continue improving their literacy.
This week, the Mount Vernon City School District took a unified stand against bullying and hate of all types during Unity Day. We encourage positivity and kindness throughout the year with a number of initiatives, such as Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions, but we have put an even greater emphasis on that during Bullying Prevention Month. Our No Place for Hate Coordinators, led by Dr. Jamal Doggett, have done a wonderful job of ensuring that this message permeates through the entire District.
I would like to highlight a student who achieved something outstanding recently. As an eighth grader, Mali Cerease competed in her second straight sectionals tennis tournament. Not even in high school yet, she is competing against some of the top tennis players in the state and making Mount Vernon so proud. Keep it up Mali!
Kindest Regards,
Dr. K. Veronica Smith
Acting Superintendent of Schools
SIXTH GRADE CLASS AT EDWARD WILLIAMS SCHOOL LEARNS HOW TO FIND THE AREA OF SHAPES
Clarice Cruz’s sixth-grade math class at Edward Williams School has been learning about geometric principles during their lessons, and they continued this work with hands-on activities on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. In this class, they worked on finding the area of parallelograms and triangles using geoboards and rubber bands.
CLIFFORD VISITS SIX SCHOOLS TO CELEBRATE SCHOLASTIC SUMMER READING CHALLENGE
Children cheered on their classmates and were treated to a visit from Clifford the Big Red Dog during the Mount Vernon City School District’s Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge celebration on Friday, October 11, 2024. The students with the most minutes read during the summer at six schools received books and trophies from the District to recognize their accomplishments.
MVCSD SPORTS ORANGE SHIRTS IN SUPPORT OF UNITY DAY
On October 16, 2024, students, teachers, and staff of the Mount Vernon City School District celebrated Unity Day by sporting orange shirts to convey a united message that no child should ever experience bullying.
MALI CEREASE COMPETES IN NYS SECTION 1 TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Mali Cerease, an eighth-grade student at Mount Vernon Honor Academy, recently qualified for and competed in the New York Section 1 Sectional Singles Tennis Tournament. She played her opening-round match on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at Harrison High School.
BUILDING CONFIGURATION SURVEY 3
The Mount Vernon City School District thanks the community for their participation in its two K-8 building configuration surveys released in January and February 2024. The District has heard your input and will be establishing a committee to implement a transition from its current K-8 building configurations to a more age-appropriate and cost-effective model. 73% of respondents supported a change in the building configuration in our first survey and 59% supported a change in the second survey.