Webutuck releases 2024 standards assessment results

AMENIA — At Webutuck’s Board of Education meeting on Monday, Dec. 2, the discussion centered on the results of computer-based testing in the content areas of English language arts and mathematics as potential changes to the curriculum may be imminent, based on the scoring.

Webutuck Superintendent Ray Castellani said the tests administered to the students are “grade-level standards,” containing different material, based on each student’s grade from third to eighth grade to identify challenge areas.

“What you’re going to see is our proficiency rates from three to eight, English language arts and mathematics. We have them broken down at the administrative level to share with teachers, building principals, obviously to break down and go over the data at a much more micro level,” Castellani said. “Notice, as you want to go through this, percentages for us are very difficult because two or three students persuade percentages tremendously.”

The New York State Education Department utilizes a scoring system of one through four, with one representing a student scoring below standards. The highest possible grade students can score on both the English and mathematics assessments is a four. The exams are given annually to third through eighth graders during the spring.

The presenters provided statistics on proficiency across grade levels. A student is considered proficient if they score a three or four on the test. In English, 22% of third graders, 32% of fourth graders, 5% of fifth graders, 29% of sixth graders, 48% of seventh graders and 26% of eighth graders were ranked as proficient.

For mathematics, from 2023 to 2024, 30% of third graders, 59% of fourth graders, 16% of fifth graders, 29% of sixth graders, 80% of seventh graders, and 20% of eighth graders all received an exam score of three or four.

“Because we are such a small population per class size, we looked at our mobility reports and we broke down our mobility reports by demographic and also by grade level to see how many students left and entered that way,” Marquis said. “So in the internal process of uncovering these scores, we really did look at several different factors here.”

For the English exam in the school year 2021 to 2022, zero percent of sixth graders scored a three or four, compared to 29% in 2024. However, 62% of seventh graders were proficient in 2022, meaning seventh grade proficiency dropped roughly 22.5% in 2024.

“There are definitely some areas where we will continue to make progress and to really examine and kind of put a microscope over what’s going on in those grades,” Marquis said.

“We also drill down this data to some groups,” she said. “So we really are looking at the cohort for students with disabilities, English language learners. We’re looking at general education. We are looking at students with lower socioeconomic status and then students who do not have any socioeconomic disadvantage. So we’re really trying to look at all of the subgroups to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all of our students.”

The board compared different Hudson Valley school districts with backgrounds and demographics similar to those of Webutuck’s. This allowed the school to visualize where their students’ placements were and how to adjust the curriculum if needed.

“We found District A and District B, and we compared them to ourselves to see how we were comparatively to districts with similar demographics and similar size and then we looked at the New York State percent position as well,” Marquis said. “So that’s where we fell for overall three through eight RELA (Reading and Language Arts) comparison.”

Marquis explained why the number is lower than it should be for the school’s academic influence.

“One of the major contributors for the numbers … is the number of students that did not take the assessment, opted out, and many times those students are coming from a higher functioning places in their curriculum and parents choose not to have them there,” Castellani said. “So those scores not being added, that sways those percentages. Five students is a major number.”

During the instructional council, department and data meetings, these concerns have been brought to the attention of faculty experts at different levels to hopefully get more students to trend upward this following year, Marquis said.

“So there’s lots that we have to dig down,” Castellani said. “We know that scores need to be improved. It’s not the easiest way to go on. It’s really peeling back the layers and trying to do that.”

Castellani has said Webutuck is offering after-school programs to aid students who were not able to score above a three while also helping students gain higher scores who did surpass that threshold. Webutuck also has a number of academic intervention services, including interventions during the school day. This is where groups of students are taken out of their classrooms to further their education with additional assistance.

“Last year, we had an after-school program … to work on scores of those students,” Castellani said. “We want to see if that program did, in fact, make a difference, and if it did, then we should probably duplicate it.”

Latest News

Back to school
Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.


Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton’s Demitasse shutters Main Street storefront, goes digital

Demitasse owner Hayden McIntosh Geer said she is excited by the shift to online sales.

Photo by Hayden McIntosh Geer

MILLERTON — Some might have argued that launching an in-person retail business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t advisable. But against all odds, Demitasse in Millerton managed not only to build a thriving, mission-based brand in a small storefront on Main Street, it developed a loyal customer base and provided a welcoming space for visitors. Last week, Demitasse announced it is closing-up shop and moving fully online.

“We are excited,” said owner Hayden McIntosh Geer, who opened Demitasse with her husband, Richard, in 2020. “Though we will miss our customers and the camaraderie on Main Street, it feels right and there was no second guessing.”

Keep ReadingShow less
New Millerton police cruisers arrive to replace fire-ravaged vehicles

Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.

The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Fashion Feeds on track to raise $100,000 for Food of Life Food Pantry

Erin Rollins of Millbrook in the Fashion Feed booth, open year round, at the Millbrook Antiques Mall. All proceeds from Fashion Feeds go to the Food of Life Pantry.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLBROOK – In a time when optimism and unity can feel elusive, sometimes a walk down Franklin Avenue is enough to feed the soul. With Millbrook Community Day just around the corner, one highlight will be Fashion Feeds, a community effort led by Millbrook native Erin Rollins, whose mission is to fight local hunger.

The concept is simple. People donate new or gently used designer fashion, which is sold at affordable prices, and all proceeds benefit The Food of Life/Comida de Vida Pantry at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia.

Keep ReadingShow less