Preliminary Report Card, College Application Process Presented by School Board

On Thursday night, the Commack Board of Education held a specialized presentation during its meeting to deliver a New York State School Preliminary Report Card to the board, as well as the people in attendance.  Presented by David Weiss, assistant superintendent for secondary education, it explains where  stands in Suffolk County, with its accountability to meet certain standards.

 was above almost every state target index. One of the more striking percentages was the amount of 2003 Commack graduates that obtained a College Degree as of September 2009, which was 60 percent. 

"Commack continues to be a wonderful source of education for all students, and we're going to strive to be even better as time goes on," said David Weiss.

Closing on that statistic, it lead right into The College Planning Process presentation.  "We try to get the college application process going early," John Macaluso, guidance counselor, said.   

He discussed events that Commack holds to aid in the students decision process, and tools they can use such as a computer program called Naviance, which will give students an idea of where they stand compared to other students in Commack High School.

James Del Giudice spoke shortly after Macaluso, providing an energetic and personality driven aspect to the presentation.  He wanted to demonstrate the importance of how colleges examine all four years of the student's scholastic performance, not just their eleventh grade year.  

In doing so, he invited a student to stand with him and repeat adamantly: "Ninth and Tenth grade count for college."  His character and clarity resonated with everyone at the meeting.

Both Del Giudice and Macaluso expressed a passion for not only helping students with the academic aspect of applying, but the personal elements as well.  They recognized it is a stressful time in the student's lives. 

"We try to help them de-stress and deal with the human elements," Macaluso said.