District 25 superintendent reviews midyear data, previews events and summer program window

Dr. Michael D'Antona, superintendent of New York City Geographic District #25, presented a midyear report to the District 25 President's Council on the district's assessment results, attendance trends and upcoming family events.

D'Antona said the district has completed its midyear diagnostic assessments and compared current performance to the same point last year. "We are in a very similar place to where we were last year, 0.37 below where we were in K to 2 last school year at this time," he said, adding that some subgroups showed gains while others require further support.

The superintendent said Black learners improved by more than 3 percent year over year and students with individualized education programs improved by about 7.5 percent. He identified English language learners as a subgroup that still needs targeted language supports and said the district will continue to disaggregate data and monitor progress.

D'Antona walked the council through district priorities including literacy (K'2), explicit instructional practice, mathematics routines and parent engagement. For example, he said, "We have more information accessible for you tonight, to share a little bit about the progress that we've made and additional work that we need to get accomplished as a school." He reported modest year-over-year gains on i-Ready and MAP indicators in several subgroups but said more acceleration is needed in targeted areas.

On mathematics, D'Antona said the district has seen nearly 2 percent improvement year over year and highlighted Algebra 1 performance: "Algebra 1 students right now are, nearly 79 percent of our learners are in the high high average range," a result he said indicates many students are ready to move to geometry.

D'Antona also described family-facing programs and events: a wellness day developed with Common Point Queens, UFT and MindUP emphasizing mental and physical wellness; a family civics night tied to comic-book curriculum materials; recorded and live workshops on i-Ready and Acadience for parents; and Project Soapbox, where students produce persuasive speeches and calls to action. He said summer program applications open Tuesday, March 4, and close Friday, March 28. He described program dates and schedules: K'5 programs run July 2'Aug. 15 (Monday'Friday), while middle-school sessions for grades 6'8 run July 2'Aug. 8, with the DOE portion of some programs operating Monday'Thursday.

D'Antona emphasized attendance and its academic link, saying chronic absenteeism remains a concern and that the district's overall chronic absenteeism rate is "just under 20 percent"; he added that racial/ethnic subgroups vary, with white learners near 21 percent chronically absent and Asian learners just under 10 percent. "There is a clear relationship between student performance and attendance," he said, urging families to keep sick children home while otherwise supporting regular attendance.

The superintendent closed by noting the district will administer a second round of student SEL surveys and promised an update at the next President's Council meeting.

For parents and PTA leaders, D'Antona urged school-level outreach on diagnostic results: "I encourage all of our families, if you haven't received that information, that you're reaching out to your schools asking for it," he said.