The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

School News

At Home Test Kits Are Distributed to Area School Districts

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by Doug La Rocque

After some small delays, the school districts in The Eastwick Press coverage area have all reported they have received a supply of the at home COVID-19 tests kits promised over the past weekend by Governor Kathy Hochul. These kits are part of the Governor’s plan to help keep children in the classroom even if a classmate tests positive for the virus. Until this week, such classmates would have been subject to a 5- to 10-day quarantine. Governor Hochul is suggesting these at home test kits be used by parents if they wish to check their child for COVID-19 and if negative, they would be allowed to return to in-classroom learning under the districts’ COVID-19 protocols.

Each test kit contains two tests per student. As Hoosick Falls School Superintendent Pat Dailey stated in a letter to District parents, this is not a [Read more…] about At Home Test Kits Are Distributed to Area School Districts

As Long as the Need Exists They Will Come

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by Doug La Rocque

The Hoosick Falls Central School once again played host to a mass food giveaway in their parking lot on Wednesday, December 29, and once again the vehicles filled the lot and were lined up on NYS Route 22 waiting to get in. In all, 435 households representing 1,421 people were fed. The event is co-sponsored by Catholic Charities, the Capital District Area Labor Federation and the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office. In all, 39 volunteers helped hand out 14,729 pounds of food provided by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

In 2021, Catholic Charities CCMove program held 114 of these food drops, serving nearly 71,000 households.

Plans are underway for several more of these giveaways in 2022, the first in Rensselaer County being on Tuesday, January 25 at the Italian Community Center at 1450 Fifth Avenue in Troy, starting at 9:30 am.

[Read more…] about As Long as the Need Exists They Will Come

A Super(intendent) Job of Thinking Outside the Box

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by Doug La Rocque

Word is getting around town about a substitute bus driver for the Brittonkill (Brunswick) Schools. Not because she is special (she makes it very clear she isn’t) but because of the uniqueness of the situation. District Superintendent Dr. Angelina Maloney is now also known as substitute school bus driver Angelina Maloney.

In a conversation with Dr. Maloney, The Eastwick Press asked her how she came up with the idea to add bus driver to her resume. She told us “We have been facing a shortage of drivers for some time and this year it reached a crisis point. I tried many avenues of recruitment which still did not eliminate the problem so [Read more…] about A Super(intendent) Job of Thinking Outside the Box

Local Olympian Speaks at Tamarac High School

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by Amy Modesti 

Do you know what it takes to be an Olympian? Emma White does.

Tuesday, December 21, White spoke to students inside the Tamarac High School District Auditorium about her Olympic career. The 24-year-old, originally from Duanesburg, now residing in Jersey City, NJ, took up cycling at nine years old. Inspired by her older brother and family at their cycling outings, White made it her mission to become a cyclist. 

Upon becoming a cyclist, she majored in Computer Science at Union College. It was during her college years that she trained under famed coach Kristen Armstrong, and raised her cycling skills to new heights, even taking part in the 2014 and 2015 Junior World Championships. 

Eventually, White made the switch to track cycling and joined the USA Olympic Team [Read more…] about Local Olympian Speaks at Tamarac High School

Hoosick Falls School Board COVID-19 Threat Nearly Compels Remote Learning

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Hoosick Falls School Board

by Alex Brooks

At the Hoosick Falls School Board meeting on Thursday, December 16, there was discussion of a possible need to go to remote learning on short notice because of a high number of COVID-19 cases in the Hoosick Falls community, some of which had shown up among teachers and students. But in the latter part of that week the number of cases dropped and on Friday the District announced that it will not need to switch to remote learning this week.

The Board approved the District’s contract with managerial/confidential employees dated December 13, 2021, which is effective from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2024.  It also approved a contract with the District’s support staff dated December 14, 2021, which is effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025. Superintendent Pat Dailey said the District now has contracts in place with [Read more…] about Hoosick Falls School Board COVID-19 Threat Nearly Compels Remote Learning

January 2022 Regents Exams Cancelled

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Submitted by NYSEG Communications

The January 2022 administration of the High School Regents Examination Program is canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This cancellation applies to all Regents Examinations that had been scheduled for the January 2022 period. No decisions have been made regarding the June and August 2022 administrations of Regents Examinations or any other State assessment programs.

To ensure students are not adversely impacted by the cancellation of the exams, the Department will ask the Board of Regents to adopt emergency regulations regarding the assessment requirements students must ordinarily meet to earn a diploma. Under the proposed emergency regulations, students who are planning to take one or more Regents Examination during the January 2022 examination period at the conclusion of a course of study or make-up program shall be exempt from the requirements pertaining to passing a corresponding Regents Examination to be issued a diploma. To qualify for the exemption, the student must meet one of these requirements by the end of the first semester of the 2021-22 school year:

  • Be enrolled in a course that would ordinarily culminate with a January 2022 Regents Examination and earn credit for such course of study.
  • Complete a make-up program to earn course credit.
  • Be prepared to take a required Regents Examination to graduate at the end of the first semester.

 NYSED is developing additional guidance in the form of an FAQ and will issue that guidance in early January 2022 to address topics such as safety net options, mastery, honors and technical endorsements, so that schools may determine which diplomas to grant to their graduates. Please visit the Department’s COVID-19 Information site for additional information and guidance as it becomes available.

Ron Jones Enters Capital Region Hall of Fame

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by Steve Bradley

Ron Jones, who coached football at Hoosick Falls Central School for 23 years, was inducted as a member of the Class of 2021 Capital Region Hall of Fame Saturday evening.

Jones coached his teams to six straight sectional titles in the 2009-2014 span, state semi-finals and state championship games. At one time, Jones had more wins on [Read more…] about Ron Jones Enters Capital Region Hall of Fame

Berlin School Board Meeting

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Potential Projects Discussed

by Chris Tergliafera

Synthesis Architects were at the meeting to discuss several potential future projects, which include an irrigation system for the sports fields, improved outdoor lighting for both Berlin Elementary and Middle/High School and outdoor learning spaces. Synthesis showed examples of what each project could look like, and an estimate of the cost. It’s important to note that [Read more…] about Berlin School Board Meeting

The Masterminds Are Back at Work

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Submitted by the BCS Communications Department

Berlin Middle/High School is fielding a Modified, Junior Varsity and Varsity Masterminds team again this year as an extracurricular opportunity for students to represent their school in an interscholastic setting.

The quiz bowl competition is for students who enjoy games like Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit. The quiz questions range in topics from art, biology, chemistry, current events, geography, history, literature, music, political science, pop culture, religion and sports.

[Read more…] about The Masterminds Are Back at Work

Berlin Central School District Board Meeting

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by Chris Tergliafera

Many who spoke at the regular meeting of the Berlin Central School District Board on November 16 used their time to recognize the career of Mary Grant, who will retire at the end of December, after 37 years with the District. Mrs. Grant began working as a typist in 1984 and worked her way up to become the Board of Education Clerk. Board President Frank Zwack stated that she always made new staff feel [Read more…] about Berlin Central School District Board Meeting