Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper
by Bea Peterson
The Hoosick Falls Village Board met for its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 8. During the public comment time Christine Miclette addressed the Board stating how unfair it was to neighboring residents and properties when the issues of continuous traffic in and out of the 42/45 River Street and 3 Third Street properties result in vandalism of adjoining properties. [Read more…] about Village Of Hoosick Falls Board Action – Neighbors Have Had Enough
by Thaddeus Flint
It was a sultry night at the New Lebanon Town Board meeting Tuesday, July 8, a meeting made even more sultry because the air conditioner wasn’t on and some ladies were looking to put the Town back on the map with a museum of sorts that nobody on the Board had ever heard of.
“This is a brand new $500,000 Town Hall,” said resident Johanna Johnson Smith, “and you have to choose between hearing what you guys are saying and being comfortable. For a half a million dollars, shouldn’t there be a solution to that?”
[Read more…] about New Lebanon Town Board Action – Can You Hear Me Now?
by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board held a special meeting on July 7 to consider adoption of Local Laws #1 and #2. The first is a local law to enforce building codes in the Town of Petersburgh, and the second is a law to provide for securing vacant buildings in the Town of Petersburgh.
by Bea Peterson
At the Monday, July 14, meeting of the Hoosick Town Board, Town Supervisor Mark Surdam said the new pool bid package will be advertised this week. Bids will be opened on Friday, August 15. The Board hopes to receive more than one bid this time. Councilman Dave Sutton suggested that possible bidders be contacted and encouraged to submit bids.
[Read more…] about Hoosick Town Board Action – Pool And Playground
by Kieron Kramer
The Rensselaer County Legislature considered 27 resolutions at its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 8. Only four of the resolutions related directly to the communities in the Eastwick area.
Perhaps the most important, at least to the people who live in and around Hoosick four corners, the intersection of NY Rt. 7 and South Street, was the resolution opposing the closure of the Hoosick Post Office. [Read more…] about Rensselaer County Legislature – The Hoosick P.O.
by Kieron Kramer
The regular Berlin Town Board meeting, held on Thursday, July 10, was filled with gratitude – gratitude to Highway Superintendent Jim Winn and his department for installing two flag poles at the Municipal Center in time for the Fourth of July, gratitude to the volunteers who planted, placed and watered the flower barrels along the route of the Berlin July 4 Parade on Main Street and gratitude to the anonymous donor who purchased the pricey, antique Berlin Band drum and donated it to the Berlin Historical Center and to Billy Hammersmith “for bringing it up.” [Read more…] about Berlin Town Board Action – Gratitude
by David Flint
Some 300 alumni and guests attended the New Lebanon High School Reunion held on Saturday, July 12, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pittsfield. This gathering of all the graduated classes gets larger each year thanks to the generosity of Richard Burns, Class of 1949. [Read more…] about New Lebanon High School Reunion 2014
submitted by the Parade Committee
With a crowd as big as ever, hundreds of people lined the parade route despite the threatening weather. The parade brought families, friends and communities together to celebrate our nation’s birthday in spirited hometown tradition. The morning rain subsided before the 11 am start and held off for pretty much the duration of the parade. The only July 4th parade in Rensselaer County was led by local American Legion Taconic Valley Post #937 with Color Guard. They were followed by Grand Marshal, Dianne Mosher with her husband Bruce, driven by John Kellar in his 1950 Jeepster. [Read more…] about A Successful Berlin July Fourth Parade
by Thaddeus Flint
Board member Frank Zwack has been re-elected President by the sitting Board of Education of the Berlin Central School District. According to minutes by Mary Grant of the July 1 re-organizational meeting, the vote was unanimous.
Gina Goodermote was made Vice President; Jim Willis was made Parliamentarian, and Katie Fiske was made Legislative Liaison. Each of these elections was also unanimous.
On the same night, the District’s Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Stephen Young, updated residents on the search for a new Elementary School Principal. The previous Elementary School Principal, Tricia Carlton, will not be returning to BCS this fall as she has taken the position of Elementary School Principal in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk School District.
Young said that around 70 applications for the position were received by the District. As of the beginning of July that number had been whittled down to 10. Once that number is further whittled down to five, a community team of parents, administrators, non-instructionals and teachers will meet with each of the candidates in order to best determine who will be taking the reins at the Elementary School this September. It is hoped that that process will be completed and a hiring made by August.
submitted by Erin Clary, Communications Specialist, BCSD
The numbers are in and Berlin High School is seeing improvement in multiple areas including overall rank, SAT scores and graduation rates. According to the 2014 Schools Report published by the Albany Business Review, Berlin High School ranked number 49 out of 85 districts in the 11 county greater Capital Region. This is up from number 65 last year.
The high school scores were calculated using SAT test scores and performance on Regents exams. Other metrics included graduation performance: the percentages of students who graduate, who graduate with advanced Regents diplomas and who plan to attend a two year or four year college after high school.
The high school ranked number 17 in the Capital Region for its SAT scores and four out of 10 for Rensselaer County.
In addition, the high school is seeing improvements in graduation rates. Although the numbers are not yet in for 2014, in 2013 the Berlin High School graduation rate was at 81 percent, up from 78.9 percent in 2012 and 72.2 percent in 2011.
Most notably, the special education graduation rate was 81.8 percent, up from 52.6 percent in 2012 and 35 percent in 2011.
According to Berlin CSD Board of Education President Frank Zwack, the success in recent years is attributable to the collaborative efforts of the faculty, School Board, administrators, community and the students themselves. In addition, new programs like School within a School and Credit Recovery have been successful in helping to graduate more students on time.
“We’ve been moving forward at a fast pace, identifying areas where we can improve,” said Zwack. “I expect that we’ll maintain and improve this momentum to continue to be successful in the future.”
