Shaker High School is proud to announce 21 of its seniors have been named Commended Students in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Each of these talented seniors received a letter of commendation from Principal Marcus Puccioni in honor of the recognition. This group is among 34,000 Commended Students throughout the country who placed in the top five percent of the 1.5 million students who entered by taking the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Congratulations to the following students:
SURYA BOMMASANI
VARUN CHAGANTI
YUNHAN CHEN
FAHIM FIDA
EMMA FREED
YIROU KAO
DEEPAK KILAPARTY
HANA KIM
SANJANA KOLLI
ANGELA LI
EVERITT LI
SAMYA MADHUKAR
SHAYLA MIEU
AYDAN SHAHBAZLI
FARAZ SHAIKH
SNEHA SINHA
ANGAD TENDULKAR
ISHIKA YALAMANCHI
EMILY YANG
ISABEL YANG
RUI ZHENG
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
On Saturday, October 4th, the Shaker High School 11-12 band proudly performed at the Honor Flight ceremony at Albany International Airport.
This powerful event honors veterans with a trip to Washington, D.C., to visit monuments and memorials dedicated to their service. Many veterans personally thanked our band members for the moving performance of military marches bright and early in the morning.
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Willkommen! On Wednesday, twenty-three German students arrived in Latham while twenty-two Shaker students set off for Germany as part of the German student exchange program. Now in its twentieth rotation since beginning in 2006, the program offers students the chance to experience a new culture by traveling abroad and living with a host family. One of the German teachers shared, “It is a friendship that has spanned generations... and we hope it will live on forever.” For many of the visiting German students, this is their first trip to the United States. They are eager to explore New York, including a visit to New York City on Monday!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Shaker kids are doing great things! SHS senior Elena Hymes was one of two students from Capital Region BOCES invited take a trip to the nation's capital to gain leadership and professional skills. Representing New York State, Hymes (pictured left) and her peer Malachi Plaza (pictured right) joined 500 SkillsUSA officers from across the country for the SkillsUSA Washington Leadership Training Institute. Read more on our website at
https://www.northcolonie.org/article/24497677 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Homecoming weekend is here! Shaker High kicked things off with an epic pep rally full of games, performances, and of course the Bison (still nameless by the way, but stay tuned). The fun continues tonight with the Club Parade and Shaker football vs. Albany Falcons at 7 p.m.!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Shaker Latin takes on Union College! Ms. Edythe Malara's Latin II and Latin III students visited Magistra's alma mater on Wednesday and were welcomed into the Classics Department in Schenectady. Faculty members of the department were kind enough to host a breakfast for our students, before immersing them in the many options for courses and content in the Classics.
Later on, students sat in on a presentation by Admissions, went on student-led tours of campus (one by Shaker alumna and current Union Senior Mia!), met Charger the mascot, had lunch in the dining hall and visited the bookstore. We also caught up with several other Shaker Latin alumni who are now Union students.
Magistra Malara was thrilled to show off her former school to her current students and the students were just as excited to be there! Thank you to Dr. Hans-Friedrich Mueller, Dr. Stacie Raucci, Professor Tommaso Gazzarri, Professor Gregory Callaghan and Professor Angela Commito for a wonderful day on campus.
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
On Saturday, September 27th, members of the Shaker community came together for the Out of the Darkness Walk, hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), in honor of Suicide Prevention Month.
Building on last year's work with the Wellness Committee, student's recently founded NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) at Shaker, a mental health awareness club that proudly formed a team for this meaningful event.
We thank everyone who participated in the Out of the Darkness Walk and continues to support mental health awareness and suicide prevention in our community.
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
The Advanced Woods class spent the past few weeks building new raised gardens located in the courtyard of the High School. Several of our gardens were in need of replacement, so the Advanced Woods class went into action. The gardens have a fresh look and will last for years to come.
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
As Safety/Security Monitors in the North Colonie Central School District, Chris Bober and Dewayne Crawford have quickly become familiar names and faces throughout the district. Mr. Bober, who is stationed primarily at Shaker Middle School, has worked for North Colonie since December 2024. Mr. Crawford, who is stationed at Shaker High School, was hired this past summer. During their tenure with the district so far, the duo has enjoyed becoming familiar with their schools, students, and community. Though they are stationed at different schools, they are in constant communication with each other. They are also in agreement on one very important thing - they love the work and supporting the district in any way they can.
“At the end of the day, we're a resource for the district,” added Mr. Bober. “If anybody ever has any question or anything … reach out to us. We’re here to help everybody, not just at the high school and middle school.”
Read more about Mr. Bober and Mr. Crawford on our website:
https://www.northcolonie.org/article/24447877 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Please join us in congratulating Shaker High School senior Yunhan Chen on his accomplishments at the International History Olympiad! Yunhan, a member of the Varsity History Bowl Team at SHS, competed this past July at the International History Olympiad in Paris, France. He represented New York in the Varsity Division and won a gold medal in the Table Combined competition, which combines table tennis and history buzzer questions. Yunhan also placed 5th in the Historical Spelling Bee and he finished 17th overall out of 66 International competitors in the Varsity Division based on his exceptional performance on the Battery Exam. That rigorous exam assesses knowledge in all areas of the world including such topics as International History and Historiography. Congratulations to Yunhan on these three impressive accomplishments!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Fall is here! Join us for the Third Annual Fall Family Festival on Thursday, Oct. 9 from 5-7 p.m. in Shaker High School’s lower courtyard. This free event is open to all North Colonie students and families! Proceeds will support our school gardens across the district. There will be plenty of fun for kids and families, with food, art, music, raffles, activities, and more!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Today was all yellow at the North Colonie CSD! North Colonie students and staff were invited to wear yellow in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - and the halls were filled with yellow. Here are a few photos from the day!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Students in the NCCSD Transitions Program got to work in the kitchen this week, baking zucchini muffins. The students worked as a team to assemble the muffins, making sure all the ingredients were measured and mixed correctly. The end results were delicious!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Students at Shaker High School and Shaker Middle School were treated to a performance from Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra on Friday, Sept. 19. The group is well-known in the music industry, having their songs featured in many movies and TV shows over the years. Their performance introduced a variety of music, instruments, and rhythms associated with their songs, and they even invited students up front to participate. Following this, the H-Gym was filled with songs that the audience couldn't help but dance along to. Thanks for stopping by, Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
For the third straight year, our friends at Albany Med Internal Medicine and Pediatrics donated school supplies to the North Colonie Central School District! Thank you to Dr. Kiersten Kennedy and Dr. Danielle Wales for leading the charge to help collect supplies with the help of their colleagues. We are so grateful to our community partners for the support for our students!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Sept. 14 to 20 marks National Arts in Education Week. To mark the occasion, the Superintendent's Art Gallery was updated with new student artwork from across the district at Central Office. Please join us this week in recognizing the incredible impact of arts education, along with the talented students and educators who make it possible! #ArtsInEducationWeek
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Congratulations to Shaker High School on being recognized as a National Banner Unified Champion School by @SpecialOlympicsNewYork.
What does that mean? It means we’ve gone above and beyond to create a culture of inclusion, meeting all 10 standards of excellence in sports, leadership, and school engagement set by Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools. Big recognition, bigger impact. Go Blue Bison!
7 months ago, North Colonie Communications
It's the second annual Senior Sunrise! The Shaker High Class of 2026 was up with the sun Wednesday morning not only for the views, but for breakfast together as a class. Some seniors made shirts and sweatshirts to mark the occasion. Thank you to the faculty advisors who helped make this event a huge success!
8 months ago, North Colonie Communications
Continuing Education is back this fall with a wide range of courses! In-person Continuing Education registration is tomorrow from 2–6 p.m, checks will be the only form of payment accepted.
Visit northcolonie.org/ce to view available classes, learn how to register, or find out how to become an instructor next semester!
8 months ago, North Colonie Communications
We had a great time today connecting with members of New York State Education Department (NYSED) at Shaker High School today! Joining us were Chief Information Officer Michael St. John and Director of Human Resources Anne Fiscarelli. During their visit, they toured the Shaker gardens, learned about Freshman Seminar, sat in on a Latin class, and visited a few other classrooms to learn more about our district.
#NC75 #NCFirstDay
8 months ago, North Colonie Communications
