Dear North Colonie Families,
I hope you all take some time to relax, unplug and enjoy time with your family during the upcoming spring recess. As a reminder, there is no school tomorrow through April 9. Classes resume on Monday, April 12. As we head into the break, I have some updates for you:
We are thankful that there were no students in the building during the early morning fire at Boght Hills. Cleanup is ongoing and the damage is being assessed. Since there was no direct fire or water damage in the learning spaces, we are hopeful that students will be able to return in-person to BH Monday, April 12 after the break. If more time is needed to restore the building, our second option would be to temporarily move to remote learning. We are also currently exploring spaces in other schools throughout the district for BH students to continue in-person learning — on a temporary basis. We will provide you with another update by the end of the day on Wednesday, April 7.
COVID cases during spring recess
As we have done in the past, we will not be sending COVID letters during the April recess. Instead, we will send a comprehensive update on Monday, April 12 in the event we have confirmed cases. As always, individuals will be contacted promptly if they are deemed a close contact and need to be placed under quarantine.
Weekly Boost
- SJHS students take top prize in history competition: Congratulations to Saad Ashar, Zayd Bhatti, Pavithra Jayakumar and Gopika Sarvepalli for coming in first place in their respective categories in the Capital Region New York State History Day competition! Learn more.
- Mentors partner with SHS Robotics team: Shaker First Robotics Team 2791 has found some innovative ways to collaborate this year, despite the pandemic. This year, the team built its robot, Bot-tini! Bot-tini is named after Mr. Bottini, one of the team’s longtime mentors who retired last year. Learn more about the team and the project.
- SHS artwork receives awards at virtual reception: At the Juried Regional HS Exhibit virtual reception on March 25, the following students received awards for their submissions: Sriya Ilipilla, Mary Kate Sullenberger, Hyerin Park, Lucy Lee and Henry Tetteh. Congratulations!
- SHS Science and Research students brought home eight awards from the Greater Capital Region Science and Engineering Fair: juniors Avi Bagchi and Ayaan Bargeer won Second Place Grand Awards and a spot in the (virtual) Nationals; senior Bianca Rozario won Honorable mention First Place and a virtual trip to the STANYS NYS Science Fair, and the Regeneron Biomedical Award; junior Aditri Gupta won the In Vitro Biology Award; juniors Minyi Chen and Harrison Fazzone won the Mu Theta Alpha (computing) Award; junior Maaz Hussain won the ASM Material Engineering Award; senior Muhammad Ali won the Regeneron George Yancopoulous Award (for outstanding science); and junior Zaid Ashar won the National Association of Biology Teachers Award. We commend these students for their effort, creativity and ingenuity. Please read about the projects that earned top prizes.
As always, thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe. Please continue to wear a mask, avoid social gatherings with those outside of your household, and social distance.
Have a great break!
Sincerely,
D. Joseph Corr
Superintendent of Schools