Dear North Colonie Families,
Thank you for your continued support as we have navigated a tricky school year with just a couple weeks to go. I want to remind you that next Friday there is no school. We are observing the Juneteenth holiday. I’d like to share the history of this important day.
The celebration of Juneteenth on June 19th commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Specifically, Juneteenth recognizes the date in 1865, when the news of liberation came to Texas more than two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. Today, Juneteenth is not only a celebration of freedom, but a step in recognizing our past as we continue to strive toward the ideal of becoming a more perfect union.
On October 14, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed legislation which made Juneteenth an official holiday in New York State. Since school district calendars were already set for this year, and there is a mandatory number of attendance days required annually, Governor Cuomo gave school districts the flexibility as to whether to recognize the holiday this year. In North Colonie, we have met our attendance days requirement with our calendar and therefore choose to celebrate Juneteenth as a moment to pause and reflect on the past as well as to celebrate the richness of spirit and the beauty of diversity which makes us a strong and proud school district.
As June 19th falls on a weekend this year, the observed holiday will be Friday, June 18th. No school will be in session that day.
Siena Celebration
We couldn’t be more proud of McKenzie Cevera and Nicholas Nemec for graduating from the Shaker-Siena College Transition Program! The ceremony was beautiful and it was great to be back at Siena again. McKenzie and Nick tell us what it was like to attend the program and how it feels to be a part of the Siena family in this video.
Bus Driver of the Year
Thank you Timothy Stack for your commitment to safely transporting our students! Mr. Stack has worked for the district since 2011, is our School Bus Driver of the Year, and was presented with the Hudson Valley AAA Foundation Award. Read about the criteria for this distinguished award.
Weekly Boost
- Four hundred teams from across the globe competed in the Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition – and SHS juniors Ayaan Bargeer, Shubham Yadav, and Labesh Baral were ranked in the top 10. They will join competitors from five other countries to compete for a grand prize of $10,000! Read about their project.
- Congratulations to our Spring 2021 Athlete of the Week – Leonni Griffin. She’s had a phenomenal season so far this year. Not only has she placed top at our regular season meets, she’s also placed top 4 at the invitationals. Read about Leonni’s record.
- Shaker’s Maaz Hussain, Patrick Dai, Ayaan Bargeer, and Andrew Huang for placing third in the Advanced (Gold) Division of the recent Siena Programming Competition. They were given seven coding problems to solve in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Learn more.
As always, thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe. Enjoy your weekend and take care.
Sincerely,
D. Joseph Corr
Superintendent of Schools