Staff Updates

Below are a few weekly updates and a link to a report summarizing our journey for the last 15 years. I think this report says more than I can articulate here. I've also included some of my favorite inspiring visuals.

I will have a couple more words to staff before my last day on Monday.

Thank you

A student in our district experienced a house fire on Wednesday after school that resulted in a total loss for the family. I reached out to the family Thursday morning, and by that afternoon, several staff members had already donated funds, while others volunteered to help meet specific needs.

By Friday morning, the collection of donated items was truly impressive, and the family was able to pick up necessities by 12:00 p.m. Officer Clark assisted the family in obtaining a copy of the fire report and connected with the fire chief, who offered to provide a letter with any additional documentation they may need. We were also able to locate copies of the student’s birth certificate and Social Security card, which will aid in the process of securing replacement documents.

Additional staff members have offered to gather items and donate gift cards. CATA will donate money to the family through the Student Benefit Fund. The outpouring of support has been genuinely heartwarming, and I am proud to be part of such a caring and generous community.

Jason Miller has officially graduated high school! He completed all of his high school requirements and officially graduated on January 23, 2026. He will be walking at graduation in June. Jason is planning on attending the Hudson Valley Aviation Maintenance Technician Program with a long time goal of becoming a commercial pilot.

I am sharing my thoughts on one of our five anchor strategies:

At Coxsackie-Athens, we’ve never viewed technology as the goal. It’s a tool—a vehicle that helps move our students toward their 2030 Destination. What matters most isn’t the device in their hands, but the learning, confidence, and independence we help them build every day.

Since 2015, we’ve been a one-to-one iPad district. Over the years, that work has grown into something much deeper. Being an Apple Distinguished School District isn’t about hardware—it reflects the culture you have built. Nearly 90% of our teachers are Apple Educators, and across our buildings, technology is being used to open doors, not check boxes.

You see this every day in your classrooms. Our youngest learners use tools like Keynote to tell their stories. Older students take ownership through experiences like the student-run help desk modeled after the Genius Bar. Students aren’t just consuming information—they’re creating, problem-solving, collaborating, and finding their voices, whether through iMovie, Clips, or other creative tools.

At the heart of this work is equity and access. We intentionally match technology to the needs of our students and programs so no learner is left on the sidelines. Accessibility features—like Dictation, Speak Selection, noise reduction, and background sounds—help remove barriers and build independence, ensuring students with diverse learning, physical, or sensory needs can engage fully alongside their peers.

This progress doesn’t happen by accident. Through PLCs, micro-credentialing, and shared professional learning, our staff continues to stretch, refine practice, and try new approaches. From virtual field trips to emerging augmented reality experiences, you are helping students access learning opportunities that simply wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Looking ahead, we’re excited about how artificial intelligence can support this work. By using AI to reduce administrative tasks, we aim to give teachers more time for what matters most—connecting with students. At the same time, we are teaching students how to use AI thoughtfully, safely, and ethically, preparing them to lead in a rapidly changing world.

We are proud of how far we’ve come, but even more proud of the people doing the work. Our vision remains clear: to inspire every learner to achieve extraordinary success—and to imagine and impact the world for the better. Thank you for making that vision real every day.

What does it really mean for students to be ready for college, career, and life? At Coxsackie-Athens, it means more than grades and test scores—it means developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students need to thrive in a changing world.

For years, we’ve been doing the work that New York State is now calling the Portrait of a Graduate—focusing on the “new basics” like adaptability, responsibility, collaboration, and being academically prepared. These attributes are tracked alongside academics through our Readiness Dashboard, helping every student show readiness in ways that are as unique as they are.

Our Personal Dispositions Rubrics and our Portrait of a Riverhawk, aligned with NYS expectations and visible to families through report cards. This is how we measure what matters—and how we partner with families to support every student’s journey to being truly LIFE READY.

Learn more about how C-A is redefining readiness:

https://www.cacsd.org/page/defining-readiness

AI should be used to differentiate instruction and reduce administrative burdens, ultimately allowing teachers to focus more on student interaction.

1. Middle School readiness for 4th graders

2. High School readiness for middle school students

3. Commencement readiness for HS Students

4. Updated Personal Dispositions Aligned to NYS Portrait of a Graduate (Dec 2025) CLICK HERE

OpenAI announced that they were releasing a free version of ChatGPT that is built for teachers.

https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-for-teachers/

OpenAI is supporting this initiative with free online training. https://academy.openai.com/public/clubs/k-12-education-aacga/videos/getting-started-with-chatgpt-edu-2025-05-06

Common Sense Media also released an updated online course to support educators using ChatGPT.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/training/chatgpt-k12-foundations

Apple and Common Sense Media released an impressive set of documents to help teachers use AI. The resources on this website provide useful ideas and guidance.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/teachers-essential-guide-to-ai-fundamentals-with-apple

Effective work in teaching happens in layers. First, we learn to protect our attention—managing interruptions so we can stay focused on what matters most: our students. Next, we look for ways to strengthen our practice and accomplish tasks that once felt beyond reach. Finally, we aim for meaningful results that improve student learning and contribute to our school’s goals.

This guide, by Perplexity an AI tool approaches AI as a tool to support each of these layers—not as a quick fix, but as a practical way to manage your workload, extend your effectiveness, and focus more of your energy on teaching and learning. The guide includes some good examples of prompts.

An interesting article from the Hechinger Report: Schools Cannot Teach AI Literacy Without a Way to Measure It https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-schools-cannot-teach-ai-literacy-without-a-way-to-me asure-it/

MIT published “A Guide to AI in Schools: Perspectives for the Perplexed.” I sent out a special shoutout to Meredith Dutra, who served on the advisory panel for this report. https://tsl.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/GuideToAIInSchools.pdf

Since 2012 the Coxsackie-Athens Foundation for Education has awarded over $170,000 in grants to support programming in the C-A Schools.

Grants will be awarded during three grant cycles:

• October 1st, January 1st, and April 1st.

  
  

Innovation Grants: The Coxsackie Athens Foundation for Education was formed to raise, manage and distribute financial and non-financial resources for educational enrichment. We have three grant cycles annually and you are invited to apply for funds by completing the attached application form.

Priorities will be given to projects that address the Foundation’s mission and are educationally enriching, innovative, creative and include a plan for continuation beyond Foundation support.

Mini- Grants: The Coxsackie Athens Foundation for Education (C.A.F.E.) is excited to announce that mini-grant applications will now be accepted. Mini-grants are in addition to the existing innovation grant program and C.A.F.E. will award up to 10 mini-grants in the amount of $200 (or less) on an annual basis. The purpose of the mini-grant is to provide opportunities to purchase smaller items that will have a big impact on our students. Examples might include books, supplies for a special art project, a speaking honorarium, subscriptions, or software tools.

Grants are open for this school year. Please go to the website and scroll down toward the bottom for the grant links. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

https://www.cacsd.org/page/coxsackie-athens-foundation-for-education-cafe

2/16-2/20: Winter Recess

Whether you’re teaching content and want to integrate career exploration, entrepreneurship, or workforce preparedness skills, EVERFI’s digital lessons help students plan for and practice these skills. LEARN MORE HERE reach out to Stacey Hopkins our Career ambassador for support.

Prepare students for their financial future

Financial education is more than dollars and cents. It’s about establishing better spending habits, instilling confidence, and equipping the next generation with the real-world skills to manage financial goals and milestones.

EVERFI’s online financial education curriculum, training, and support are completely free to K-12 educators. reach out to Stacey Hopkins our Career ambassador for support.

Financial literacy instruction will be required in 26-27 by NYS and is already included as one of our life readiness indicators. At C-A we will be itegrating more financial literacy including assessing student proficiency into our content this year.

Purpose

Our anchor strategy, PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS states, “Students with Purpose are inspired to learn. The world has changed and a vision for college, career and citizenship readiness has emerged. Centered on the concept that each student will have a purpose and PATHWAY TO SUCCESS, we will have an uncompromising and relentless commitment to preparing students for college, career and citizenship; in other words, preparing students for their future. This will be accomplished by creating relevant learning environments, and interacting with the people working in the ecosystems of the career paths students are working towards.”

Therefore, we will inspire and prepare students for college, career, and citizenship readiness through comprehensive career exploration and pathway development. The program will help students discover their interests, skills, and preferences, and provide them with real-world experiences and guidance to prepare for their future careers.

READ MORE INCLUDING BUILDING LEVEL EXPECTATIONS for 2025-2026.

The LINKS team have established draft goals for 2028. They are below.

2028

Student Performance Goals

In order for all students to graduate ready for their post-secondary lives, our performance goals for 2028 are:

Reading: 78% of students K-8 will be reading at or above grade level by 2028. This will be a 17% improvement from 2025.

Math: 78% of students K-9 will demonstrate grade level proficiency in math by 2028. This will be a 19% improvement from 2025.

Life Readiness:

1. 100% of students in grades 4, 8 and 12 will demonstrate readiness in a majority of the Life and career ready indicators;
2. The district will see a 11% improvement in the number of students with >=90% attendance by 2028.
3. A 10% improvement in the number of students who often or consistently demonstrate competence in a majority of the personal dispositions.

-Fred Rogers

We all learn in a variety of ways. Students should be able to demonstrate readiness in a variety of ways.

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Below are several resources that highlight the opportunities we offer ALL students. WE truly are a small school with BIG Opportunities!

1. Did you know that every student at C-A HS can have one early college course paid for in full by the district? The reduced tuition rates for all college courses allows many students to graduate with over 20 credits. Many of our alum are able to enter college as sophomores or graduate from a college a semester early saving thousands of dollars.
2. Our parternship with Questar III BOCES provides 23 offerings in career technical education pathways. Our students who complete these programs are ready to enter the workforce in a varirty of occupations and fields.

We believe ALL students CAn be life, career and college ready when they graduate from C-A. I very muhc apprecait the collaborative work taking place in all classrooms to ensure ALL students are self-directed and prepared to succeed in our global society.

• READINESS INDICATORS 2.0 2025
• READINESS INDICATORS K-12 BOOKLET 2020 :
• EARLY COLLEGE PAMPHLET
• COLLEGE IN THE H.S. OFFERINGS
• CAREER TECH ED OFFERINGS

Like planning a road trip our 2030 DESTINATION, TIMELINE may change as detours pop up or new adventures present themselves.

Take a look. Our road trip will have some exciting mile markers that sustains and enhances the work we have started and will lead us to our 2030 Destination.

• Professional Learning Communities
• Growth Mindset
• Student Centered/Directed Learning
• Digital Conversion
• Pathways to Success

It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking and gathering on the ancestral homelands of the Muhheaconneok (Muhhekunneuw) or Mohican people and the Munsee Lenape people, who are the indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, they now reside in Wisconsin and are known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.

Email: squierr@cacsd.org
Website: www.cacsd.org
Location: 24 Sunset Boulevard, Coxsackie, NY, USA
Phone: 518-731-1700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100043677108930&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Twitter: @coxathschools

Our new app is now available for download from the Apple Store and the Google Play Store. Keep up to date on all things C-A, right from your device. This app is designed to create easy access to Sports Schedules, Live Feed, Alerts, our Staff Directory and more!