Weekly Updates
June 5, 2025
Inspiring All Learners to Achieve Extraordinary Success
PARKER SEABURG Greene County 2025 Youth of the Year
The youth of Greene County make daily contributions to the quality of life in Greene County, New York; and PARKER SEABURG, son of Craig and Melissa Seaburg of Coxsackie has been a volunteer in his school and community since he was a pre-teen.
In middle school he was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society and was elected Vice President; has been a member of the school band as a trombone player since 2020 and won the Band Award; and received the Linda Miller Scholarship Award. As a Coxsackie-Athens High School Student, he has consistently achieved high honors, received the school’s Science Award, Student Government Award and was elected President of the Freshman Class and has been a member of the Fitness Club, varsity golf and the volleyball teams.
Parker has served as Safety Officer of the 4H Medway Mountaineers and, as a member of Future Farmers of America is actively involved with the Greene County Youth Fair and has earned high scores for his presentations. He has served as a Junior Super for the Youth Fair, volunteering with setting up and breaking down and assisted with the Youth Fair’s annual BBQ fundraiser. As a fair exhibitor, he has won Best in Show and Showmanship Award for his goats.
In addition, Parker is a friendly volunteer at West Athens-Lime Street Fire Company’s monthly breakfasts, annual chicken BBQ and spaghetti dinners, and the Athens Volunteer Fire Company’s pizza nights. As a Junior Firefighter with the Athens Volunteer Fire Department, Parker demonstrates his knowledge of firefighting through his volunteer work with the Town of Athens Fire Service’s annual Fire Prevention presentation, teaching young children the importance of fire safety.
Parker is a member of the Coxsackie-Athens Trap Shoot Team and has supported their fundraisers. It has been said that Parker “puts his whole heart and soul into helping others and volunteer work. He does not hesitate to pitch in whenever needed.” He stands out as one of the finest young people in Greene County, New York; and
THEREFORE, the Greene County Legislature proclaims PARKER SEABURG of Coxsackie as the recipient of the 2025 Greene County Youth of the Year Award.
The Sun to Cool
The district has been working closely with our partners at Ecosystem and CSArch to design an Energy Performance Contract that would bring heat pumps with air conditioning to our classrooms—making learning environments more comfortable and energy efficient. A major component of this project includes the installation of a 1.3MW solar array on our Adams Road property.
The energy generated by the solar array will offset both the cost of installing the heat pumps and our entire electricity bill over the next 15 years—all at no cost to local taxpayers.
To move forward, the project requires final approval from the Town of Coxsackie Planning Board and preceding that the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). We will be presenting to the ZBA on June 30 at 7:30pm in the Town of Coxsackie Offices, and support from our school community can make a real difference.
How You Can Help:
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Attend the ZBA meeting on June 30 to show your support.
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Share your enthusiasm for the project with friends, family, and neighbors in the community.
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Stay tuned for more updates and ways to help as the project progresses.
Thank you for all you do—and for helping us take another step toward a more sustainable future for our district.
Career Exploration
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. We will be providing trainng on how to utilize Pathful Connect, a platform that teachers will use to meet all the expectations.
Student Day for 2025-26 Update
As part of our efforts to improve efficiency and ensure responsible use of district resources, we have eliminated one bus run in next year’s budget. In doing so, the administrative team is working closely with our transportation supervisor Ted Nugent to maximize efficiency across all bus routes.
This work may lead to changes in start and end times for the upcoming school year, particularly at the elementary level. We want to be transparent about these potential adjustments and keep you informed as we move forward.
Our goals with these changes are to:
Maximize student learning and contact time
Limit the length of individual bus runs
Meet our contractual work day and week obligations
Create new opportunities and flexibility for students
We fully understand that the earlier we can confirm schedules, the better it is for your personal planning and for families arranging childcare. Please know that we are committed to ensuring this works in a way that supports our students, meets our goals, and respects the needs of our staff and community.
Thank you for your patience.
Professional Learning Period 2025-2026
A Professional Learning Community (PLC) at Coxsackie-Athens Schools is a collaborative effort focused on improving student learning. Every day during the professional learning period, teachers will engage in this work, emphasizing three core principles:
Ensuring That Students Learn: The focus shifts from just teaching to ensuring all students learn. Teachers collaborate to identify what each student should learn, how to assess learning, and how to provide support when students struggle.
A Culture of Collaboration: Teachers work together to analyze and improve classroom practices. This collaborative culture ensures that educators are not working in isolation but are continuously sharing strategies and supporting one another to enhance student outcomes.
A Focus on Results: PLCs measure their success by student achievement. Teachers regularly assess and discuss data, identifying areas for improvement and celebrating successes. This results-oriented approach drives ongoing improvement in teaching and learning.
By being present each day during the PLP we will work together to enhance the educational experience, ensuring that all students achieve their extraordinary success.
PROCRASTINATION
Do you need more time, or do you need to make a decision?
Nothing is more exhausting than the task that's never started.
Sharing Our Story
If you have any stories, events, or highlights you'd like to feature on our social media platforms, feel free to contact Tommy Esposito espositot@cacsd.org
It’s important for a school to tell its own story to the community because if we don’t, someone else will—and their version may not reflect our values, achievements, or the hard work of our staff and students.
Upcoming Work
Below is a summary timeline for some of the of collaborative work ahead:
- April: Finalize decision on formative assessment tool that Fastbridge currently is used for.
- I Ready Chosen
- May: Finalize substitute onboarding operating procedures
- May: Update district MTSS plan
- May: Complete recommendations for attendance policy changes
- June: Complete Revisions to the code of conduct
- June: Establish new 3-year LINKS performance goals-to be finalized in August
- June: Training in new formative assessment tool
Upcoming Dates
June 10: Full Day PK-12
June 11: High School: No Classes: Regents Only
June 13:
Last day for Seniors
8th Grade moving up
June 16: Full Day PK-11
Local finals and last day of classes in high school
June 17:
PK-8: Full Day for Students
HS: Regents Exams
June 18:
PK-8: Full Day for Students
HS: Regents Exams
HS: Pathful Training: 1:30-2:30pm
June 19: No Classes: Holiday
June 20: Full day for PK-8 students
PK-8: Full Day for Students
HS: Regents Exams
June 23:
PK-8: noon dismissal, last day for students
HS: Regents Exams
June 24:
No Students
HS: Regents Exams
June 25:
No Students
HS: Regents Exams
June 26: No Students, Last day for aides and assistants, Closing assembly and appreciation luncheon
June 27: No Students, Teachers Only
June 27: Graduation 6pm
CAFE Grant Applications
Talk with your principal if you have an idea that CAFE could help support.
Coxsackie-Athens Foundation for Education Grant ApplicationSubmit grant applications to: cafe@cacsd.org
Share What's Happening in Your Neighborhood
Please share the stories happening in your classrooms or a colleague's through out the year. Share a shout-Out for one of your colleagues.
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Celebrating Service
C-A is looking to highlight students and staff members who embrace the District's mantra, #CA_RightHereRightNow, through acts of service to better their school community. This includes the many projects our students engage in throughout the year. Please complete the form at the link below if you, someone you know, a club, or grade level provides service to the school community!
Where Else Would You Rather Be?
Than
Right Here Right Now
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad term for technologies that allow computers to perform advanced functions, while generative AI is a specific type of AI that focuses on creating new content
Artifical Intelligence in a NY School
OpenAI Academy
Read and Listen More on This Topic
Catch them Learning: A Pathway to Academic Integrity in the Age of AI” by Tony Frontier in Cult of Pedagogy. As the potential for students to misuse AI tools raises ongoing questions about accountability, cheating, and academic integrity, Tony Frontier offers a framing on how to consider and talk about AI as a teacher.
We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education, Ezra Klein podcast with Rebecca Winthrop. How should kids be educated in this new era of AI? According to Winthrop, we need to consider -- and rethink -- what the purpose of education is, how kids learn, and what they should learn, all in relation to the evolution of our modern world, and it is not easy.
AI Updates
Scroll down to veiw previous AI updates and access resources
AI News
Tools (not all free)
- Stanford Classroom-Ready Resources About AI For Teaching (CRAFT) https://craft.stanford.edu/
- The latest release of Claude 3.7 Sonnet lets you generate interactive web-based applications,and even games, from just a short description. https://claude.ai/
- Augie Studio allows anyone to create professional looking videos by using AI to select imagesfrom the famous Corbis image library, as well as access to a professional music library.Designed for public relations professionals and social media creators, the free version lets you create up to five minutes of video a month. https://augie.studio/
We are moving from the idea that AI is not just moving quickly, but it is also accelerating
rapidly,
The sudden emergence of DeepSeek, a free AI chatbot created by a Chinese company, sent
shockwaves through the stock market, and led to the collapse of NVIDIA stock. You can use a
domestically-located version of DeepSeek on the Perplexity website. Select it from the download menu when you search. https://www.perplexity.ai/
After DeepSeek was launched, other AI companies launched their own AI reasoning and research models with a series of rapid successive announcements:
● Just over six days after DeepSeek was launched, OpenAI the company that makes ChatGPT, released a free version of AI reasoning model called “03-mini”
https://chatgpt.com/?model=o3-mini
● Three days later, they released a version of ChatGPT called Deep Research, a multi-step research tool. It is currently only available to their Pro subscribers who pay $200 a month. https://openai.com/index/introducing-deep-research/
● Three days after that, Google released Gemini 2.0, their most advanced AI model. Then, nine days later, Perplexity released their Deep Research model.
https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-perplexity-deep-research
Online Student Support
Khanmigo is an AI-powered tool from Khan Academy that helps teachers and students learn and teach more effectively.
What Khanmigo can do
- Tutor students: Khanmigo helps students learn math, science, and humanities through personalized guidance. It can also help students prepare for tests and learn new skills.
- Assist teachers: Khanmigo can help teachers with lesson planning, grading, and creating engaging activities.
- Support parents: Khanmigo can help parents provide on-demand homework help.
How Khanmigo works
- Khanmigo uses a large language model (LLM) to respond to users.
- Khanmigo can provide instant feedback on homework problems and step-by-step explanations.
- Khanmigo can encourage students to think critically by asking them challenging questions.
- Khanmigo can act as historical figures to help students learn about history.
Replit
Your own automated app developer
Meet Replit Agent, an advanced AI making programming accessible to everyone. Build at the speed of thought and launch in minutes. Create a website, eduction games. This is more to show you what is already here. CLICK HERE
AI essay grading is already as ‘good as an overburdened’ teacher, but researchers say it needs more work
Researchers pitted humans against AI on essay grading and the robot did OK. In a companion study on evaluating student essays, ChatGPT also produced impressive feedback, sometimes better than human writing instructors. In a separate essay grading study, it appeared that AI was consistently penalizing Asian American students. It’s still not known whether instant grades or feedback improves student writing. READ MORE
Napkin Ai
This week's AI tool is Napkin AI. I have been using it for a couple weeks. I put it to the test for my slide deck updates (slides 7-12) for the last BOE meeting. It is a pretty good tool at organizing a text, bulleted list, or a group of ideas and graphically presenting them.
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to using Napkin AI:
1. Sign Up or Log In
- Visit the Napkin AI website or download the app (if available).
- Create an account or log in using your credentials.
2. Create a New Workspace
- Once logged in, click on "New Workspace" or a similar option.
- Give your workspace a name that aligns with your project or note-taking needs.
3. Add Notes or Ideas
- Type out your ideas, tasks, or notes directly into the workspace.
- Use bullet points, sentences, or keywords. Napkin AI organizes this information automatically.
4. Organize and Connect Notes
- Napkin uses smart linking to connect similar or related ideas.
- Review the connections Napkin AI suggests and make adjustments if needed.
5. Use Tags for Easy Categorization
- Add tags to notes to make them searchable and better organized.
- You can create custom tags or use system-recommended ones.
6. Visualize Relationships
- Explore the visual map or network of your notes to see how ideas are connected.
- This is great for brainstorming or identifying patterns.
7. Export or Share Your Workspace
- When your workspace is ready, export it as a document or share it with collaborators via a link (if supported).
8. Regularly Update and Refine
- Add new ideas and revisit your workspace regularly.
- Let Napkin AI's algorithm enhance connections over time for better insights.
That's it! Napkin AI helps turn scattered thoughts into meaningful connections with minimal effort.
AI Tool: Notion for Education
Notion for education acts as a digital workspace that allows students and teachers to organize their notes, assignments, class schedules, and other educational materials in one centralized location, enabling them to effectively manage their coursework, collaborate with peers, and track progress, all within a customizable interface; essentially acting as a personalized digital notebook for learning.
Key features for education use:
- Note-taking: Create structured notes with different block types like text, lists, images, and embedded links for each subject.
Project management: Organize project tasks, deadlines, and collaborate with group members on assignments.
Lesson plan creation: Teachers can build detailed lesson plans with objectives, activities, and assessments.
Grade tracking: Keep track of student grades and performance
File storage: Upload and store relevant course materials like documents, presentations, and videos
Sharing capabilities: Easily share pages and databases with classmates or collaborators
Customization: Design your workspace with different layouts and color schemes to suit your learning style
Benefits for students:
- Improved organization: Centralize all learning materials in one place, making it easier to find information
Enhanced collaboration: Work together on projects with classmates through shared pages
Flexible note-taking: Adapt note structure to different learning styles
Accessibility across devices: Access notes and assignments from any device
- Streamlined lesson planning: Create and manage lesson plans efficiently
Effective student monitoring: Track student progress and provide personalized feedback
Efficient communication: Share important information with students through shared pages
Improved class organization: Manage class schedules, assignments, and deadlines in one platform
AI Tool
Below are steps to generate personalized digital art work.
- Search for Adobe Firefly
- Click on AI Art Generator Online
- Click on Generate Ai Art (in blue oval)
- Describe the image you want created. Be descriptive, the more details you provide the closer to your vision the artwork will be
- Click Generate
- It may ask you to sign in, using your school Google account
- It will produce four samples
- You can download an image or add more details or take out details and generate new images.
Notebook LM Google
https://notebooklm.google/ is a tool that has been around a while in AI terms. Like a notebook it can store documents, slides, websites, videos and your own notes. You can ask it questions(it creates suggested questions to ask) and it will answer using the resources you uploaded into the notebook.
After you have uploaded all your resources with a click you can create: FAQ, summary, study guide, timeline, a table of contents, citations, a briefing. AND as of last month a podcast.
I have just started experimenting with this tool and it has some real possibilities in the classtoom and district. In about 2 innings of play while watchng the Mets take care of the Phillies one night last week I uploaded several docs from our website and a webpage from our district website and created a six minute 2-person pod cast that explains our Redefining Ready work.
Imagine uploading your notes and materials on your unit about the Great Depression, or a book you are reading in class. How about uploading websites or articles on a science topic and then have NotebookLM create all your study materials for you. BTW you can share your notebook page with students or other persons in our CACSD domain. i've just started exploring this AI app, and we have opened up this AI app for you to try as well. Tech Services is ready to support your adventure.
AI + Education Summit.
This summer, MIT hosted a conference called the AI + Education Summit. You can view all 33
videos from the conference here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6cp6kydiOXeS3Sz-
IUYlo7JfERyxzd7a
The Dawn of the AI Era: Teens, Parents, and the Adoption of Generative AI at Home and School
Common Sense Media published a new report, "The Dawn of the AI Era: Teens, Parents, and the Adoption of Generative AI at Home and School." "The findings tell us that young people are quickly understanding the potential of generative AI platforms, perhaps without fully grasping the pitfalls, which underscores the need for adults to talk with teens about AI. We need to better understand their experiences so we can discuss the good and the bad—especially around bias and inaccuracy," said Amanda Lenhart, head of research at Common Sense Media.
Among the findings, three important themes rose to the top:
- A majority of teens use AI tools, especially chatbots and AI-supported search.
- Seven out of 10 teens have used at least one type of generative AI tool.
- A majority (56%) of teens report using search engines with AI-generated results such as Google SGE.
- Black and Latino young people are using image and video generators more than their White peers, for schoolwork and personal purposes.
- Teens are using AI to stave off boredom almost as often as they're using it for homework help.
- Teens report using generative AI most often for homework help (53%), to stave off boredom (42%), and to translate something from one language to another (41%).
- Two in five (40%) teens report having used generative AI to help with school assignments, and 46% of them report doing so without the teacher's permission.
- Teens also use AI for other personal activities, including when creating content as a joke, planning activities, and seeking health advice.
- Most adults in teens' lives—from parents to teachers—are out of the loop.
- Just 37% of parents whose teen reported using at least one generative AI platform thought their child had used generative AI.
- Almost half (49%) of parents say they have not talked about generative AI with their child.
- About six in 10 teens report either that their school has no rules for how generative AI can be used or that they're not sure if there are rules.
- Importantly, most parents (83%) say that schools have not communicated with families about generative AI.
Career Exploration - 2024-2025
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.
Employee Assistance
All C-A staff and their families have access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that is free to all employees and their family members.
The begining of the school year, though exicting can also be stressful and I want to again remind you help is available.
Professional Learning Period 2024-2025
A Professional Learning Community (PLC) at Coxsackie-Athens Schools is a collaborative effort focused on improving student learning. Every day during the professional learning period, teachers will engage in this work, emphasizing three core principles:
Ensuring That Students Learn: The focus shifts from just teaching to ensuring all students learn. Teachers collaborate to identify what each student should learn, how to assess learning, and how to provide support when students struggle.
A Culture of Collaboration: Teachers work together to analyze and improve classroom practices. This collaborative culture ensures that educators are not working in isolation but are continuously sharing strategies and supporting one another to enhance student outcomes.
A Focus on Results: PLCs measure their success by student achievement. Teachers regularly assess and discuss data, identifying areas for improvement and celebrating successes. This results-oriented approach drives ongoing improvement in teaching and learning.
By being present each day during the PLP we will work together to enhance the educational experience, ensuring that all students achieve their extraordinary success.
2025 Student Performance Goals
2025 PERFORMANCE GOALS (Set summer 2022)
In order for 95% of our students to graduate, our goals are:
Wellness:
Support of student and staff wellness will be indicated by 100% of students and employees being able to identify one ally and improved results on climate surveys each year.
Reading:
73% of students PK-8 will be reading at or above grade level by 2025. This will be a 19% improvement from 2022.
Math:
73% of students PK-8 will demonstrate grade level proficiency in math by 2025. This will be a 17% improvement from 2022.
Research Based Projects:
100% of students will be creating at least three research-based products every year by 2025.
Life Readiness:
100% of students will demonstrate competence in a majority of the Life Ready Skills and Financial Literacy Indicators appropriate for their school level by 2025.
Below you can access the strategies and action steps at the school level to reach our 2025 goals:
"We are all Neighbors"
-Fred Rogers
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Readiness for ALL Students
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!
- 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.
- 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.
LINKS -Establishing our What and How
Each annual plan it aimed at making progress towards achieving our 3-year district wide performance goals. The most recent goals were set last summer to be achieved by 2025. These 3-year goals are aligned to our 2030 DESTINATION - a set of four possibilities we want to become reality by 2030.
Our LINKS Team Page will include notes from our quarterly meetings so that you can stay up to date on our collective work. Reach out to a LINKS member if you have questions or ideas-- or talk with your principal about being part of the LINKS team.
ALL Students CAn
Learning 2025
Why did our school join the AASA Learning 2025 Network and how will this affiliation impact teaching and learning in our district?
Being part of a network carries weight. There’s an expectation in a network that there’s both something you bring and receive
Our involvement is a collective way of lighting the way forward, serving as models for other school systems. We believe that now is a crucial time to catch our breath, look around, appreciate and respect one another, and acknowledge that public education is working. As we learn from one another, we will be taking bold action steps together, while we work to accelerate our goals not only for today’s students but our future students. These efforts take teamwork within C-A and partnership with other schools. We know that there is not an algorithm in a spreadsheet, nor a binder on a shelf to guide us on this journey, but we do know that research, evidence, common sense and shared experience will serve as the light on our path forward. Isolation is not an option if we’re going to deliver equity-based, future-driven education to every student learning and growing at C-A on our way to our 2030 Destination.
Coxsackie-Athens is among 13 school districts that have been recognized as “Lighthouse” systems that will serve as models of positive change in public education.
#RiverhawksProud
THINK DIFFERENTLY
2030 Destination Timeline
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.
Our Why ~ Inspiring Learners to Achieve Extraordinary Success
Our What ~ To Develop self-directed college and career ready students
Our How:
- Professional Learning Communities
- Growth Mindset
- Student Centered/Directed Learning
- Digital Conversion
- Pathways to Success
Land Acknowledgement
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.
Coxsackie-Athens Central Schools
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