Staff Updates

On Sunday, December 14, 2025, the Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery will arrive at the Van Schaick Mansion on Van Schaick Island in Cohoes, NY. At 10:30 a.m., join us for the ceremonial linstock hand off from Saratoga 250 to Albany 250 in honor of the 250th anniversary to commemorate the formidable, fearless, and successful winter of the 1775 journey of Henry Knox and the patriots who delivered the vital cannon artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to the high ground above Boston Harbor that caused the British to leave the city.

• Immediately following the handoff ceremony, guests will be invited to interact with the regimental interpreters accompanying the replica sleds and view the draft animals. The 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment will have musket and cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day. A roaring bonfire will provide warmth in between the outdoor activities. The Mansion will be decorated for Christmas and guests will enjoy 18th century refreshments and colonial music while having the opportunity to view the New York State Panel of the America’s Tapestry Project that is being stitched by local members of the Embroiderer’s Guild. The New York State Panel is one of 13 panels representing the original 13 colonies that are being created to celebrate America 250.

• At Noon a Dedication ceremony will be held to recognize The Empire State Society SAR whose organization is gifting a granite bench to the Van Schaick Mansion in honor of the arrival of the Knox Train to Celebrate 250 years of American Freedom. The program will close with a cannonade salute by the 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment.

State tests are not going away. Even with the changes forthcoming under the NY Inspires, 3-8 testing and Regents exams will continue. Federal testing mandates the 3-8 testing and HS exams in math, English and science. The school accountability component tied to these tests is also federally mandated. So, our overall student results on these tests do matter. As you build your unit tests throughout the year and want to replicate the type of questions found on these exams be reminded:

DataMate (part of Ed Vista) has state testing questions for every grade and subject that allows teachers to create and push out to their student iPads to replicate a secure testing setting like the state would. Contact tech services for assistance.

"You can control your choice, but once you make a choice, it controls you. So just understand that with every decision you make, there's a consequence that goes with that." - Bill Cowher

Our current world is constantly changing based on technological developments. The digital landscape in 2025 looks vastly different than at the turn of the 21st century. It is imperative we inquire about what we need to know as parents/caregivers to protect our children and teach them how to responsibly and appropriately utilize technology. The parameters, rules, and expectations we put in place in our homes undoubtedly guide our children’s sense of digital responsibility.

Raising children in a digital era can seem overwhelming at times. Technology has entered our lives rapidly over the past several years and continues to evolve daily. In reality, apps and technological devices may always change, but the behavior stays the same. Moderation is key to managing technology use in our homes. This does not need to be an “all or nothing” approach with either absolute prohibition or full unchecked usage, but we must reflect on the frequency we use technology.

It is beneficial to maintain an open, transparent, and ongoing dialogue with our children regarding the internet, technology, social media, and video games. Remaining approachable and representing that trusted adult to the children in our lives could make the difference between whether our children come to us when issues or uncomfortable situations arise, rather than feeling alone in the process and seeking comfort and advice from peers or strangers.

Technology is here to stay, whether we like it or not. Future employers and/or admissions departments are increasingly evaluating and assessing the digital reputations of our children and how they choose to represent themselves online. The goal of this parent/caregiver guide is to help introduce the major social media platforms, video games, and relevant trends that are already used or have the potential to be used by our children.

Stay the course. We want to prepare our children for their tech-infused futures and walk down this digital journey alongside them by staying informed. Good luck!

READ THE GUIDE HERE

The concept of leakage has been referenced by professionals and researchers for over two decades. However, its significance has grown substantially for Threat Assessment Teams due to the expansion and widespread use of social media and the digital sphere.

Subject Matter Experts agree that an overall assessment of risk cannot be determined without looking at an individual's online activity as a parallel process when initiating a threat assessment. Leakage can be a cry for help, a sign of inner conflict, and includes any warning behaviors that may indicate a serious threat. Leakage is one of the most important clues that may precede an adolescent’s violent act.

These clues may include subtle threats, predictions, boasts, or any planning surrounding a violent act, where it is imperative to look at verbal, written, and digital leakage for threat assessment purposes. However, these potential cries for help might not be as clear and direct as one would hope, as they are often expressed through coded language, hashtags, abbreviations, or emojis.

This Resource Guide will provide School Safety/Threat Assessment (SS/TA) Teams with a functional understanding of emojis commonly used by today’s youth and their association with specific categories of concern.

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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

An Ohio lawmaker has proposed legislation to ban marriages between humans and AI

chatbots. https://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/37527

There is a pushback against AI-created music.... https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/17/the-sound-of-silence-why-theres-barely-anything-there-in-paul-mccartney-new-release

A report from McKinsey that was written in 2022 reminds us of perhaps the most important idea to consider when we use AI:

“Artificial Intelligence brings information to our fingertips that might otherwise be

unobtainable. It can teach, educate, partner, and save us a lot of time, but we need to

learn to use it as a tool and not have it use us.”

At the July 2025 Board of Regents meeting, the Board formally adopted the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, a critical milestone in NY Inspires, the Department’s implementation plan for transformative education. The Portrait offers a unifying vision of what it means to be a graduate in New York State, describing the essential skills and dispositions that all students should develop to succeed in college, careers, and civic life.

To ensure clarity and support stakeholders’ shared understanding of the Portrait, the Department developed “Need-to-Know” documents for students, parents, educators, administrators, and school board members.

These documents provide role-specific guidance on the Portrait and serve as foundational tools for stakeholder engagement, professional learning, and strategic planning.

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

12/10: middle school concerts

12/17: HS concert

12/18: BOE Meeting

12/22: EJA concert

12/23: CE concer

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!