September 25, 2020

Greetings Team!

As we round out another week of serving students and component districts in our region, I am excited to share some BOCES-wide updates with you:

• Our new location, the CA BOCES Rise Academy, is officially open at the former Boardmanville Elementary School in Olean! Our team, under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent for Exceptional Education, Carol Fial, has worked tirelessly to make sure the program is ready to serve students in our region. Exceptional Education students will now have access to expanded services that will allow them to receive the best education possible. Great work, team!
• The CA BOCES CTE division recently received national recognition and accreditation for two programs – Power Equipment Technology and Heavy Equipment Operations – through the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation (AED). AED is an international trade association representing over 800 construction equipment distributors, manufacturers, and industry-service firms. The AED Foundation focuses on growing the future workforce through professional education and accreditation of programs at both the high school and college levels. As part of the accreditation process, a thorough program analysis by an industry task force is required along with an audit of how the work in the program meets the AED Foundation’s National Technical Standards. Local sponsoring equipment dealer, Anderson Equipment, also participated in the program accreditation process. This is fantastic for the programs and for our students. Congratulations!
• CA BOCES Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Support Services, Tim Cox, was recently named the 2020 recipient of the Jane Bullowa S/CDN Service and Leadership Award by the New York State Staff/Curriculum Development Network (S/CDN). Established in 2014, the award recognizes outstanding individuals whose accomplishments have improved the field of education in areas of innovation, quality of services to students, and impact on administrator preparation. Jane Bullowa, the inspiration for the award, was a long-standing member of S/CDN and inspired the educational community in Ulster County for more than 37 years. Congratulations, Tim!

I continue to meet with administrators and officials on a daily basis to stay up-to-date on the guidelines that are most important to us and to our component districts. I feel confidence in the environment that we – as a team – are providing for both students and employees. Please know that my door is always open. Should you have questions or would like to share what is going well — please call me at 376-8254.

Take Care,