Skip to main content

SARATOGA COUNTY CAREER CENTER ANNOUNCES JULY VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS SCHEDULE

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.

BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Career Center in conjunction with the Greater Capital Region Career Centers will hold the following free virtual career workshops during July:

July 2 at 10AM and July 3 at 10:30AM: Resume Development – This workshop presents the basics of a powerful and effective cover letter including formatting, tailoring to the job, and getting through the online application process to land an interview. Please have a rough draft of your resume with you. Facilitated by Rensselaer & Columbia-Greene. Facilitated by Schenectady.

July 3 at 11AM and July 17 at 1:30PM: Transferable Skills – Transferable skills are qualities you have already acquired which can be used in a different job. Make it easy for employers to see the connection between your qualities and the skillset needed to do the job and market yourself as the solution to an employer’s problem. Learn ways to research the employer’s needs then identify and show them that you have these skills. Facilitated by Warren. Facilitated by Schenectady.

July 7 at 10AM: Broadview Financial Well-Being – Your budget is a key that opens doors, guiding you to your money goals. Get ready to take control of your finances and your future! Find out how to organize what you make, spend, and save; set goals to save up, spend down, look ahead; harness the power of mindful spending; and identify budget tactics that work best for you. Facilitated by Broadview and Schenectady.  

July 8 at 10:30AM: Interview Preparation – Learn how to articulate your strengths, what questions to expect, how to address difficult topics, and ace the interviewing process. Facilitated by Schenectady.

July 9 at 10AM and July 22 at 1:30PM: Goal Setting – Goals are what take us forward in life. They are the first step in every journey we take. In this workshop we will explain how goal setting works, why goals are important, and take home more helpful resources to get you started. Remember: “if you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” Find out how to reach your dreams. Facilitated by Washington and Albany. 

July 9 at 10:30AM Civil Service – Join us for a workshop on navigating the civil service system in local governments! This session will cover essential steps to secure a civil service job, focusing on the hiring process. Participants will learn about competitive examinations and local government positions and how to prepare for them. Facilitated by Schenectady.

July 15 at 10:30AM and July 17 at 11AM: Completing Job Applications – Statistics show approximately 50% of mid-sized companies and almost all large corporations use an applicant tracking system to screen candidates for job opportunities. Learn how to prepare your online application to get the most visibility from hiring managers. Facilitated by Schenectady.  Facilitated by Warren and Washington.

July 18 at 10:30AM and July 23 at 10:30AM: Networking – Networking is your strategic tool for cultivating lasting relationships, fostering professional growth, and unlocking opportunities. Join us for an approachable journey to understanding networking. Facilitated by Warren and Albany.

July 22 at 11AM: Overcoming Barriers – Join an informal discussion about how to overcome potential stumbling blocks to finding a job. Whether you’re facing transportation needs, childcare needs, prior justice system involvement, inexperience, health concerns or more, this workshop will provide you with resources and strategies to help you meet your goals. Facilitated by Fulton-Montgomery-Schoharie.

July 24 at 1:30PM: Social Media – Your social media presence can make or break your ability to find a job. Learn how to use social media to your advantage in searching for a job and marketing yourself to land the job or career you’ve always wanted. Facilitated by Schenectady.

Registration is required for all workshops. Visit https://swwworkforce.org/calendar to register or call the Saratoga County Career Center at (518) 884-4170 for more information. 

 The workshops are offered as part of the Saratoga County Career Center’s WorkPays! workforce education campaign.

The Saratoga County Department of Workforce Development provides comprehensive training and employment services to residents through its Career Center and works with local businesses to attract and retain the local workforce.

History Center Issues Call for 2025 Award Nominations

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.

The Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum has issued a call for nominations for its fourth annual Saratoga County Public History Award. Each year the SCHC confers the award on two individuals who have made a significant contribution in preserving, interpreting, researching, publishing, promoting or otherwise extending knowledge and understanding of the history of Saratoga County.

Isobel Connell, President of the Museum’s Board of Trustees is excited about continuing this tradition.  “The History Center is honored to recognize those inspiring individuals, from around Saratoga County, who have done such wonderful work preserving and sharing our local history.”

 The Public History Award is designed to recognize the long-standing efforts of those who share a passion for Saratoga County history, and to encourage others to become involved in local history projects and activities.

Nominations for the 2025 awards should be submitted by July 20 to info@brooksidemuseum.org  and include a short biography of the nominee and a description of their contributions and references. Submission forms are available at https://brooksidemuseum.org/2025/06/history-center-issues-call-for-2025-award-nominations/

 The Award Selection Committee will review and select winners by August 20. An award ceremony will be held in early October at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa to honor the recipients. 

The committee consists of prior winners Carol Godette, Jim Richmond, museum board members William Allerdice and Lynda Bryan, and Michelle Isopo, Director of the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. 

Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival Welcomes ‘A Train Near Magdeburg’ Author to Share Inspiring Holocaust Story

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.


Image Provided

SARATOGA SPRINGS, – The Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival, with a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and sponsorship of Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, presents an evening with author Matthew Rozell, author of A Train Near Magdeburg on Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m.

Rozell, a Hudson Falls, N.Y. native, will share a teacher’s journey into the Holocaust and the reunions it inspired some 70 years later. The program will be offered at Temple Sinai, 509 Broadway, Saratoga Springs and on Zoom.

A Train Near Magdeburg is the true story behind an iconic photograph taken when American soldiers liberated a death train deep in the heart of Nazi Germany. It also brings to life the story of a dedicated high school history teacher who reunited hundreds of Holocaust survivors and their children with the American soldiers who rescued them.

In A Train Near Magdeburg, Rozell reconstructs a lost chapter from the closing days of World War II. In April 1945, a train crammed with Jews left Bergen Belsen.

After seven days of shuttling on the tracks, the train stopped in a forest, hiding for cover from Allied planes. U.S. Tank Battalion 743 happened upon the train, and Major Clarence Benjamin stood and snapped the now famous photograph as the Americans liberated the Jews inside.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the train carried about 2,500 concentration camp inmates, primarily Jewish. Many died during transit.

This train, one of three that left Bergen-Belsen between April 6 and 10, was bound for Theresienstadt. Only one train arrived in Theresienstadt; the third was liberated by Soviet forces outside of Troebitz.

Rozell reconstructs the story, drawing on eyewitness accounts, survivor testimony, memoirs, wartime reports, and personal letters. He weaves together a chronology of the Holocaust as it unfolds across Europe and retraces the steps of the survivors and the American soldiers who freed them.

To register for the panel discussion in person or on Zoom, go to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/DaOhZ1H/Magdeburg.

When the Registration Page appears, complete the requested information. If you have questions, please email us at sjca.sjcf@gmail.com

Legacy Capital Project Work Scheduled For Summer 2025

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.

As part of the Legacy Capital Project, approved by residents in 2020, improvements and renovations will be made to all eight school buildings and the transportation facility over the next several years.  

The project will create energy and operational efficiencies throughout the District as well as protect the community’s long-term investment in our school facilities.

Learn more about the work happening in the school buildings:

Caroline Street Elementary School

Caroline Street will be closed for the summer.  The main office will be temporarily relocated to Geyser Road Elementary.

• Select Classroom renovations

• Secure Vestibule Renovations

• Select window and door replacements

• Kitchen renovations, including a new serving line

• Stage Lighting replacement

• Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades

• Select roofing replacement

• Traffic improvements to drop-off & bus loop area

Division Street Elementary School

• Stage folding partition replacement

Geyser Road Elementary School

• New main entrance and secure vestibule

• Stage lighting replacement

Lake Avenue Elementary School

Lake Avenue will be closed for the summer. The main office will be temporarily relocated to Dorothy Nolan Elementary.

• Classroom renovations on the third floor

• Select bathroom renovations

• Select window and door replacements

• Kitchen renovations, including a new serving line

• Cafeteria Floor Replacement

• Electrical system upgrades

• Select roofing replacement

• Asphalt replacement by outdoor play area

Maple Avenue Middle School

• Tennis court replacement

• Softball dugout replacement

• Emergency generator replacement

Senior Independent Living Residents Entertained by Local Jazz Band

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.


(photo) The musicians who performed at the Independent living center
( Courtesy of Prestwick Chase) 

On Thursday, June 5, residents of Prestwick Chase at Saratoga, an independent living community for seniors 55 and older, were inspired by the talents of 25 local high school students from Saratoga Springs High School Jazz Ensemble. 

Students, under the orchestration of Director Andrew Janack, showcased their talents on saxophones, drums, trumpets, trombones, bass, guitar, and piano. Three guest vocalists, Anna Bonner, Paeton Koshgarian and Ava Zinter, also performed.

Director Andrew Janack commented, “Entertaining the residents at Prestwick Chase was a great way to end the school year. Our kids wanted to share their talents with the residents, one of whom initiated the performance because her grandson was part of the ensemble. We are grateful to Prestwick Chase for this opportunity!”

 “I taught foreign languages at the high school for 32 years. The students were tremendous in every way, shape, and form,” Allen R. Remaley, one of the Prestwick Chase residents, said “Their performance at Prestwick Chase was typical of my experience with them in the past. They displayed tremendous competency, perfection, and good spirits.” 

 “It was a great intergenerational program!” Prestwick Chase General Manager Kellie Postlewaite said. “The residents really loved it! We look forward to hosting the high school jazz ensemble here again at the start of the school year.”

Charlton School Cuts the Ribbon on New Dormitories

Written by Aidan Cahill on . Posted in Education.


The Interior of the new dorms. Each dorm can house eight students with each student getting a private room and sharing a bathroom with one other student.  (Photo Credit: Aidan Cahill) 

Students at the Charlton School are getting fresh new dorms. 

In a June 12 ribbon cutting, the Charlton School unveiled the four brand new dormitory buildings. Each dorm has capacity for eight students with each student receiving a private room and sharing a bathroom with one other student. The dorms include a fresh living space, rooms for activities and kitchen and laundry facilities. 

The ribbon cutting comes after a year of construction — starting with a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2024. In addition to the dorms, students also have a new maker space, sidewalks and outdoor areas. 

In his remarks, Executive Director of the Charlton School, Alex Capo highlighted the collaborative nature of the project and thanked the numerous stakeholders for their efforts. 

“Together we have truly created a space where any student can feel safe and valued,” Capo said. “On behalf of the Charlton School, thank you.” 


Alex Capo, center with scissors, cuts the ribbon on the new dorms.
(Credit Aidan Cahill)

Head of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), Robert Rodriguez said he wished that there were more facilities like the Charlton School especially in the community he used to represent as an Assemblyman in East Harlem. 

Bo Goliber, Chief Strategy and Impact officer for the Charlton School said students were set to move into the new dorms when they came back to school following graduation. She also highlighted the impact the dorms on the students. 

“In general, how the students wake up and start each day will be so dramatically improved that we hope that leads to a better overall process to improve their mental health,” Goliber said. 

The Charlton School is a year-round school which assists young women grades 8-12 from across the Northeast. It serves 42 students with 28 living on campus and 14 being bused in daily by their home school districts. In addition to standard academics, it provides equine or horse-based therapy, arts and recreation and campus life. 

Absenteeism Continues to Drop at Ballston Spa Schools

Written by Aidan Cahill on . Posted in Education.

In the penultimate meeting of the school year, The Ballston Spa Central School District Board of Education heard from three principals regarding their progress on goals set at the beginning of the school year. 

The meeting took place on the night of Jun. 4. Board members heard from the principals of Wood Road Elementary, Malta Avenue Elementary and Ballston Spa High School. A major topic of the meeting was the continued decline in absenteeism in the school system. 

The first to speak was Wood Road Elementary Principal Kelly Cataldo. Cataldo is the shortest tenured principal in the district — having been hired as principal August 2024. In her presentation to the board, Cataldo said she focused her efforts on absenteeism, inclusion, and community engagement among other issues. 

Cataldo said chronic absenteeism —defined by the state as missing 10 percent of school days within one academic year for any reason — at the school has been going down and attendance has remained steady. While this year only saw a 0.4% drop in chronic absenteeism, the number has gone down significantly from 26.5% in the 2021-22 school year. At the same time, the attendance rate remained steady at 93%.

Looking specifically at kindergarten and first grade, where Cataldo said she put much of her focus, chronic absenteeism dropped by about 5%. Cataldo said this change in part was due to efforts by counselors to support students and by teachers to reach out to families at risk of having a student become chronically absent. 

The other major goal Cataldo focused on was inclusion within the school. Cataldo said some of the changes were cosmetic — like a new rug and chairs in the lobby — while others were more student focused. These student focused changes included having classroom teachers nominate a student of the month and highlighting one character trait a month for students to focus on. 

It was a similar story at the high school where principal Matthew Robinson said over the last four years chronic absenteeism has gone down from 32% in 2022 to 26% so far in 2025. Robinson said his strategy to reduce the number was focusing on 40 students (3% of the total) who were on the low end of chronic absenteeism and worked with them specifically. Of these 40 students, Robinson said, 21 are no longer chronically absent while 10 students saw an increase in 10 or more days absent. 

Another major issue that Robinson had focused on this year was the rate of students missing class. According to Robbinson, the total number of skipped classes had gone down from 989 classes skipped in 2022-23 to 700 this year so far. Beyond just the number of total skipped classes, Robinson pointed out the number of students cutting class went from 228 students cutting last year to 184 students cutting class this year. 

Robinson said part of the reason for the decline in skipped classes was due to increased discipline — a strategy Robinson said brought fights down from 54 fights last year to 20 this year. 

To tackle the problem of students cutting classes, the number of warnings was cut by 47%. At the same time, the number of in-school suspensions for cutting class went up by 16% and the number of lunch detentions went up by 21%. Robinson said the increased discipline was specifically focused on repeat offenders. 

“What we do is: if they’re multiple offenders, we increase the punishment,” Robinson said. 

As for why the number of warnings went down, Robinson said this came at the request of teachers in his building. 

“They wanted less warnings,” Robinson said. “The argument was students should know if they’re in high school, they shouldn’t be cutting.” 

Another one of Robinson’s major goals was increasing the number of economically disadvantaged students graduating. Robison’s goal at the beginning of the year was to increase the rate 70% last year to 80% this year.

 Of the 109 economically disadvantaged students who entered the school year this year, 12 dropped out while nine transferred to other schools. Robinson said he won’t know how many of the 88 remaining seniors will graduate. However, his hope is for all of them to graduate and that he is working towards that goal. 

Beyond the reports from the schools, the school boards approved the purchase of several diesel-powered vehicles and one electric school bus. 

Schuylerville Valedictorian and Music Teacher Honored by Capital Area School Development Association

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.

A Schuylerville High School senior and one of her teachers have been honored by the Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA). 

CASDA’s annual recognition program honors outstanding graduating seniors from high schools throughout the region. Recognized students are chosen by their schools based on academic achievements, community service and leadership to their schools or communities, or other unique accomplishments. Each nominated student then selects a teacher who has had a significant influence on their education. 

Congratulations to Schuylerville High School senior Holly Price, who in turn selected Mr. Michael Craner as a teacher to recognize. 

Holly Price 

Holly Price is a dedicated and serious student, known for her exceptional moral character, sincerity, and unwavering commitment to both her school and local community. Her diligence and positive attitude in the face of academic challenges have earned her numerous awards for outstanding effort, achievement, and excellence. Most notably, Holly has been named the Valedictorian of the Class of 2025. 

Holly is a musically gifted and dedicated performer who plays an integral role in both our Jazz Band and Symphonic Band. Her talent and commitment consistently elevate the ensemble’s overall performance. 

As a young woman of remarkable intelligence and character, Holly brings warmth and excellence to every environment she enters. Her leadership and collaborative spirit are evident in her roles as Vice President of the French Club, Band Librarian, and Varsity Club Representative for Tennis.

Beyond school, Holly generously gives her time to the community, volunteering countless hours at the Schuylerville Public Library. Regardless of the activity Holly is involved in, she is a positive influence and leaves her mark because of her effort, her poise, her personality, and her vision for a brighter future. 

This fall, Holly will continue her academic journey by studying Neuroscience at Colgate University.

Michael Craner

In her nomination of Micheal Craner, Holly said the following: 

“I’ve known Mr. Craner since 7th grade, when I started taking saxophone lessons with him. He has a great way of teaching and is always super patient and encouraging with his students. He works hard to push his students musically, so they improve. I wouldn’t be at the level I am at without his guidance and incredible musical knowledge. He also has a great sense of humor and makes every rehearsal very fun and productive. I am so grateful to have had him as my high school Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble director. I will miss him and his classes greatly after I graduate!”

Saratoga Builders Association Awards Two Student Scholarships

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.


SBA Executive Director Barry Potoker, 2025 SBA Scholarship recipient Jameson Brownell, 2025 “Bob Best” Memorial Scholarship recipient Sean Ward and SBA President Matt Whitbeck of Whitbeck Construction.
Photo provided by the Saratoga Builders Association

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Builders Association, Inc. is proud to announce the awarding of two student $1000 cash scholarships. One is the annual SBA Scholarship and the second is the annual “Bob Best” Memorial Scholarship.

Congratulations to Sean Ward of Corinth. Sean will be graduating from Corinth High School this June and plans on attending Hudson Valley Community College pursuing a degree in Construction Technology.

Congratulations to Jameson Brownell of Schuylerville. Jameson will be graduating from Schuylerville High School this June and plans on attending Utica College pursuing a degree in Construction Management.

The Saratoga Builders Association makes these two student scholarship awards available annually to high school seniors or college students who are planning to pursue a career in the construction industry.

BSCSD Announces New Director of Physical Education, Health, and Athletics

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Education.

Ballston Spa Central School District Superintendent Dr. Gianleo A. Duca announced Matthew R. Griep would be the School District’s new Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics. 

Matt is the current Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics at South Glens Falls Central School District, where he has worked for six years leading a comprehensive health, physical education, and athletic program serving nearly 3,000 students, 1,300 student athletes, 140 coaches and staff, 77 teams, and 20 physical and health education teachers. 

Prior to taking this position in South Glens Falls, Matt was the Assistant Director of Student Activities in Fairfax, Virginia where he led and assisted in the organization and implementation of both athletic and non-athletic student programs, the health and physical education programs, as well as the fine and performing arts programs.

Matt’s wealth of experience in these realms as well as his commitment to student athlete mental health, and his experience serving as the Foothills Council Secretary and the Section II Foothills Council League Representative, set him apart from other qualified candidates during a very rigorous interview process.  

Matt holds a BS in Physical Education and a BS in Health Education — both  from East Stroudsburg University —as well as Masters in Educational Leadership from George Mason University. He currently resides in Saratoga with his wife, Erin, and three children. 

He will begin his new leadership position at Ballston Spa on July 1, 2025. Please join us in welcoming Matt to the district!