COMMUNITY UPDATE

MAY 2026

Decision Day 2026

Our ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High seniors by wearing post-grad apparel in celebration of their next steps as they prepare to graduate on June 28!

Decision Day encourages high school seniors to finalize their college decisions, and it was incredible seeing all the different schools, colleges, universities and institutions represented.

Falcons, we are so proud of you and wish you the best in your future endeavors!

New student Board of Education members

We are thrilled to announce that ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High students Charlotte Baldes and Zion Morley will be serving as student members on our Board of Education for the 2026-27 school year!

Baldes and Morely will serve in an advisory, non-voting role on the board. They will represent the entire student body for the district by attending and participating in bimonthly board meetings.

We wish them the best as they prepare for their official leadership duties, which will commence on July 1.

Thank you, ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ!

Voters once again overwhelmingly approved our budget this year, with 80% saying yes to the 2026-27 proposal for the fourth year in a row. 

Voters also weighed in heavily in favor of the two additional propositions on the ballot:

• Proposition 2, which will allow the district to expand elementary transportation beginning next school year, was approved with 83% of the vote
• Proposition 3, a $98 million facilities project with no additional impact on taxes, was approved with 81% of the vote

Vice President Tabetha Wilson also won re-election in the Board of Education election. Serena White-Lake also won election to the board in a three-way race for two seats. Wilson and White-Lake will begin their new terms July 1. 

Levi earns Positive Athlete Award

ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High junior Yehudah Levi was selected for the prestigious Positive Athlete Award for being a high-character, teamwork-oriented leader with a heart for both his school and community!

Levi is one of just 28 student-athletes from New York to receive this honor. Nationwide, there were 15,000 applications for the Positive Athlete Award, and approximately 3% of applicants were selected in this highly competitive program.

Levi competes in football, wrestling and outdoor track and field. We are proud of his athleticism, maturity and positive demeanor that have led him to receive this award!

Falcon runner-up in Congressional Art Competition

Congratulations to ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High senior Sienna Stewart for being named a runner-up at the 2026 Congressional Art Competition!

Stewart’s artwork, “The Pink Room,” received the same score as two other student pieces when reviewed by the independent panel of judges, making a three-way tie for runner-up!

Dozens of pieces were submitted by student-artists from schools throughout the 20^th Congressional District, represented by Paul Tonko, and we are thrilled by Stewart’s impressive accomplishment.

Ensemble wins Outstanding Student Orchestra 

Congratulations to the ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High Theater Ensemble and our Falcon musicians for winning the “Outstanding Student Orchestra” award at the 10th Annual High School Musical Theatre Awards!

Our ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High student-musicians were honored on the MainStage at Proctors on May 16, for their incredible performance of “Mean Girls: High School Version.”

This is the second time in three years that the ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High Theater Ensemble has taken home the “Outstanding Student Orchestra” award.

Congratulations to our Falcons and our guiding staff from the ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High Theater Ensemble for receiving this prestigious award!

Soaring at sectionals

Our ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High boys' and girls' outdoor track and field teams soared to amazing heights as they faced off against the area's best at the Section 2 Championships at Colonie High School on May 27.

Our boys' 4x100m relay team -- Javanni Garland-Santana, Nyerere Young, Nasief Smith and Terrique Francis -- blazed into first place with a time of 42.1 seconds! With this incredible finish, they now rank in the top five 4x100m relay teams in New York.

Francis also claimed first place in the 100-meter dash with a lightening-fast time of 10.83 seconds, putting him in the top 20 in the state! 

Sweeping in Tulip Fest and a Falcon Tulip Queen!

Eight ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High School seniors -- Susie Hai, Adamarys Viveros, Anna Ustin, Karma Jernigan, Yanaiza Correa Fredericks, Sanaya Brown, Hailey Farrell and Sienna Stewart -- had the honor of ushering in the 78th annual Tulip Festival along with city officials and ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ Mayor Dorcey L. Applyrs, DrPH!

Dressed in authentic Dutch clothing, complete with wooden shoes, our Falcons proudly carried bouquets of tulips to  prior to scrubbing State Street to officially launch the festivities for the weekend.

Also, a huge congratulations to this year's Tulip Queen, Syaira Liverpool, who is both an ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High alum and a first-year faculty member at ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High!

CREATE Fest 2026

CREATE Fest 2026 !

The annual ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High event showcases the skills of our Falcons across a wide variety of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, textile work, animation, film, electronic media, graphic design and so much more.  

CREATE Fest also highlights the wealth of artistic opportunities available at ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High, as well as the dedication of our incredible art faculty!

Pupons helps Falcons shock CBA

With one swing of Nate Pupons’ bat, a gritty pitching performance from Seamas LeBuis and a spectacular game-ending catch from Matt McCarthy, the ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High baseball team shook up the Section 2 Class AAA playoffs against CBA!

“We always get put down. We don’t get anything. Like, nothing gets handed to us,” LeBuis told the Times Union after the win. “This is just unbelievable for the city of ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ, and especially this program in our school. I mean, that was the most unbelievable game I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Although our baseball Falcons had a hard-fought loss to Colonie in the semifinals, we are so proud of them for an incredible season and a truly outstanding game!

Joining the mayor for an historic announcement

Superintendent Hochreiter joined Mayor Applyrs and a broad coalition of community partners on May 20 as the mayor officially established the city's first Office of Violence Prevention.

"The signing of this legislation emphasizes our commitment to residents that the City of ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ is collectively invested in interrupting patterns of violence in our community," Dr. Applyrs said. "This is not just an undertaking by our law enforcement agencies and city officials. All community leaders who touch this work are at the table."

"Like our school district’s programs and supports, the Office of Violence Prevention will focus on stopping violence before it happens, addressing root causes and creating real pathways for stability, especially for our city's young people," Hochreiter said. "We are grateful to Mayor Applyrs for her leadership, and for including us in this vital work."

Middle school science fair at UÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ

The semester may be over at the University at ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ, but the campus was still buzzing in May with student learning – it just may not be the students you expect!

Junior Falcon scientists from our three middle schools – Hackett, Myers and North ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ – presented their experiments and findings to professors and graduate students at UÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ’s Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship (ETEC) Complex on May 14.

After the science fair, the sixth and seventh-graders explored ETEC, which houses researchers, educators and entrepreneurs. The tour was followed by a discussion with a UÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ atmospheric science researcher and the awards ceremony.

Falcon named top filmmaker

Congratulations to ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High senior and filmmaker Ian Roach for being selected as one of the top 10 artists in the Young Masters Awards National Art Contest for his film, “Rad Dude’s Guide to Love and Manhood!"

“I’m honored to be a recipient of this award,” Roach said. “I’d like to thank my friends for their help in the process of making movies and everyone who has supported me by watching them.” 

Roach’s film was one of 10 pieces selected from 600 submissions created by students in grades 1-12 from across the United States.

It features original music written by Roach and performances by fellow ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ High classmates Sophie Handyside, Leo Stimac and Anna Ustin, as well as Class of 2025 alum William O’Neill.