Classes resumed at Dutchess BOCES on Sept. 4 for the 2025-2026 school year with students ready to learn and teachers and staff ready to support them on their journey.
At the main entrance to the Career and Technical Institute and Resilience Academy, teachers and staff members greeted students as they entered the building and in the hallways, welcoming them back with big smiles and “good morning.” Students returned the gesture and smiled as they entered with some stopping to high-five their friends.
CTI
Principal Nick Millas looks forward to a great school year supporting young professionals as they gain career readiness and technical skills in their chosen field that will guide them to success. 
“Our team is ready to work with industry and community partners to create innovative and enriching learning experiences that connect academic skills with workforce development in the Hudson Valley,” Millas said.
In Richard Petschko’s trade electric class, Work-based Learning Coordinator Sharon Myers stopped by to talk about internships. Petschko stressed that it is the student’s responsibility to reach out to an employer, adding that internships are “first come, first served,” so he encouraged them to act fast to secure one. Myers encouraged students to seek out an employer near their home school.
“Don’t look at this as high school, this is professional school,” Myers said, referencing the importance of how students act and treat people.
In Thomas Skean’s construction trades class, students were excited to learn that they will get the chance to build a home for Habitat for Humanity. Second-year student Matthew Ricks, from the Hyde Park Central School District, was one of those students.
“I’m looking forward to building the house – we’ll do one out there for someone to live in and we will build one inside to learn how to do it,” Ricks shared. “I’m excited to learn so that one day maybe I can build my own house.”
Millas said he visits every morning and afternoon class. In the afternoon, he, along with teachers and counselors greeted first-year students and showed them the way to their classes.
Nalani Peterkin, of the Spackenkill Union Free School District, is a first-year student in the esthetics program which prepares students for the growing skincare field which Peterkin is excited to join as there are many career opportunities.
“It was a good choice to get myself ready for the real world,” Peterkin said. “I’m really looking forward to learning how to communicate with clients.”
Resilience Academy
Students in Krystine Nardozzi’s class spent part of the morning talking about family and the difference between family at home and their school family. They wrote the word and the definition, “A group of people who may live or work together.”
The day concluded with an assembly where Principal Kiesha Tillman went over expectations for the year with students, praised them for understanding the school’s new cell phone policy and introduced them to Assistant Principal Geomari Fermin and Dean of Students Matthew Pidel, as well as the school’s new hall monitors who will open up restrooms for students and remind them to get to class.
Tillman’s focus for the year is centered on community and that will involve seeing how the academy can be collaborative, getting BOCES’ community partners involved and being proactive, rather than reactive when reaching out to families.
“We want to reach out to parents about our different activities and also reach out about the positive things happening in our schools, but also the positive things that are happening in the lives of our students,” Tillman said. “I’m thinking about how I’m building community here with our students and staff.”
Aidan, a senior, is excited to participate in the art and music clubs again as he plays piano and guitar and makes little sculptures out of clay. One class he looks forward to is financial math, which he said will be beneficial.
“I know that I’m actually going to use that in my life,” Aidan said of the class.
SPC
Teachers, teaching assistants, 1:1 aides and Principal Melissa Murphy excitedly welcomed new and returning students right at their buses in the parking lot to guide them to their classrooms. 
As the morning went on, teacher Timothy Sheehan spoke with his students about never giving up even when times are tough and shared his first quote of the week, “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try,” very fitting for a day that could be nerve-wracking for some students. Sheehan will have an inspirational quote for every week of the school year out of a quote jar.
Kree Williams, who studies in Jessica DiBartolo’s class, is looking forward to taking science classes because he enjoys doing different experiments and getting to socialize with his classmates.
“I’m excited to get to know people and make more friends,” Williams said.