Congratulations: Kibler Named NYS Master Teacher

Kibler Joins Statewide Network of STEM Educators O’Rourke Middle School math teacher Kodi Kibler has been selected as a New York State Master Teacher. Governor Hochul announced the selection of 18 educators from around the capital region and a total of 221 educators from around New York State to join the NYS Master Teacher program. …

BH-BL student Elise Waller maximizes her health care educational opportunities

A Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School senior is building a bright future in the world of medicine thanks to Capital Region BOCES. Elise Waller, BH-BL senior, is enrolled in the New Visions: Health Careers program at Ellis Hospital, where she is learning all aspects of the healthcare industry. As a high school junior, she earned …

Grade 8 Technology Students Build 301 Birdhouses for Community Project

If you were worried about the housing market for nature’s fine-feathered friends, you can stop. Thanks to O’Rourke Middle School eighth graders in Nick Morocco’s technology class, there are now 301 new and vacant wooden bird houses that will be donated to Saratoga County’s Birdhouse Program. This year, the program’s directors sought out area schools …

Winter 2023 O’Rourke Observer is here!

Kick off the new year by viewing the Winter 2023 O’Rourke Observer. It’s full of student work, including poems, survey results, tips, articles, news, updates and much more. Check it out by following this link to Google Slides.

CHES 2nd Graders Create Gingerbread Community for their ‘Bots

It was like a scene from a holiday movie with excited children setting up Gingerbread-like homes, stores, police station, and other buildings they crafted for their elaborate Gingerbread community. The students in Mrs. Hjelmar’s second grade class spent weeks working on a cross-curricular assignment that combined STEAM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Math) activities with social studies and ELA to …

Robotics Team Takes 1st Place for Innovative Project

Robotics students from BH-BL recently participated in the Hudson Valley FIRST Lego League qualifier tournament in Ballston Spa. The group, entitled “The Rainbow Top Hat Robo Builders: The Newer Generation,” took first place in the Innovation Project category in the tournament. Their innovation project is to enable community recycling of single use batteries. The students …

Congrats to students accepted into All-County Orchestra/Jazz Festival

Congratulations to the following students for being accepted to perform in the Saratoga-Warren All-County Orchestra/Jazz Festival: Grades 6-7 Orchestra: Lilianna Cartier, Meg Gerwitz and Samantha Goodell Grades 8-9  Orchestra: Emeline Comulada Fried, Sophia Corchado, Jaime Dawes, Julia Guyer, Angeline Thomas. Paul St. John and Levi Yaconis Grades 10-12 Orchestra: Liam Sullivan Grades 9-12 Jazz Band: …

BH-BL Welcomes New Charlton Heights Principal Abbey North

You could say Abbey (Wurz) North’s career choice began at an early age when she created a school in her bedroom. Who were her students? Her dolls and stuffed animals, of course. She read her books to them, taught them the alphabet, and graded their papers–most likely with her enviable collection of colored markers. “I …

Science made relevant revs up learning for Auto Body students

When students understand why they need to know something, it makes learning not only easier, but also fun. Just ask the juniors in the Capital Region BOCES Career & Technical Education Center’s Auto Body Collision Repair and Refinishing Technology program who, under the instruction of integrated science teacher Brian Conway, recently worked with egg-based paint. …

Increase in seasonal illness results in enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols

It’s that time of year again–cold and flu season. And that means more and more kids (and adults) will be exposed to lots of germs. As such, we have seen an uptick in a variety of seasonal illnesses in our buildings over the past several weeks. The district will continue to implement its cleaning and …