The State Education Department recently identified 582 schools, just 13 percent of schools statewide, as “high achieving” and “high progress” — two local schools made the cut.

 “Every single system, every single way that we operate, we had to rethink in the last month,” said Marie Wiles, superintendent of the Guilderland schools.

The State Education Department has cancelled the June Regents exams and on Tuesday issued guidelines for graduation.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has postponed the state-set date for voting on school budgets until June 1 or later. The Guilderland School Board is looking at cuts to maintain a substantial fund balance while staying within the levy limit.

BETHLEHEM — Mark Warford, assistant principal at Bethlehem Central Middle School since 2008, has been selected as a 2020 New York State Assistant Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

In the time of coronavirus, with schools across the state closed, Fiero said, “Joan and I decided they would be the best way we could help.”

Teachers and administrators had very little time to prepare for the weeks-long closings of their schools but have been pleasantly surprised with how teaching online has gone so far. 

Area schools are closed leaving kids without structure and without an opportunity to socialize in traditional ways — potentially for months. Psychiatrist Jessica Griffin, who is an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, speaks about potential impacts of social distancing on children and how those impacts can be mitigated.

Local schools, though closed, are continuing to provide sustenance to students — food and social services for those who need it as well as remote teaching.

ALBANY COUNTY — Schools across Albany County that had closed for a week, starting today, will now be closed until April 1, according to an executive order Governor Andrew Cuomo signed this afternoon.

The state has suspended its requirement for 180 days of instruction during a school year.