HUDSON—What is new about the Bluehawk Academy, which the Hudson City School District (HCSD) launched February 1, is the mentoring program. It will connect all the program’s students with “a positive adult… to cheer them on when they are successful and to be a support when they make mistakes,” Willette Jones, president of the HCSD Board of Education, said.
The statement came in a response to a series of questions in mid-February to Austin Crosier, HCSD’s communication specialist. The mentors will include local businesses, business leaders, artisans, teachers, and professionals “who make a positive difference in the community,” said a February 3 press release from the the district. (In this article all quotes will be from written answers to those questions, unless otherwise stated.)
The Bluehawk Academy, like its predecessors, is for students who could benefit from a non-traditional secondary education. HCSD Superintendent Lisamarie Spindler’s experience as a school administrator includes three similar academies in the state. She said that with the Bluehawk Academy, “I’m consolidating the best aspects of all three. In addition, from 2014 to 2020, Columbia County youths could get non-traditional high school education at the Columbia Greene Partnership Academy (referred to as The Bridge or the Warren Street Academy), which was in Hudson. The Bluehawk Academy, like the Bridge, is starting out with students who have successfully completed fewer courses than expected for their age. Read more…