General Education

Community rallies for schools

Feb 1, 2013

More than 1,000 community members from all 47 school districts in the Capital Region came together on Jan. 31 to learn about the fiscal crisis facing their schools and find out what they can do to help.

Odyssey of the Mind judges needed

Jan 23, 2013

More than 50 judges are still needed for this year’s Odyssey of the Mind Tournament March 9 at the Rensselaer City School District.

BOCES approach to school reform

Dec 27, 2012

Through its School Improvement Office,Questar III BOCES developed a regional approach to implementing the Regents Reform Agenda several years ago, before many details became final on new teacher and principal evaluation systems and Common Core standards.

Teacher appointed to advisory council

Dec 6, 2012

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) recently appointed Questar III BOCES Special Education Teacher Beth St. Clair-Bedell to the State Education Commissioner’s Teacher Advisory Council. The council was primarily formed to provide NYSED with direct feedback from the front lines of the Regents Reform Agenda in terms of what works and what still needs improvement.

Students study agriculture

Aug 9, 2012

The first-ever Home Grown Business Challenge, a unique summer camp conceived by local educators, farmers and agribusiness advocates, ended its inaugural year with teams of students pitching their agricultural idea to a panel of real life venture capitalists/ “Shark Tank.” They were paired with local farmers and challenged to develop a product or service to generate additional revenue for a local farm.

Fennelly wins first place

Jun 8, 2012

Nicole Fennelly, a student at Questar III’s Rensselaer Educational Center in Troy, recently won first place in the SkillsUSA state competition in Syracuse. This marks the eighth year in a row that a Questar III student has finished in the top three statewide.