All Regents exams to be held at St. Christopher's School
Red Hook High School students will take their Regents exams at St. Christopher’s School, beginning Tuesday.
The school is located at 30 Benner Road in Red Hook, a walk of less than 10 minutes from Red Hook High School and Linden Avenue Middle School.
All Regents exams administered by the school this month will be held at St. Christopher’s, beginning with English Language Arts Tuesday. Students taking these exams are being contacted with additional logistics directly.
Bus service will be provided for students to St. Christopher’s. Students taking a morning exam this week will be escorted back to LAMS afterward to wait for the afternoon bus or be picked up. Students can also be dropped off and picked up from St. Christopher’s, and students planning to drive themselves can park at the testing site.
A nurse will be on hand at St. Christophers and both breakfast and lunch will be available to students.
We thank St. Christopher’s for volunteering use of their school. Its size and location make it the ideal option for reducing the hardship placed upon students by having to shift testing locations. Allowing use of the gymnasium is a great service to our district and greatly appreciated.
Major Life Event Exemptions
Under its Blue Ribbon Commission, the state Education Department instituted, beginning this school year, what are called Major Life Exemptions, which recognize unexpected events, such as a life-altering incident or severe illness, can significantly impact or prevent a student’s participation in a required diploma assessments.
A Major Life Event Exemption allows students who have experienced major life events to be considered for relief from certain diploma-related assessments, specifically state requirements, such as Regents exams. Students who receive an exemption will need to fulfill all other graduation requirements, including coursework and required labs, to earn a high school diploma.
It is important to note that this does not apply to AP Exams, which are administered by the College Board. No exemptions can be granted for these higher education exams.
To qualify for a Major Life Event Exemption:
- A student must have been enrolled in a course of study or a make-up program (i.e., summer school, credit recovery program) leading to a required diploma assessment.
- A student must have met or exceeded the expected learning outcomes for the course of study.
- A major life event must have prevented the student’s participation in such a required diploma assessment.
Other updates:
- This week we will be engaging with members of our student body, including the Class of 2026’s leadership, to involve their voices in the planning of our end of the year events and maintain a clear dialogue as we proceed. We feel it is important they understand this remains their school even as the physical building may be closed.
- We are evaluating options for how to hold our June 20 commencement ceremony. While we have traditionally held it on the lawn at LAMS, our alternate location in the event of inclement weather has been the Performing Arts Center. Multiple parties have reached out to the district to offer their services in assisting to make our graduation exercises as memorable for students as ever, for which we are grateful. More information will be shared when it is available.
- As mentioned in our communication Saturday, we are exploring options for additional Regents review. Those details will be shared with students directly when available.
- As a reminder, we suspended our broad daily lunch distribution for high school students due to minimal interest shown this past week. School lunches are still available to those who notify the district they would be interested on a given day; please contact our Food Services Department at schoolmeals@rhcsd.org or by calling 845-758-2241 ext.38010 to coordinate pickup.
- Counselors remain available at LAMS for any student who may need to talk. Either make an appointment through your counselor or drop-in.