Red Hook High School graduation plan set; updates on building remediation, school celebrations and Regents testing
Red Hook High School’s commencement exercises Saturday would be held at Rhinebeck High School’s performing arts center in the event inclement weather forces plans for an outdoor ceremony to change. 
School leadership chose its alternate location after consulting with the senior class officers and considering generous offers from several of our northern Dutchess County neighbors. We are grateful to Rhinebeck for offering its space, which would allow the ceremony to be held as nearby to our families as possible.
As long as weather cooperates, the ceremony will be held as originally planned on the lawn in front of Linden Avenue Middle School, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 20.
There would be no limit on how many people could come watch the outdoor ceremony; attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets on which to sit. If the ceremony is held at Rhinebeck, each graduate would be limited to three tickets.
The celebrations for the Class of 2026 kicked off Tuesday with the annual Senior Walk Through and barbecue. Read more about that here, and watch a video tour of the day above.
The celebrations for Red Hook High School, in general, will continue beyond graduation, as will the process of remediating the building itself. Read more on those and other topics below:
Schoolwide celebration
We are continuing to plan a schoolwide party for Monday, June 22, from 11:30-2 p.m. at the Red Hook Recreation Park and the PTSA is raising funds to purchase elements that would turn it into a bash to remember.
“Even though the recent fire cause disruptions to RHHS year-end events, we are glad to see that the school is planning on a party to celebrate the ending of the school year with its entire RHHS community,” the PTSA said in a statement. “We need your support!!”
The PTSA is seeking to provide food trucks, refreshments and other activities. You can donate to the PTSA through this link: https://www.givebacks.com/donate/redhookptsa, or through Venmo: https://www.venmo.com/u/Cydney-Shapiro
During the party, all areas of the park will be private with the exception of the swimming pool. Food, music and games are already planned, and yearbooks will be distributed.
Remediation update
We’re continuing to make progress remediating the high school building itself, with important strides made this week. Our cleaning partners, Advanced Disaster Recovery, notified the district this morning that all hallway ceiling tiles have been replaced. Other recleaning on the first floor, which could not happen until those ceiling tiles were replaced, is also underway.
The company has been working on cleaning the impacted hallway bathrooms, and expects that cleaning to be complete Wednesday.
Item retrieval
Individuals who had items left in the building that have been deemed ready for pickup can expect to receive direct communication imminently.
Some items have been ruled unsalvageable. This includes, but is not limited to, most backpacks and fabric items that were in lockers at the time of the fire. The district will be reimbursing individuals for the loss of those items, and those impacted will be contacted directly with instructions on how to begin that process.
The evaluation or cleaning of some items is still ongoing.
Regents testing resumes Wednesday
As a reminder, all Regents exams for the majority of Red Hook High School students will be held at St. Christopher’s School at 30 Benner Road. A small number of students with specific testing accommodations may be scheduled to test at Linden Avenue Middle School or Mill Road Elementary School; those students and families will be contacted directly by their counselor or teacher.
Morning examinations will begin at 7:45 a.m., and afternoon examinations will begin at 11:45 a.m. Students should arrive approximately 15 minutes prior to the start of their exam. Regular morning and afternoon bus transportation will be provided to St. Christopher’s, and breakfast and lunch will be available. The schedule includes:
Wednesday, June 17
- Algebra I — 7:45 a.m.
- Global History & Geography II — 11:45 a.m.
- Living Environment/Biology — 7:45 a.m.
- Earth and Space Science — 11:45 a.m.
- U.S. History & Government — 7:45 a.m.
- DutchessCommunity College Precalculus — 7:45 a.m.
- Geometry — 11:45 a.m.
- Chemistry — 7:45 a.m.
- French 3/Spanish 3 Checkpoint Examination — 11:45 a.m.
- Physics — 7:45 a.m.
Jazz Festival Wednesday
The district Jazz Festival, rescheduled from earlier this month, will be held on LAMS’ front lawn at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 17. We encourage the community to bring their lawn chairs and relax in the grass while listening to music from the Mill Road Jazz Club, LAMS Jazz Band, high school Vocal Jazz Ensemble and high school Instrumental Jazz Ensemble.
As a reminder, LAMS’ Eighth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, which was scheduled for June 25 at the high school’s Performing Arts Center, will also be held at the middle school instead, at 5 p.m. The ceremony will be held on the middle school’s front lawn in the style of the high school commencement if weather allows; otherwise, it will be held in the cafeteria.
We’re planning on having an amazing final 10 days of the school year despite all that has happened in the past month. We are incredibly thankful for the ongoing support from the community, which was evident at today’s Senior Walk procession, as well as the PTSA’s efforts to build onto our June 22 party, and will surely be an overarching theme of our year-end celebrations.