RIPLEY — Ripley Central School District and Chautauqua Lake Central School District held an end-of-the-school-year joint board of education meeting on Wednesday, June 15.

The meeting, which was held at the Ripley location, has been a tradition between the two schools since Ripley students in grades 7-12 were tuitioned to Chautauqua Lake in 2013. The boards shared updates on administration, programs, sports and projects.

Chautauqua superintendent Dr. Josh Lidell thanked the Ripley board for the longstanding partnership saying it has “enabled us to maintain and increase our academic, athletic and co-curricular program options.”

The inclusion of Ripley students has made it possible to offer a wide array of college-level courses, Liddell said. The district offers 26 advanced courses totaling 78 college credits, he said. Furthermore, the STEM program provides students with up to five RIT and four JCC engineering and manufacturing courses.

“Without our collaboration with Ripley, it would be very difficult for Chautauqua Lake to have enough students to run the number of advanced and college credit-level courses we presently have,” he said.

Lidell went on to note that the district offers 40 elective to help students discern what career path they might take. “The addition of the Ripley students also enables us to offer a host of different electives in multiple disciplines,” he said. “The Ripley and CL combination has helped all our students receive a dynamic secondary experience.”

Lidell also shared details of the district’s $18.6 million capital project. He noted that there are six different primary contractors and more than 30 workers on site. “That number is going to increase dramatically after next Thursday,” he said. “Everybody is on schedule.”

Aspects of the project include:

¯ A Manufacturing & STEM Lab which will add more than 1,200 square feet of instructional space.

¯ A renovated high school gym with a revamped basketball court and a new modern scoreboard.

¯ A new wrestling suite adding more than 700 square feet as well as a coaches office and a parent waiting/student workout space.

¯ A new cafeteria that has a collegiate/university feel with all new cooking equipment and modern seating.

¯ A new turf field for our athletic stadium that will be host to games for football, track & field, soccer and area youth teams. The field will be used by the physical education classes and teacher.

¯ A reconstructed playground with a safety rubber foundation, new equipment and a walking track.

The project also includes a new trail system on the 41 acres behind the school, Lidell said. “The trail system will be used by our students for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The district is starting a new Adventure Club and purchasing equipment so our students can use the new trails and hopefully develop a passion for being outdoors.”

Rachel Curtin, CLCS Secondary Principal: spoke to those present about the academic achievements of Ripley students such as salutatorian Sydney Hawkins. She also noted how Ripley students had led service learning and leadership initiatives at Chautauqua asw well as leadership in all sports “from Girls Wrestling to Track and Field.”

“We are so proud and grateful for the ambition and dedication of our Chautauqua Lakes students from Ripley, and look forward to their continued success,” Curtin said.

Also present at the meeting was CLCS valedictorian Sophia Shearer and salutatorian Sydney Hawkins, who spoke about their experience and the opportunities that the district has offered them. Shearer has completed a total of 67 college credits and Hawkins had amassed 50 credits for college. Other students who spoke to the boards were Elias Quintero, Emily Hawkins and Gabby Testa

Ripley board president Paul McCutcheon commented that the partnership between the two schools gives the Ripley students a far better education than the district alone could offer them.. “The opportunities that Ripley students have had are things that we could not offer,” he said. “To get college credits like this is unheard of. It’s a great partnership. These are my favorite meetings.”