Hello Barker Learning Community,

It truly is amazing how quickly our campus can transform in such a short time. I am sure many of you have already seen all the changes on the outside of the building, but the ones on the inside are even more exciting than what we've seen happen outside of the building. As of the publication date of this Banner, we have taken ownership of our new Family and Consumer Sciences classroom, and we have a few other classrooms getting ready to be turned over to us very soon. The work on the inside of the old middle school loop, where our new library media center will be located, along with our new secure entry and office spaces, have continued to progress (even though we are a little behind our original schedule). We expect to see these spaces turned over to us prior to the end of the school year in June. Work on our technology area has already begun as well with demolition of the metal shop area that started in mid-April. All of the remaining classrooms that will be renovated under the $25 million dollar project will be worked on over the summertime, with a hopeful date of completion prior to the start of school in the fall. 

We have also begun designing the work on the new $14 million capital project, which was approved by the voters in January of 2025. We expect to send our designs to the New York State Department of Education in the next couple of months for review and approval. We are hopeful that we will be able to begin construction on the areas to be renovated in that project in the winter of 2026 with a completion of the work by the winter of 2027. Once all of this work is done in these two capital projects, a substantial portion of our entire District will have been renovated and be ready to teach our students well into the future. 

We continue to be extremely grateful for the support of our entire community in maintaining our campus so we can continue providing high quality instructional experiences that will continue to get our kids prepared for whatever they want to do when they graduate from BCS. 

As I reflect on over the last 12 months since the May 2024 Banner edition, I continue to be amazed at the achievement of our students and staff in our small school District. What I am most proud of is the amazing things that our students do each and every day in our classrooms. Barker has one of the highest graduation rates in our region, some of the best Regents exam scores in our area, and our ranking under the most recent US News & World Report high school rankings puts us at second in our region (as well as highly rated across the state and country). Additionally, our students continue to achieve highly in musical activities, athletic activities, extra-curriculars, and more. This achievement is a testament to the work our students put in, as well as the amazing tutelage and support provided by our unbelievable faculty and staff who dedicate so much of their lives to helping all of our students grow into meaningful contributors to our society when they walk out the doors of our school after graduation. 

Barker is a special place and I hope our entire community sees an amazing return on the investment that we continue to put into our student's education, our school building, and our overall learning community here at 1628 Quaker Road and beyond. 

I'm so excited to see all the things that our we will continue to do over the next year.

Sincerely,

Jacob L. Reimer, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools