We’re proud to announce our district is a 2026 recipient of the Genesee Valley School Boards Association’s Excellence in Student Services Award!

The award was presented Saturday during Genesee Valley BOCES’s annual Legislative Leadership Day at Letchworth Central Schools by State Senator Pam Helming and State Assemblyperson Andrea Bailey in recognition of our district’s Early College High School program. 

This program, which launched at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, covers 100% of the costs to our students of taking college credit-bearing courses through our district’s higher education partner, Genesee Community College.

“We’d been looking at our college pathways and our dual credit courses and have had a goal that we've been working toward over the past few years of increasing the number of classes we offer to get kids as close as we can to earning an associate’s degree or, potentially, even have them earn an associate’s before they graduate,” said High School Principal Ryan Wagner. “We view this program as a great incentive to get kids into a college pathway and it also saves money for our families.”

If taken advantage of to the fullest extent possible, the Early College High School program will allow our students to earn 60 college credits and an associate’s degree in either liberal arts/general studies or computer information systems by the time they graduate high school.

“I’m incredibly proud that we’re able to offer this opportunity to our students here in Avon and, of course, am incredibly grateful for all the hard work our staff have put in to make it a reality,” said Superintendent Dr. Ryan Pacatte, who accepted the award on our district’s behalf. “It was not an easy process to secure the grant funding necessary to make this program possible and it’s no small feat to keep track of the progress of the 71 students we’ve enrolled thus far, but our team’s been up to the challenge every step of the way.” 

In addition to district staff, Pacatte praised the students who’ve decided to challenge themselves and get as much as they can out of their high school experience. 

“Ultimately, it’s these students who are choosing to take on that additional coursework and shoulder that additional responsibility so that they can hit the ground running after they graduate,” he said. “I think the fact that we have so many kids enrolled already in just the second year of the program speaks to the caliber of student we have here in Avon.” 

Shout outs have to go to Christina Ecklund, our district’s director of academic programs who played an integral role in launching the program and continues to labor behind the scenes to ensure it operates smoothly, our counseling department, program advisors and the dual-credit teachers here at Avon who teach some of the credit-bearing courses through GCC. 

Congratulations, all, on this well-deserved recognition! 

Photo courtesy of Alecia Kaus/Video News Service