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Numbers show steady HVRHS uptick in grades

FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) Principal Ian Strever presented more data indicating improvements in student achievement at the regular monthly meeting of the Region One Board of Education on Monday, April 1.

Strever showed a chart comparing the total number of grades below a 70 in the first two grading periods (i.e. first semester) from the 2013-14 school year to the present. 

The bar graphs show a steady decline in the low grades, from a high of around 500 in the second quarter of 2013-14 to around 50 for the second quarter of the current school year.

The sharpest drop comes in the 2017-18 school year, when the traditional D and F grades were replaced by “Not Yet Proficient” (NYP) as the most visible part of a new approach to grading.

Jeff Lloyd, the facilities manager at HVRHS, seniors Brierley Lloyd and Jeff Coon, and Julie Lang were honored for their contributions to the high school.

Strever said that candidates to replace Mark Burdick and Karen Davenport in the Agriculture Education department are progressing well, but he has having a little trouble getting responses for the open teaching position in the math department.

The board voted to accept Strever’s recommendation that Tuesday, June 18, be the date of the high school graduation.

 

Lakeville Journal

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Lelah M. Somers

Lelah M. Somers

DOVER PLAINS — Lelah M. Somers, 97, a longtime Dover Plains, New York, resident, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York. Lelah was born on July 3, 1929, in Pawling, New York, to the late Byron and Lelah (Watts) Brill. Lelah grew up in Pawling and on Nov. 22, 1946, in Pleasant Valley, New York, she married James F. Somers, Sr. Mr. Somers passed away on Sept. 3, 1970. Lelah worked for New York State as a therapy aide for thirty-years and as a senior companion for New York State for thirty-two-years, with specific care provided to the mentally disabled.

She enjoyed taking care of the mentally disabled, was a wonderful mother to her four children, always putting her family first. She is survived by her son, James F. Somers, Jr. and his wife Donna of Dover Plains; two daughters, Doreen Monica of Wingdale, and Frances “Fran” Horton of Dover Plains, who was also her caregiver for many years; seven grandchildren, Debbie, Margie, Leah, Stephanie, Deirdra, Benji and Jimmy and several great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews, and her step-son, Kenny Elliott. In addition to her parents and husband, Lelah was predeceased by her daughter and son-in-law, Carol “DeeDee” Maile and Gil Maile, her son-in-law, Stephen Monica, and her son-in-law, Benny Horton as well as her companion of over forty-years, Andrew “Mac” McAlravey and her siblings, Ferris Brill, Eleanor Barryann, Richard Brill, William Brill and Barney Brill.

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Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.

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