HOPEWELL JUNCTION – The Wappingers Central School District (WCSD), the largest in Dutchess County and the ninth-largest in the state outside New York City, is well prepared to welcome students on September 8, according to WCSD Superintendent Dr. Dwight Bonk.
Bonk said the 2025 voter-approved $153.77 million Capital Improvement Plan is underway, with school safety as a primary goal.
“The top priority of the Wappingers CSD remains the safety of our students and staff,” Bonk said. The district is focusing on student mental health services and the programs are expanding. The district is continuing its partnership with the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Kirk Imperati, to provide an expanded law enforcement presence in each of the district’s 15 schools. The expanded services are supported by the towns of East Fishkill, Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, and Wappinger, along with the villages of Fishkill and Wappingers Falls.
The Capital Improvement Plan is expected to take place over the next several years and will include additions to the junior high schools, creating more opportunities for grades 6-8 and more room in the elementary buildings. It also includes essential improvements to the athletic facilities, and many other structural upgrades and repairs district-wide.
Phase 1 of the plan began earlier this summer and includes a full renovation of the Large Group Instruction rooms at both John Jay and Ketcham High Schools; early stages of work on a new turf field and press box at John Jay High School; and other building improvements throughout the district. “Many of these are not “pretty,” but they are so vital: roof repairs, sidewalk repaving, adding ADA-accessible ramps, and expanding parking lots, just to name a few,” Bonk explained.
The WCSD entered into a partnership with to offer high school students an opportunity to take a one-credit DCC course at no charge and earn both high school and college credit. The course, College and Career Seminar (FRS 100), will be offered as a pilot program for the 2026-27 school year, made possible by a grant secured by DCC.
Registration for the high school students is underway, with the district anticipating an enrollment of approximately 380. In addition, Cohort 1 of the PTECH (Pathway to Early College High School program), held at Roy C. Ketcham HS in partnership with DCC and Dutchess County BOCES, will begin its first year at the Center for Business, Industry and Innovation at DCC Fishkill. This year, the third cohort will begin Year 1 at Roy C. Ketcham HS.
The district has also had some changes at the building level. Anthony Giovannazi will serve as Interim Principal at Roy C. Ketcham HS through the spring of 2027. Giovannazi previously served as an assistant principal at Roy C. Ketcham HS and most recently as a middle school principal in the Hendrick Hudson CSD. James Mackin will serve as Interim Principal at Myers Corners ES for the 2026-2027 school year. Mackin previously served as an assistant principal at John Jay HS and most recently as an elementary school principal in the Hendrick Hudson School District.
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