Niskayuna students are back to school, new principals hired

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) – At the Niskayuna Central School District, high schoolers and kindergarteners, headed back to school on Friday, while 1-8 grades started Thursday. Students in the district here can expect to be met with a few changes made to the school over the summer, including shifts to school leadership.

Last month the district Board of Education met to approve several administrative appointments for the 2024-2025 school year. The result of the meeting yielded the hiring of two new principals. Both have prior experience within the district, either as a teacher or former school leader. John Moskov will be leading Van Antwerp Middle School, and Luke Rakoczy is the new principal of Rosendale Elementary School. However, in total, the district hired four new principals, according to the Superintendent of Schools, Carl Mummenthey.

“We have on boarded over 30 new members to our teaching faculty,” Mummenthey said. “We are very, very excited to welcome them to the Niskayuna community. We also have new principles at four of our eight campuses, so we are really excited about those changes and what that will mean for students returning to the campuses.”

John Rickert, the principal of the high school, said the district had their work cut out for them over the summer when looking for staff replacements.

“We’ve had to do some work with regard to filling teacher positions,” Rickert said. “You know we lost some members of our staff from last year, so finding new staff that are going to deliver that high-quality instruction, that was a charge for us over the summer.”

Upgrades to the tennis courts at the high school also took place over the summer. This project began at the end of July for what the school called a refresh, repair project.

“We have also done a total rehab of our tennis courts here at the high school campus,” Mummenthey said. “We are excited to welcome our tennis players back to that improved facility.”

In addition to the tennis courts being revamped over the summer, a collaborative mural was created by the district’s 5th graders prior to the school year. This was made possible through a grant funds used to partner with a non-profit, according to the school webpage. The district art teachers were able to work with the 5th graders at all five of the elementary schools. The mural is made up of artwork that the students did with paint, and the theme of the mural is what brings them joy. The mural can be seen at the district offices.

“The mural is beautiful,” Mummenthey said. “It really brightened our summer, and it’s vibrant. It’s colorful, it’s huge, and we’re just so excited to see our students so deeply engaged in the arts here in Niskayuna.”

Read the latest from NEWS10:

• Capital Region restaurant inspections: September 3-6
• Harris and Trump prepare for Tuesday’s presidential debate
• Big Lots files for bankruptcy, plans to close hundreds of locations
• Crash on I-787 in Albany closes 2 right lanes
• 5 things to know this Monday, September 9

NEWS10 is the Capital Region’s local news leader!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NEWS10 ABC.