The New York State Education Department has named Ulster BOCES as the contracting agency to oversee training and professional development to educators in upstate New York, including Long Island and the Yonkers, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo school districts. The Resource Center will be supporting 58 funded programs serving 31,521 students.

Longtime education advocate and member of the Ulster BOCES staff Felicia Watson will oversee the work. This is the second time Watson has been appointed as the director of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Rest of State (RoS) Resource Center. The Poughkeepsie resident first served in this position from 2006 to 2011 (until the grant was awarded to a new agency for a five-year term). The new contract with Ulster BOCES is also for a five-year period and is slated to end in September 2021.

Watson and a staff of five will work to ensure that students have access to after-school programming that will provide tutoring, academic enrichment activities, and youth development opportunities to enhance their academic programs and meet state and local standards in core subjects such as English language arts and math.

Watson has more than 17 years of experience improving federal and state education programs through professional development trainings and technical assistance. She leads school districts in positive school reform through best practices around school safety and positive school culture and climate.

"We made a huge difference in the professional development and training of grantees the first go around, I look forward to working together to do it again," says Watson.