The Center for Career Services hosted counselors from 12 Southern Westchester BOCES component districts on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. The annual meeting has become an important element in forming strong relationships between the schools and the support system available at Career Services that allows students to thrive.
“We have so many growing districts every year. Whether we are adding new programs, whether enrollment processes change, bringing so many counselors together into once space to hear that information at one time, we have found it to be very helpful,” said Anna Macchia, a school counselor at Career Services. “When we are all together in the same place, we can have those productive conversations. This way, we can make sure everyone is getting the same information at once.”
The event not only communicated relevant information, it allowed counselors to network with their counterparts from other districts. Following a presentation by Macchia and the counseling team at Career Services, representatives from component districts shared their processes for matching students to career and technical education programs.
The Career Services counselors shared the arrival of a new program for the 2026-27 school year: Pathways to Education, which will allow students interested in working in education to learn more about the various roles available in schools. Also, Ms. Macchia touted new HVAC and Welding programs, which were added in Sept. 2025, and identified the next partnership: a new satellite campus being built at White Plains High School that is scheduled to open in 2027. The building will house three new programs: Cybersecurity, Pharmacy Technician, and Sports Medicine.
While relaying that information is pertinent and tangible, so is the importance of forming and maintaining strong relationships between Career Services and the component districts.
“An important part of BOCES is having relationships with the component districts and sharing information,” Ms. Macchia said. “You have to make sure that everyone is on the same page. This is obviously a big part of that relationship building.”