NYS Graduation Seals
RKA offers its high school students the opportunity to earn two special graduation seals from the State of New York. These graduation seals represent a significant amount of work both in and out of the classroom. Displaying these seals to potential employers or post secondary organizations, institutions, and programs demonstrates the high-quality work and intellectual engagement needed to earn the seals.
The seals we offer at RKA are:
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New York State Seal of Biliteracy (NYSSB)
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New York State Seal of Civic Readiness (NYSSCR)​
In order to earn these distinctions, students must earn points in various fields. Students earn these point b y completing required coursework, preparing special research projects and presenting them, and earning specific scores on exams.
New York State
Seal of Biliteracy
The seal is offered to all students who can demonstrate biliteracy in English and any other language. At RKA students have earned the seal in English +
Spanish
Mandarin
Italian
Russian
Arabic
Tagalog
French
Polish
Ukrainian
Parents and students can read more about it in the attached letter and Presentation.
Any 11th or 12th grade student interested in learning more should fill out the form by Oct 14, 2025 so that school officials can connect wiiht students.
New York State
Seal of Civic Readiness
The NYS Seal of Civic Readiness is a distinction on student diplomas that encourages civic knowledge and participation through experiential learning and the engagement of youth voice, leadership, and action. It lets employers and post-secondary institutions know that students have developed the competencies central to being an active member of a community and society. In addition to serving as a special endorsement on student diplomas, the Seal of Civic Readiness is a graduation pathway, meaning it can stand in for the fifth Regents exam for a Regents or Local diploma.
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Students demonstrate their civic readiness in a variety of ways from coursework, scores on Regents examinations, participating and reflecting upon employment and cross-curricular programming.
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A meeting will be held for all eligible students in Grades 12 during October.
