• BOCES stands for Board of Cooperative Educational Services. As the name suggests, the purpose of a BOCES is to provide shared educational opportunities to component school districts.
• BOCES are arranged by regions, often loosely based on county or geographical borders.
• The legal name for GST BOCES is actually "S.S.C.T.A. BOCES", derived from the counties served: Schuyler, Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, and Allegany. DBA: "Greater Southern Tier (GST) BOCES".
  • Parts of Allegany County are part of Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES, parts of Steuben County belong to Genesee Valley BOCES, and parts of Tioga County belong to Broome-Tioga BOCES. GST encompasses all of Chemung and Schuyler counties.
  • BOCES directory information and maps can be found here: www.BOCES.org
  • More information about BOCES (and CoSERs) from the NYS Education Department: All About BOCES
• In New York State there are (12) different Regional Information Centers (RICs), each made up of component BOCES'.
  • note: GST BOCES and the GST RIC are unique in the state; GST BOCES is the only BOCES in NY whose component districts are split between two RICs - GSTRIC and WNYRIC. While most RICs are comprised of more than one BOCES, the GST RIC does not include a complete BOCES. Due to this odd configuration, many services and processes in the GST region may look different than they do in other regions throughout the state.
• Another collaborative BOCES group is called a Joint Management Teams (JMTs). These are, strangely, not always aligned with the RICs. GST BOCES belongs to the Mid-South JMT with BT BOCES, DCMO BOCES, and ONC BOCES.

• Virtual Learning Academies (VLAs) in New York State are administered by BOCES organizations who choose to offer them. These academies are offered to school districts to enroll students into - they are not charter schools or standalone public schools. Parents or students cannot register themselves. Every BOCES-affiliated school district in the state has the choice whether or not to offer Virtual Learning Academy enrollments to their students; often there needs to be extenuating circumstances for a district to consider this option as there is considerable cost to enroll students in these programs.
  
  There is currently no regulation that requires a district to consider the use of a VLA for any student, nor is there a requirement for a BOCES to offer a VLA option.
  
  
• A list of VLAs in NY (this list subject to change; may not include every active Virtual Learning Academy):
  
  
  Synergy Virtual High School, CiTi BOCES

  Program Website Notes: Very mature program, offers many college course options.
  Virtual Learning Academy, Broome-Tioga BOCES

  Program Website Notes: Very active leaders in NYS VLA groups.
  Cooperative Virtual Learning Academy (CVLA), Capital Region BOCES

  Program Website Notes: Participating schools are asked to provide teachers, if possible. Unique model.
  Home-Based Interactive Virtual Education (HIVE), OHM BOCES

  Program Website Notes: OHM BOCES is a state leader in video-based distance learning courses, especially in Foreign Language areas.
  eLearning Academy, Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES

  Program Website Notes: ...
  Distance Learning: Remote Program, ONC BOCES

  Program Website Notes: ...
  eAcademy, Erie 1 BOCES

  Program Website Notes: Offered through the Erie 1 CTE / Alt Ed program.

Name of BOCES	RIC Affiliation	JMT Affiliation	E-Learning Service	Virtual Academy
Broome-Tioga	South-Central	Mid-South	Online & Distance Learning	Virtual Learning Academy
DCMO BOCES	South-Central	Mid-South	Online & Distance Learning
ONC BOCES	South-Central	Mid-South	Online Learning	DL Remote Program
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison	Central New York		eLearning
CiTi	Central New York		Distance Learning	SYNERGY Virtual High School
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga	Central New York
Cayuga-Onondaga	Central New York		Online Learning Community College Courses	eLearning Academy
Eastern Suffolk BOCES	Eastern Suffolk		Virtual Learning
Genesee Valley	EduTech		Distance Learning
Wayne-Finger Lakes	EduTech		AccelerateU.org Online Learning
Greater Southern Tier	Greater Southern Tier & Western New York	Mid-South	E-Learning
Putnam Northern Westchester	Lower Hudson		Distance Learning
Southern Westchester	Lower Hudson
Rockland BOCES	Lower Hudson
Orange-Ulster	Mid Hudson		E-Learning
Dutchess County	Mid Hudson
Sullivan County	Mid Hudson		E-Learning
Oneida-Madison-Herkimer	Mohawk		Distance Learning	OHM HIVE
Monroe One	Monroe		Distance Learning
Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES	Monroe		Distance Learning
Nassau BOCES	Nassau		Center for Online Learning
Capital Region BOCES	Northeastern		Distance Learning	Cooperative Virtual Learning Academy
Champlain Valley Educational Services	Northeastern
Franklin-Essex-Hamilton	Northeastern
Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery	Northeastern
Questar III	Northeastern
St. Lawrence-Lewis	Northeastern
Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES	Northeastern
Erie 1	Western New York		Distance Education	eAcademy
Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus	Western New York		Distance Learning
Orleans-Niagara	Western New York		Distance Learning
Cattaraugus-Allegany (CA) BOCES	Western New York		Distance Learning