Pine Bush scholar-athlete earns Orange County recognition for 2025-26

Pine Bush became the newest Orange County high school added to the Times Herald-Record’s 2025-26 scholar-athlete roll call, a summer series that spotlights senior student-athletes whose classroom work matches their varsity commitments. The inclusion keeps Pine Bush in a countywide tradition that treats grades, practice time and school leadership as part of the same achievement.

The district has already put that message on public display at home. Pine Bush Schools has highlighted Caitlyn Loennecker and Jeffrey Palma in a page titled “Caitlyn Loennecker, Jeffrey Palma are honored at OCIAA senior scholar-athlete breakfast,” connecting Pine Bush students to the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association’s senior scholar-athlete recognition. Another district page, “BOE recognizes scholar-athletes, teams and champions,” shows the Board of Education has also formally celebrated student-athletes alongside teams and championship groups.

That matters in a place like Pine Bush, where school sports are woven into Section 9 and Orange County life and where families often measure a program by more than win-loss records. The scholar-athlete roll call rewards seniors who have handled classes, practices and games at the same time, and Pine Bush’s presence in the series suggests the district expects that balance to be part of the standard, not an extra.

The school was already part of the tradition last year, when the Times Herald-Record ran “Above and beyond: Here are Pine Bush’s scholar athletes for 2024-25” on July 17, 2025. The 2025-26 inclusion turns that one-year feature into a pattern, showing that Pine Bush continues to produce students who can hold their own academically while representing Pine Bush High School on the field, court or track.