Finishing touches are being made to the new Dutchess Community College Fishkill campus.

“We found that this building gives us an opportunity to serve our county community far more effectively," said Gail Glover, director of communications and public relations at Dutchess Community College. "It's very convenient, and we're focusing not only on our traditional students, but also on those who perhaps are returning to college, or starting college.”

The school announced in 2019 that it was relocating its south campus in Wappingers Falls to a 47,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Fishkill.

“Our students will be able to see this wonderful space off to the right, which allows students to hang out together to chat, maybe to have some quiet time to study,” says Glover.

The new facility has a versatile and fully equipped biology lab and a designated computer lab for course work in cyber security and related classes. It also has “smart” classrooms with air media to allow easy connection for teachers to share lessons and for student to share class presentations.

What You Need To Know

  • The school announced in 2019 that it would relocate its south campus in Wappingers Falls to a state-of-the-art 47,000-square-foot facility in Fishkill

  • The school conducted a demographic analysis that showed moving to the heavily traveled Fishkill location would better accommodate the needs of those in southern Dutchess County

  • Dutchess Community College will also be opening a new building at Hudson Valley Regional Airport for its aviation maintenance program

“Each classroom is a smart classroom, and with multiple sources of input, including air media, which allows you to use your iPad, your smartphone, a laptop to pass this image up to the screen in front of the class so you're not tethered to the PC that's in the room, you can use other technology than what's traditionally done," said IT Technician Jay Simpson.

The college made the decision to move the location to help with a decline in enrollment. The school conducted a demographic analysis as part of its 10-year academic and master planning process that showed that moving to the heavily traveled Fishkill location would better accommodate the needs of those who live and work in southern Dutchess County.

The Fishkill Campus will welcome students into the classroom in the fall.

Dutchess Community College will also be opening a new building at Hudson Valley Regional Airport for its aviation maintenance program.