diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 8285071e..f041bfd9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: [3.8, 3.9, "3.10", "3.11"]
+        python-version: ["3.10", "3.11"]
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@master
     - name: Setup Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} 
diff --git a/nbexchange/app.py b/nbexchange/app.py
index 2996d0bf..3f162851 100644
--- a/nbexchange/app.py
+++ b/nbexchange/app.py
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ def init_logging(self):
         See sqlalchemy.create_engine for details.
         """
     ).tag(config=True)
+
     upgrade_db = Bool(
         False,
         help="""Upgrade the database automatically on start.
diff --git a/nbexchange/dbutil.py b/nbexchange/dbutil.py
index 69e29632..a4980941 100644
--- a/nbexchange/dbutil.py
+++ b/nbexchange/dbutil.py
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ def register_ping_connection(engine):
 
     From SQLAlchemy docs on pessimistic disconnect handling:
 
-    https://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_1_1/core/pooling.html#disconnect-handling-pessimistic
+    https://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/20/core/pooling.html#custom-legacy-pessimistic-ping
     """
 
     @event.listens_for(engine, "engine_connect")
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ def ping_connection(connection, branch):
             # run a SELECT 1.   use a core select() so that
             # the SELECT of a scalar value without a table is
             # appropriately formatted for the backend
-            connection.scalar(select([1]))
+            connection.scalar(select(1))
         except exc.DBAPIError as err:
             # catch SQLAlchemy's DBAPIError, which is a wrapper
             # for the DBAPI's exception.  It includes a .connection_invalidated
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ def ping_connection(connection, branch):
                 # itself and establish a new connection.  The disconnect detection
                 # here also causes the whole connection pool to be invalidated
                 # so that all stale connections are discarded.
-                connection.scalar(select([1]))
+                connection.scalar(select(1))
             else:
                 raise
         finally:
@@ -349,13 +349,15 @@ def setup_db(url="sqlite:///:memory:", reset=False, log=None, **kwargs):
         # is ever created.
         kwargs.setdefault("poolclass", StaticPool)
 
-    engine = create_engine(url, **kwargs)
+    # From sqlalchemy 2.0, testing pools is now built in
+    engine = create_engine(url, pool_pre_ping=True, **kwargs)
 
     if url.startswith("sqlite"):
         register_foreign_keys(engine)
 
-    # enable pessimistic disconnect handling
-    register_ping_connection(engine)
+    # not needed: https://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/20/core/pooling.html#disconnect-handling-pessimistic
+    # # enable pessimistic disconnect handling
+    # register_ping_connection(engine)
 
     if reset:
         Base.metadata.drop_all(engine)
diff --git a/nbexchange/models/__init__.py b/nbexchange/models/__init__.py
index 2aa0c216..c62b37a7 100644
--- a/nbexchange/models/__init__.py
+++ b/nbexchange/models/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
     must be imported below the declaration for `Alembic`
     autogenerate to work.
 """
-from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+# import sqlalchemy.orm as orm
+from sqlalchemy.orm import declarative_base
 
 Base = declarative_base()
 
diff --git a/nbexchange/tests/test_smoketest.py b/nbexchange/tests/test_smoketest.py
deleted file mode 100644
index da16c7f7..00000000
--- a/nbexchange/tests/test_smoketest.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-import socket
-
-
-def test_smoketest_nbexchange(container):
-    sock = socket.socket()
-    sock.connect(("127.0.0.1", container.ports["9000/tcp"][0]))
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d1189a43..2180da8f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -31,15 +31,17 @@ classifiers = [
   "Intended Audience :: Education",
 ]
 
+# nbgrader 0.8.4 requires sqlalchemy 2, which breaks Jupyterhub
 # pyjwt limited due to djangorestframework-jwt dependencies
+# sqlalchemy spec is whatever nbgrader uses
 dependencies = [
   "alembic>=1.6.5",
   "jupyterhub>=1.4.1",
-  "nbgrader==0.8.2", # From pypi dated March 28th 2023
+  "nbgrader==0.8.3",
   "psycopg2-binary>=2.8.6",
   "pyjwt<2",
   "sentry-sdk==1.14.0",
-  "sqlalchemy>=1.4.3",
+  "sqlalchemy>=1.4,<3",
   "tornado==6.1",
   "tornado-prometheus==0.1.1",
 ]