ALBANY, N.Y. (Aug. 4, 2011)
--
The City School District
of Albany’s ongoing work to raise achievement for all students
received a significant boost Aug. 4 with the announcement of a $3.3
million State Education Department grant to assist with improvements
at Albany High School and William S. Hackett Middle School.
The
School Improvement Grant is for the 2011-12 school year and will
support staffing and programmatic enhancements at both schools that
are in line with State Ed’s review of each school as well as
the district’s strategic plan, “A Vision for Tomorrow.”
“These
much-needed funds will enable us to transform these schools,” said
Superintendent Raymond Colucciello, Ed.D. “The State Education
Department has given us the resources that we knew we needed. Our
vision to transform Albany High and Hackett is rigorous and well
thought-out, and it addresses State Ed’s concerns at these schools
and our vision for the future of secondary education in Albany’s
public schools.”
State
Ed has identified both Albany High and Hackett as persistently
lowest-achieving schools because of their consistently subpar
performance on state exams. The grant provides $1.6 million to
Albany High for 2011-12, $1.4 million to Hackett and $289,000 at the
district level. The district also can apply for School Improvement
Grants in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Follow these links to read and
download more information about the grant application and the plans
for each school:
Efforts
to restructure Albany High have been underway since September 2010,
when the U.S. Department of Education awarded the district a $7.5
million magnet grant. Those funds, covering a three-year period, are
being used to divide the school into four new academies beginning
with the upcoming school year.
The federal grant also is
providing more training for teachers and staff in line with the
classroom needs State Ed identified in its July 2010 recommendations
for Albany High.
At Albany High, the state
grant will:
-
Continue the position
for overseeing school-improvement efforts, held by Dale Getto
since the start of the 2010-11 school year
-
Raise academic rigor
by increasing chances for all students to take advanced
coursework such as Advanced Placement and International
Baccalaureate classes, as well as project- and inquiry-based
learning.
-
Provide more supports and
training for teachers who work with students with disabilities
and students for whom English is not a first lnguage.
-
Support the expanded
use of instructional technology.
-
Support transition
camps for incoming freshmen, new this summer.
-
Expand programs for
students to make up credits, such as the Saturday Academies that
Albany High launched last winter.
-
Help get families and
the community more involved in school activities.
At Hackett, the district’s plan to raise achievement
includes many of the same strategies that will be implemented at
Albany High. Hackett’s improvement plan also includes:
-
A new position to
oversee the improvement efforts. North Albany Academy Assistant
Principal David Amodeo will fill that role.
-
Summer transition
camps in 2012 for students who will enter in sixth or seventh
grades (depending on their feeder elementary school).
-
More learning time
through extended-day programs, apprenticeships, longer English
classes and math seminars, among other strategies.
At the district level, the
grant will support two positions: a transformation officer
responsible for oversight of the full school-improvement program for
Albany High and Hackett, and a technology specialist to help both
schools better integrate instructional technology.
The grant also will help
support a new teacher evaluation system, identify and reward
teachers improving student achievement and high-school graduation
rates, put in place a system for measuring changes in instructional
practices resulting from professional development, and use data to
identify and implement instructional programs that meet the needs of
all students.
