Schools closed Friday and
next week
All
City School District of Albany
schools and offices will be closed
Friday in observance of Good Friday.
All schools and the district’s
Central Registration, Transportation
and Special Education offices at the
Harriet Gibbons Student Services
Center will
remain closed through next week for
Spring Recess.
Administrative offices at Academy
Park will remain open next week.
The district
will be fully back in business on
Monday, April 29. Have a safe and
restful break!
Board approves 2019-20
budget proposal
The City School
District of Albany Board of
Education has approved a $260.4
million budget proposal that voters
will consider May 21. The proposal
includes a 1.99% tax-levy increase,
the sixth year in a row the
district's proposed tax-levy
increase is below 2%.
Voters also
will have the opportunity to
consider two seats on the Board of
Education on May 21, and a
facilities referendum (Proposition
#2) that has no additional tax
impact.
Please visit
our
2019-20 Budget News section for
more information, including
information about the May 6
voter-registration deadline and
updates on two changes in voting
locations for voters in the Eighth,
11th and 14th wards.
Plan will reduce O'Neal
enrollment, repurpose North Albany
for 2019-20
In
order to reduce enrollment at Edmund
J. O’Neal Middle School of
Excellence, the City School District
of Albany Board of Education has
approved a plan to convert North
Albany Academy to a small, temporary
middle school for the next four
years.
Students moving
into sixth grade from North Albany
and Philip J. Schuyler Achievement
Academy in September will attend the
new temporary middle school at North
Albany. Students moving into sixth
grade from Arbor Hill Elementary
School and Sheridan Preparatory
Academy will continue to attend
middle school at O’Neal.
Please visit our District News
section for more information.
Albany High takes third
in Stock
Market Challenge
Aspiring
financiers from Albany High School took third place on April 17 at the
Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge.
Junior Akili Bahati, senior Nailia Pumbaya and senior Mohammed Yehia (pictured
at right from left to right) finished as Albany High's top team.
Theirs was one of 10 Albany High teams at the event, which drew more
than 400 students from 19 area schools. (MORE)
Albany High ensembles
sparkle at
NYSSMA Festival
Bravo! Three Albany High School
musical ensembles earned
outstanding ratings April 15 –
two golds and a silver -- at the
New York School Music
Association’s Major Ensemble
Festival.
The Wind Ensemble and Chamber
Choir each captured a gold
rating, and the Advanced
Orchestra received a silver. (MORE)
Chinese language students
shine at video competition
Students in teacher Hua Lin’s Chinese classes at Albany High School
rocked it at the recent Capital Region Chinese Language Video
Competition sponsored by the Confucius Institute at the University of
Albany.
Senior
Paul Criscione and sophomores Noah
Graber and Mark Manantan won first
prize for their rendition of the pop
song
对不起我的中文不好/Sorry
My Chinese Isn't So Good. Check out
their award-winning performance
here.
(MORE)
AIC
competes for national broadcast
High
school students at Albany
International Center are hoping to
make podcast history and are vying
for the chance to have their podcast
air on National Public Radio.
The
English as a New Language class
produced six podcasts about their
birth countries, experiences moving
to the United States and life now in
Albany.
(MORE)
Unified
basketball levels playing
'court'
I
t's
season two for the unified
basketball team at Albany High
School and the athletes are not only
ready but also excited for
competition on the court.
The goal of the Falcon unified
basketball team is to educate and
motivate young people to become
agents of change, through inclusion
and acceptance, in their
communities. (MORE)
Elementary report card survey
now open
As part of the
City School District of Albany’s
work to develop an informative
document that can help parents and
guardians support student success at
home, we are seeking your input on
the new elementary report card
rolled out this school year.
We encourage you to complete
this short survey by May 10. (MORE)
District early childhood
leader
receives statewide
recognition
City
School District of Albany Early Childhood Department Director Melissa
Hasty on Friday was named the state’s 2019 Early Childhood Leader by the
New York Association for the Education of Young Children.
She received the award for her
efforts in advocacy, research and
mentorship on behalf of early
childhood education, all of which
have made significant contributions
locally, statewide and nationally. (MORE)
Applications available
for pre-K lottery for
3-year-olds
Applications
are available for the lottery to determine September enrollment in the
City School District of Albany’s prekindergarten program for
3-year-olds.
The district offers prekindergarten
for 3-year-olds at 15 community
agencies. Your child must be 3 by
Dec. 1 and live in Albany to
qualify.
Download an application here.
You also can pick up an application
at Central Registration, located at
75 Watervliet Ave., or any of our
elementary schools or community
providers. (MORE)
High school artists excel at
media arts fest
Albany
High School media artists fared well Tuesday at the Capital Region Media
Arts Festival, with junior Erik Smits placing first in the category
“Photography: The Human Figure/Portrait” for his photo called Storm
Cloud.
Smits' photo is pictured at right.
View a larger version here. (To
see the other winning works, click
on the highlighted text).
Freshman Aeonna Marsico-Von Lutz
earned third place in the “Design:
Digital Illustration” category with
Julia. (MORE)
Clement nurtures whole child
with community help
Similar
to their colleagues throughout the
district, staff at the Tony Clement
Center for Education strive to
support their students academically,
socially and emotionally.
That often means going above and
beyond the work of a typical
educator and ensuring students have
food at home, seasonally appropriate
clothing and, even, toiletries.
(MORE)
Marching Falcons fundraisers
ahead
The
Albany Marching Falcons continue their efforts to raise money toward
their
upcoming trip to France to participate in events marking the 75th
anniversary of D-Day.
You can
support them through
a direct
donation
or by attending an
upcoming fundraiser.
(MORE)
District percussionists
medal
at state-wide competition
Congratulations
to 23 City School District of Albany
musicians who participated in the
Percussion Independent A (PIA) class
of the New York State Percussion
Circuit Finals on April 7.
The
Albany Indoor Percussion Ensemble
earned its highest score of the year
and the team's first medal at
the weekend event.
(MORE)
Albany High students second
and third
in Albany-Tula Alliance
essay contest
Two Albany High School students recently took second and third place in
the 2019 student essay contest sponsored by the
Albany-Tula Alliance.
Junior Amelia
Colafati’s essay won the second
place award of $500. Senior Adam
Aleksic’s essay won the third-place
award of $250. (MORE)
Assistive technology:
giving students
voices literally,
figuratively
Lee-Ann
Mertzlufft believes human beings are hard-wired for language.
As the assistive technology specialist for the City School District of
Albany, it’s her job to link students who have language and physical
limitations with technologies that can help.
She works one-to-one with students and their teachers, helping students
find their literal and figurative voices through a variety of
technologies. (MORE)
Resolving conflict without
violence:
Two schools get lessons from
experience
Three
people. Three experiences of unthinkable personal loss and suffering.
Three stories about forgiveness.
Students at Tony Clement Center for Education and Edmund J. O’Neal
Middle School of Excellence heard March 12 from a man paralyzed by a gang-related
shooting at age 15, a mother whose son committed suicide at age 16 and
the sister of a man who died of a drug overdose at age 24.
Their message: Forgive the unforgivable. (MORE)
Albany High grad rate continues
to rise
Albany
High School’s graduation rate increased to 68 percent in 2018, the
school’s fifth consecutive year with an increase and its highest rate
since the state started measuring graduation under its current
methodology in 2005.
Please visit our District News
section to read more.
FirstView bus-tracking app
available
First Student Inc., the City School District of Albany’s transportation
partner, has launched its bus-tracking communications app, FirstView,
for the 2018-19 school year.
FirstView
allows you use your smartphone or
desktop to track the location and
direction of your student’s bus,
your student's stop schedule for the
current day, and times for school
arrivals and departures. You’ll know
when the bus gets to school in the
morning and leaves in the afternoon.
Please visit our District News
section to read more.
Our goals in our voices
To
help highlight some of the primary
areas of focus in our district
priorities for this school year and
beyond, we have produced a series of
videos to start the school year. In
addition to Superintendent Kaweeda
G. Adams, these videos also feature
the voices of individuals –
students, staff and community
partners – speaking on the topics of
school and community safety, student
attendance, positive student
engagement and the importance of
community partnerships. (MORE)
High-school equivalency
test
prep classes available
Spread the word: The City
School District of Albany offers classes to help people aged 21 and
over prepare for the New York State high-school equivalency exam.
Test prep
classes are held from 4:30-6:30
p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at
Tony Clement Center for Education,
395 Elk St. (MORE)
