CELEBRATING OUR SCHOOL YEAR SO FAR
As we wrap up 2023 and make our way toward the half-way point of the school year, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the successes we've celebrated throughout the City School District of Albany over the past four months.
Of course, it would be impossible to capture all the great things in a single list, so think of what follows as a "greatest hits," and if you don't already, I encourage you to regularly visit our website and our social media for a closer look at all the things that make our district shine.
Such incredible things are happening in our schools each and every day, and as we reflect on what matters most over the holidays, I want to thank you all – our students, employees, families and community partners – for the role you play in helping make our district what it is.
And as important as it is to highlight our successes, I think it is also critical that we acknowledge our challenges, and that the business of education can sometimes be a tricky one. With that in mind, thank you all for your dedication, patience and support as we work together to improve our district, and please know that my door and inbox are always open to hear your concerns.
I hope you enjoy these highlights and a well-deserved holiday break, and look forward to continuing our partnership in 2024 and beyond!
Sincerely,
Joseph Hochreiter
Superintendent
ASH growth earns national recognition
Albany School of Humanities students achieved the highest growth of all schools in the entire state on last spring's 3-8 exams!
As a result of this outstanding accomplishment, ASH has been selected as one of 100 schools nationally and only two in New York to receive National ESEA Distinguished School recognition for 2023!
Celebrating a new name
Students, employees and community members celebrated the renaming of Roots Academy at West Hill on Dec. 6 with a special assembly marking the installation of the school’s new sign!
Student playwrights shine
The Albany High School Theatre Ensemble presented three performances of the 2023 Short Play Festival from Nov. 17-19.
The festival featured world premieres of five original plays written and directed by Albany High students that explored the good and bad aspects of social media!
Learn more on the Theatre Ensemble page!
Marching Falcons returning to France
The City School District of Albany Marching Falcons once again have been invited to France to help commemorate an important anniversary of the D-Day invasion of World War II.
Under the direction of band director Bryan Cady, the Marching Falcons are scheduled to be one of only two bands from around the world to perform on Omaha Beach in Normandy next June 6.
Wrestling: Now a sport for everyone at Albany High
Albany High now is one of 20 schools in Section 2 with a girls’ varsity wrestling team! A year ago, two girls competed on the boys’ varsity team, and that number has more than tripled this season – there are seven student-athletes on Albany High’s first girls’ team.
“It’s really exciting,” said Harriet Westin, a sophomore who has been a Falcon wrestler since seventh grade. “It’s nice because we are all friends. We practice together and there is more bonding (with the other girls).”
You can learn more by checking out our news story on the team!
National Merit Scholars
Albany High School seniors Luke Gibson, Julio Davis, and Jo Wunderlich were named Commended Students in the 2023-24 National Merit Scholarship Program this fall!
The seniors entered the National Merit Scholarship Program competition when they took the preliminary SAT (PSAT) qualifying test in October 2022. Their scores placed them in the top 3% nationwide of over 1.5 million who took the test.
Temple earns first-team All Star recognition
Albany High senior Elijah Temple was recognized as one of the top student-athletes from the fall football season with first-team All Star recognition from the Times Union!
Barbering and Cos serving the community
Our Barbering and Cosmetology students at Albany High now both offer hair and beauty services to the community, including our always-popular Holiday Spa Day!
Hall of Fame Class of 2023
We inducted the newest members of our City School District of Albany Hall of Fame!
Our 2023 inductees were Paul Collins-Hackett, Daquetta Jones, Ronald MacKay (Yvar Mikhashoff), Tom McGurn, Dr. Alexander Aiello Paley, Miriam Koblenz Scott, Dr. Melvin Silverstein and Hon. Margaret Walsh.
New district leadership
Veteran district administrator Jasmine Brown was appointed as our new assistant superintendent for elementary instruction, and we welcomed April Prestipino, Ed.D., as our new assistant superintendent of assessment, accountability and technology innovation!
DiStefano breaks new ground
Annabelle DiStefano took home first place in the Falcons’ home Suburban Council meet against Niskayuna and Ballston Spa on Sept. 12, joining 2017 graduate Eileen Bequette as the only members of the girls' team to win a league cross country meet.
Student musicians in the community
Our talented student musicians played a wide variety of community shows, including the State Education Department, a local technology conference and our annual luncheon at Academy Park, which featured Albany High junior Jonathon Booth channeling his inner King of Rock and Roll as Elvis!
Lastarza recognized as Master Counselor
School counselor Jill Lastarza was selected to be in the first class of New York State Master Counselors!
Lastarza is among 25 school counselors from around the state who were chosen for the program, part of the state's prestigious Master Teacher Program, which was expanded this year to include school counselors.
Community swim returns
The Albany High pool is open for community swimming two mornings a week!
The pool is open from 7-7:45 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday when school is in session.
Swimming is free and open to all Albany residents.
A new future for historic windows
We convened a group of 17 community volunteers to assist our Board of Education in developing a plan for the future use of historic stained-glass windows that originally were on display in two former locations of Albany High School.
Falcon 5K returns!
The ninth annual Albany Booster Club Falcon 5K and Fun Run was a huge success Oct. 1! The Albany Booster Club supports a wide-variety of extracurricular activities throughout our district, and this event is one of the largest fundraisers for our students!
A visit from Jerry Craft
Award-winning graphic novelist Jerry Craft visited our middle school students and families to share his wisdom and encourage their dreams!
Craft is a "New York Times" bestselling author of “New Kid” (part of our sixth grade ELA curriculum district-wide), “Class Act” and "School Trip," and the first graphic novelist to win both the prestigious Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Author Award.
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