COMMUNITY UPDATE
DECEMBER 2023
Grateful for the partnership and support of our community
As we prepare to break to celebrate the holiday season, I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to all of the community partners who have come together to help address the conflicts that affected Albany High School and our city at the start of the month.
While our high school team, under the leadership of Principal Jodi Commerford, took immediate steps to address safety concerns at school following student fights Dec. 4-5, numerous partners also took steps to address these concerns in the broader community.
The Albany Police Department and other law enforcement agencies have worked overtly and behind the scenes to investigate and address safety concerns at school and in the community. Mayor Sheehan also has been engaged with us on these issues.
We are grateful for the involvement of faith-based leaders from multiple denominations in the Community Coalition we invited to come together to discuss solutions. We are looking forward to continuing this partnership.
The Community Coalition includes the police department’s Pastors on Patrol, led by Bishop Avery Comithier. Their presence in the community after school many days this month has brought calm and reassurance, as have the efforts of all of the faith-based partners who are working with us in these efforts. Their relationships with, and service to, our students and families has been invaluable.
I also have had conversations with leaders from Trinity Alliance and SNUG to engage their deep connections and relationships in our community.
Be assured that all of these efforts and more will continue when we return to school in January.
We have reached out to the National Coalition Building Institute to facilitate an ongoing series of conversations and focus groups, both with all members of the Albany High community and with our partners.
NCBI has been instrumental in helping our school community address and resolve conflicts in the past. We are confident that this partnership will once again have a positive impact that will benefit our students and families.
We also are looking forward to welcoming all of our families and community partners to a forum at the high school in mid-January, which NCBI will help facilitate. Please watch for more information about this opportunity.
Your partnership is critical. Please join us in the weeks and months ahead to be part of this community-wide effort to build a safe and supportive city.
My best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy holiday season!
Sincerely,
Joseph Hochreiter
Superintendent
Celebrating ASH's community and growth
A big thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the incredible growth and progress at Albany School of Humanities on Dec. 19!
The event featured student performances and voices, along with words from building and district leaders, all of which highlighted what makes the ASH community so special.
ASH had the most substantial student growth of any school in the state on last spring’s state ELA and math exams, and is one of just two in New York and 100 nationally recognized this year as a National ESEA Distinguished School.
You can read more about this incredible accomplishment in our earlier news story.
Jingling all the way through December!
Albany High School students have been busy this month helping our city get in the holiday spirit with performances throughout Albany!
You can check out a full list of the festivities in this earlier news story.
A busy and festive month to be sure! Our thanks for all of our student-musicians and their dedicated teachers for their hard work and beautiful music!
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!
Temple earns first-team All Star recognition
Albany High School senior Elijah Temple has been recognized as one of the top student-athletes from the fall football season with first-team All Star recognition from the Times Union.
Temple, who played both quarterback and safety for the Falcons, was named to the newspaper’s first-team defense. He finished second on the team in tackles and had four interceptions.
Two of those came against Queensbury on Oct. 21. Perhaps the most memorable was his game-changing “pick-six” in the Falcons’ exciting Homecoming win over Mohonasen on Sept. 30.
Temple also accounted for four offensive touchdowns in that 45-30 win – running for three and throwing for one on his way to 279 yards of total offense.
Celebrating a new name
Students, staff 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!
Our new assistant superintendent
Veteran district administrator Jasmine Brown has been appointed as our new assistant superintendent for elementary instruction!
Brown has served as the principal at Giffen Memorial Elementary School since 2012.
An Albany native and a 1997 graduate of Albany High School, Brown began her career in education at her alma mater. She served as an English teacher at Albany High from 2002-10 before moving to Lansingburgh High School as an assistant principal for two years.
“As a former Albany student, I understand the impact that our daily work, and the decisions that we make, have on every student and the opportunities afforded to them beyond high school graduation,” Brown said.
You can learn more about Brown and the transitional plan for Giffen leadership in our previous news story on this.
Holiday Recess
All City School District of Albany schools will be closed during the week of Dec. 25-29, and on Monday, Jan.1, for the holiday break.
District offices at Academy Park will be open on Wednesday, Dec. 27 and Thursday, Dec. 28, and closed for the remainder of the break. All district offices at Harriet Gibbons Student Services Center will be closed for the duration of the break.
All of our schools and offices will reopen in the new year on Tuesday, January 2.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Looking ahead
Don't forget that you can view our online calendar for a look at all the important events coming up throughout the district and at our schools! Also, be sure the contact email we have on file for you is correct so that you automatically receive regular updates through SchoolMessenger, and don't forget to follow us on our various social media platforms!
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.