This is the online version our community update featuring important news and highlights from around the City School District of Albany. You can also download a .pdf of the print version.

Congratulations Class of 2022! 

We are excited to celebrate the members of the Class of 2022 when Albany High School holds its graduation ceremony Sunday, June 26 at The Palace Theatre. The ceremony will begin at noon. 

Nearly 600 students will receive diplomas marking their academic success and achievement. Our graduates who are planning to continue on to higher education have been accepted at more than 170 colleges and universities. Many of our graduates also plan to follow career pathways or serve in the military. Valedictorian Pyae Sone Hmine will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology; salutatorian Tonema Mitra will attend Northeastern University. 

The Class of 2022’s top 10 students by academic rank also include: Zeroun Ni, Thor Hammer, Marah Sami, Sydney Speanburg, Ingrid Colafati, Alison Powell, Naya Kennedy and Liv Nevo.

This will be Albany High’s first in-person graduation ceremony for the entire class since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Like their predecessors in the classes of 2020 and 2021, this year’s graduates overcame unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic to successfully complete their high school journeys.  

We congratulate all of this year’s graduates. Look for our congratulatory Class of 2022 posters at CDTA bus shelters throughout the city, and for lawn and window signs that allow our seniors to show off their Class of 2022 Falcon Pride!

New middle school enrollment pattern for 2022-23

Beginning in September, students entering sixth grade to start middle school will enroll through a new feeder pattern, the final step in a years-long process to provide equitable learning opportunities for all students in grades 6-8.

The upcoming school year will be the first year of a three-year phase-in of the new feeder patterns for North Albany Middle School, Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School, and William S. Hackett Middle School. Students finishing grades 6-7 this school year will stay in their current school until moving on to high school.

Each school scheduled information nights for new families June 15. They also are planning summer transition camps and family information nights in August. North Albany also will hold a ribbon-cutting event in late August to allow students, families and community members to tour the new facilities being completed this summer through our construction project.

The Board of Education unanimously approved the new feeder pattern in March following eight months of work by the City School District of Albany’s Feeder Alignment Committee. The committee was comprised of parents from July through December, and also included three board members and statistician Kenneth Robin, Ph.D., for the final three months of work. 

The committee’s work represented the final stage in a multi-year process to provide equitable elementary and middle school experiences for all students. For many years, space limitations required the district to offer sixth grade in elementary school for some students and in middle school for others. The district was able to shift all sixth-graders to middle school for the 2021-22 school year – in line with the findings of the district’s Grade Configuration Committees in the middle of the last decade. 

The new elementary (PK-5) and middle school (6-8) structure also aligns with the community’s vision for our schools when voters overwhelmingly approved a major facilities project in 2001, before the prolific charter school movement impacted enrollment planning city-wide. 

You can watch all of the feeder committee’s meetings from the 2021-22 school year, and learn more about the history of this process on our middle school enrollment changes page.

Thank you, Albany!

The district is grateful to everyone who came out to participate in the annual budget vote and Board of Education election on May 17. Voters approved our 2022-23 budget with a record 78% majority, the seventh time in eight years that at least 70% of voters have said “yes” to the budget.

Voters also overwhelmingly supported a proposal for a $10.1 million capital project to increase energy efficiency at four schools (81%), and to purchase land to build a playground and other recreational space for Edmund J. O’Neal School of Excellence (85%). 

Voters also reelected Board of Education members Ellen Krejci and Tabetha Wilson to new four years terms, which begin July 1. Both board members ran unopposed. Thank you, Albany!

Spring sports superlatives

Two Albany High School student-athletes advanced to the state championships in their respective sports this spring, and another team also won a division title.

In boys’ tennis, sophomore Masami Surisawa (left) was the top-seeded singles player entering the Section 2 tournament. He dropped a tough three-set match in the semifinals, but rebounded to win the third-place match, which also qualified him for a trip to states at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing from June 2-4. Masami lost in the first round and entered the consolation bracket, where he won four straight matches to earn the state consolation title. That included tough three-set matches in the semifinals and final, where he rallied from a set down and won a third-set tiebreaker.

In boys’ track and field, sophomore Elijah Temple (right) advanced to states after winning the 400-meter hurdles at the Section 2 qualifying meet June 2-3. Temple’s winning time of 56.56 seconds topped the runner-up by more than a second. He went on to finish sixth in the Division 1 (large school) state championships at Cicero-North Syracuse High School on June 10.
Albany High’s unified basketball team also won its division championship with a 43-38 win over Shenendehowa on May 31. We are so proud of coach Joe Burke and all of our student-athletes for this achievement. Unified sports teams are composed of students with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and students without intellectual disabilities (partners). Albany High offers unified athletic opportunities in basketball and bowling. 

Summer school reminders

The City School District of Albany offers a wide range of summer school opportunities for students from kindergarten through grade 12. 

This summer, our offerings for high school students once again include enrichment opportunities for students to take first-time credit in a variety of courses. These course are open to students entering grades 9-12, with the exception of those who need to attend our Credit Recovery Summer Program.

Most of our summer school programs begin during the week of July 5. For more information about each, you can visit our Summer Programs section.

Our Summer Celebration is back!

The City School District of Albany’s annual Summer Celebration and Safety Day is back this year after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. 

A partnership with Mohawk Ambulance, Summer Celebration will be held Saturday, July 9 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Arbor Hill Elementary School. Summer Celebration features a free cookout, live music, fun activities for the kids, and demonstrations and education from local agencies and non-profit organizations. Participating partners including the Albany Police Department, Albany Fire Department, Albany County Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center, The RED Bookshelf, Albany Housing Authority, Families Together, Christ’s Church of Albany, Center for Donation and Transplant, Albany Community Action Partnership and more.

We hope you’ll join us at Arbor Hill on July 9!

Looking ahead to the start of next school year

While we are all excited that summer vacation is just around the corner, we also wanted to share a few reminders and important dates about the start of the 2022-23 school year for your planning purposes. 

The first days of the new school year will be Thursday, Sept. 1 and Friday, Sept. 2. These days will include orientation programs and a staggered start for students at all grade levels.

Sept. 1

• Elementary – Grades 3-5 only (pre-K by appointment)
• Middle school – Grade 6 only
• High school – Grade 9 only

Sept. 2

• Elementary – Grades K-2 only (pre-K by appointment)
• Middle school – Grades 7-8 only
• High school – Grades 10-12 only 

Following Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 5, the first day of school for all students will be Tuesday, Sept. 6. 

As you plan for your transportation needs for 2022-23, please remember that Friday, Aug. 5 is the deadline to submit First Student applications to guarantee that your student will be assigned to a bus for the first day of school. We will do our best to accommodate First Student applications submitted after Aug. 5, but cannot guarantee that these students will be assigned to a bus for the start of the new year.

Families need to fill out a new application if they move during the summer, are new to the district during the summer, or have children leaving the district for a private, parochial or charter school. Families do not need to fill out a new application if they live at the same address, have children moving up from one level to the next (elementary to middle, or middle to high school), or will have children attending the same school next year.

Applications are not required for students in grades 6-12 who ride CDTA. 

The first day of tryouts and practices for Albany High School fall sports teams will be Monday, Aug. 22. The first day for modified fall sports teams (grades 7-8) will be Monday, Aug. 29. Please watch for more information this summer about required physicals and other important updates for student-athletes interested in playing a fall sport.