March 19 health updates

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The City School District of Albany is expanding the “grab and go” meals program to include meals for students for the weekend. Families picking up meals at any of our six locations Friday also can pick up meals for Saturday and Sunday. Please note that our school pickup locations will be closed on the weekend.

Participation in the program has steadily grown throughout the week. On the first day of the program Monday, the district served about 155 meals. On Tuesday that grew to about 660, on Wednesday to about 1,200 and about 1,100 on Thursday. 

We are asking our families to remember to bring a reusable bag to carry meals home. 

We also are working on a process that would allow us to deliver in addition to the pickup service at our six schools. Please stay tuned for more information about meal delivery. 

Families can continue to pick up meals at the following schools each weekday from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., while classes are cancelled:

  • Albany High School (Washington Avenue entrance), 700 Washington Ave.
  • Albany School of Humanities (ASH), 108 Whitehall Road
  • Arbor Hill Elementary School, 1 Arbor Drive
  • Giffen Memorial Elementary School, 274 South Pearl St.
  • Tony Clement Center for Education, 395 Elk St.
  • William S. Hackett Middle School, 45 Delaware Ave.

Lunch for the current day and breakfast for the following day will be available to district students at these locations. 

Please look for a representative or sign indicating where meals can be picked up at the above locations. Your student will need to provide their lunch/student ID to be able to pick up meals. If your student is not with you, you still will need to provide the lunch/student ID; assistance will be provided in the event you don't have it with you when you arrive. 

YMCA childcare partnership
The district is partnering with the YMCA to offer childcare services for hospital and emergency-response personnel beginning Monday. 

The YMCA will administer and staff the program, which will operate from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. daily at the following six schools:

  • Arbor Hill Elementary School, 1 Arbor Drive
  • Eagle Point Elementary School, 1044 Western Ave.
  • Giffen Memorial Elementary School, 274 South Pearl St.
  • New Scotland Elementary School, 369 New Scotland Ave.
  • Schuyler Achievement Academy, 676 Clinton Ave.
  • Sheridan Preparatory Academy, 400 Sheridan Ave.

The program will have a limited capacity, with a maximum of 30 children per school (three classrooms with 10 children). The YMCA will staff each room with two employees.

Apex Learning update
A reminder for Albany High School students logging into their Apex Learning accounts. Please note that this includes students in our Night School program at Albany High’s Abrookin Career and Technical Center. 

It is important to note that if you already were enrolled in the Online Success Program you may have existing Apex courses. Do not work on these courses. Instead, work on any new enrollments in the tutorial section. Stay tuned for more updates. 

You also can visit the Online Success Center section on Albany High's Courses and Programming page to learn more about the program and Apex.

Instructional resources for students
The district is working on enhancing our academic resources section. As a reminder, all students from prekindergarten through grade 12 have been provided with digital and print instructional resources that are available in that section. 

Current resources focus on the priority areas: courses that end in Regents exams, AP and IB exams, K-8 Math and ELA, and K-8 Science and Social Studies. Our enhancements will include a more parent friendly structure on the website and more directions in regards to the available resources.  Please anticipate an updated page next week.  
 
The resources are largely digital. We do recognize that there is a digital divide and are continuing to work on strategies to address that during the closure.
 
Print resources also have been provided in targeted areas as appropriate. An additional print resource in Math for grades 3-5 was mailed home to students this week.

Picking up medications at school
In the event of an emergency, parents and guardians who need to pick up medication that is currently stored at school can contact Health Services Coordinator Suzanne McCarthy to schedule a time to pick up the medication.

You can contact the health services coordinator at (518) 475-6730 or smccarthy@albany.k12.ny.us. Please be sure to include your child’s name and school, and the best phone number to reach you at. The health services coordinator will contact you to make arrangements to pick up medications.