Two-hour delay Friday
Good afternoon!
Welcome back to school after a wintry weekend of cold temperatures and snow!
In spite of the cold, I hope you all enjoyed a safe, cozy and fun snow day Monday as the weather moved through our area. While we enjoyed the time off, I am excited to welcome everyone back to Hackett. The school is warm, safe and ready for learning!
On that note, it is hard to believe that the first month of the new year is already coming to an end, and we have officially started the second semester. As we have experienced in previous years, the remaining months of school will move swiftly as well.
We enjoyed celebrating our Student Spaceflight Experiment Program district-winning team at last week's Board of Education meeting. The board members and Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter recognized eighth-graders Juliana DiVirgilio, Camilla Diefendorf and Ruby Mercier for their terrific entry, which was chosen to represent our school district on the International Space Station this spring. Juliana, Camilla and Ruby are students in Craig Ascher's science class, and this is the fifth year in a row that Hackett's experiment has been selected as the top district entry. Great job!
Last week's NWEA Math Assessments went very smoothly, and we thank our students for their hard work and our staff for their tireless efforts in preparing, facilitating and supporting students throughout the assessment period. Unfortunately, we are just scratching the surface of assessments as in just a few short months we will begin our New York State testing.
The City School District of Albany has begun its annual Family and Community Partnership Survey. This survey is for our students, staff and families to get feedback and input on our work as a district for the purpose of informing improvement and growth. Your input once again is an important part of this work. We hope you will complete this survey, which takes approximately 10-15 minutes, at your earliest convenience.
This Friday is our next Friday Fun Day, and the theme will be "Black and White Day." We will continue to celebrate each Friday Fun Day in a different way in order to boost school pride and add a little fun to our week. This is a great way to build healthy relationships and look forward to the weekend!
Our Extended Day Program takes place on Mondays through Thursdays from 3-5:30 p.m. and includes a free snack and free door-to-door bus transportation home. Applications are available at the Attendance Desk at the main entrance and should be returned to the Main Office. Please contact Ms. Lewis at dlewis2@albany.k12.ny.us if you have any questions.
As a reminder, please be mindful of school bus safety signals and school-zone speed limits as both carry fines as much as $300 for stop-arm violations and $50 for speed-zone violations. Delaware Avenue in front of our school and Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology is one of the city's school speed zones.
As a final note, Hackett will hold fire drill emergency response procedures periodically throughout the school year. The safety of everyone in our school community is extremely important. Holding these practice drills, including lockdown drills, is crucial to our overall emergency planning. Before we practice a drill, we teach students, faculty and staff about the procedures to follow in an emergency.
Stay connected!
Check out our website and Facebook page in addition to my weekly emails. You also can reach out to us at (518) 475-6475.
Now for our 'Don't Snooze and Lose News'
Besides the items listed above, please make a note of the following information:
- As a reminder to our eighth-grade families who were not able to attend Albany High School's Curriculum Night on Jan. 7, check out this presentation, which includes lots of great information about all of the opportunities available for students at the high school.
- Our next PTA meeting will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in room 112. For employees, parents and guardians who are unable to attend the meeting in-person, we hope you will join us virtually by using this Google Meet link.
- Our second round of Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place Thursday, Feb. 5 from 3:3-6:30 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 6 from noon-3 p.m.
- Our next Friday Fun Day will take place Feb. 13 and the theme will be "Pajama Day." We will continue to celebrate each Friday Fun Day in a different way in order to boost school pride and add a little fun to our week. This is a great way to build healthy relationships and look forward to the weekend!
- Winter Recess will be Feb. 16-20, with classes resuming on Monday, Feb. 23.
- Our Second Quarter Honor Roll will take place Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 8:30 a.m. in the auditorium.
- Third-quarter interim grades close on Friday, Feb. 27.
Hackett Corner Quotes
"There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met yet." – William Butler Yeats