Pine Hills Elementary School held a Father's Day
breakfast June 17 to celebrate the dads of kids
in the school. To all our fathers and
father-figures, Happy Father's Day!
Make 'no texting while driving' pledge
and support Albany public schools
When
Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D., made a pledge June 14
to not text and drive, it resulted in $1
being donated to a group that supports Albany public schools.
In fact, during the next month, health plan
CDPHP will donate $1 to the Albany Fund for
Education (AFE) -- up to $5,000 -- for every
online no-texting pledge signed through the
CDPHP
Facebook page. Join their efforts by
clicking on the highlighted text.
Dr. Vanden Wyngaard (pictured above right,
signing a hard copy of a pledge) joined
CDPHP CEO and President John Bennett, MD, and
local officials on June 14 to launch the
initiative to raise awareness about the dangers
of texting and driving. (MORE)
Re-Imagining Albany High School
Survey, forum continue planning process
The City School District of Albany, in its
continued partnership with the community to develop a vision for the
future of high school education in our city, held a town hall meeting
Monday night at William S. Hackett Middle School.
About 70 people attended the forum,
“Re-Imagining
Albany High School: A Town Hall Meeting.” A
panel of district representatives provided
information about the planning process for a new
or renovated high school -- you can download a
list of
Frequently Asked Questions. The
panelists also answered a wide range of
questions from those in attendance
All community members also are invited to
complete an online survey to provide
additional input that will help guide the
planning for a new or renovated high school.
Visit our Re-Imagining Albany High School
section to read more.
Music staffing clarifications for
2013-14
City School District of Albany Superintendent
Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D., provided
clarification Monday regarding district-wide
music staffing for 2013-14.
"Our plan for music staffing in 2013-14 calls
for a district-wide reduction from 24 teachers
to 22 teachers," Dr. Vanden Wyngaard said.
"Whenever we reduce staff, we are contractually
obligated to look to the employees with the
least seniority in a specific certification
area. In this case, our district’s two
least-senior music teachers are at Albany High
School this year.
“However, it also is important to know that we
have a plan to reassign other members of our
district-wide music staff to maintain most of
the Albany High music program in 2013-14."
Visit our From the Superintendent section to
read Dr. Vanden Wyngaard's entire message. Music
staffing for 2013-14 also will be on the Board
of Education agenda at the June 20 meeting at
Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology
(TOAST). The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
Summer school schedule announced
The City School District of Albany will offer
summer school programs for elementary, middle
and high school students starting in July.
Click here
for information about times, dates and
locations.
A message from the superintendent
Working to create an environment
that is safe for all students and staff
City
School District of Albany Superintendent
Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D., shared the
following message May 30:
"This week’s media coverage of incidents with
implied racial bias that occurred last school
year has caused me to reflect and has raised
concern about awareness, understanding and our
attitudes as a community around race.
"Many individuals, including myself as a child,
have experienced hardships based on ethnicity,
race, gender, language or sexual identity. It
hurts and, at times, impacts our ability to
trust – not only the people responsible, but the
system as a whole as it can appear to be
unresponsive.
"To that end, know that during my time as
superintendent the City School District of
Albany will continue to build a system of
support for all students and staff to create an
environment where similar actions in the future
are met with swift and appropriate response."
Visit our From the Superintendent section to
read Dr. Vanden Wyngaard's entire message.
Albany High senior recognized
among top American scholars
Albany
High School senior June Criscione has been
recognized as one of 141 U.S. Presidential
Scholars nationally and just five in New York
state. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
announced the members of the 49th
class of U.S. Presidential Scholars on May 6.
Criscione is the top-ranked student in the
Albany High Class of 2013. Both she and Albany
High’s second-ranked student, Hillel Adler, will
attend Harvard University in the fall.
Visit our District News section
to read
more.
Albany High trio named '2013 Scholars'
Three Albany High School students were honored Wednesday at the 2013
Scholars' Recognition Dinner.
June Criscione, Kayli McTague and Malcolm Porterfield were among high
school seniors from 11 neighboring counties nominated by their schools
for outstanding academic achievement, leadership skills, and service to
the community and their schools.
Besides lauding the students, the Scholars' Recognition Dinner
spotlights the teachers who they say have influenced them most. For
Criscione, that was math teacher Margot Plumadore. For McTague, it was
French teacher Carol DiNovo. And for Porterfield, it was English teacher
Loren Green. (MORE)
Albany High student essay
wins Junior Achievement contest
When
Ed Murray read the first sentence of Shaquilla
Scott’s essay, he knew it was a winner:
“’Go to school. Make something
of yourself. You don’t want to end up like me,
broke and uneducated.’ – my mother”
Murray is president of
Junior Achievement of Northeastern New York.
Scott is an Albany High School senior who took
part in Junior Achievement through her business
explorations program and won the essay contest
entitled “My Quest to Achieve the American
Dream.” (Scott,
holding the pennant, is pictured with, from
left, teacher Diann Scialdo and Junior
Achievement's Ed Murray and Cathy Eliseo.)
(MORE)
Students create winning essays,
posters about hunger awareness
City School District of Albany students fared
well in poster and essay contests to raise
awareness about issues of hunger and poverty.
Winning essays were penned by Indian McCain,
Morgan Johnson and Sophia Goldsmith, all
sixth-graders at William S. Hackett Middle
School.
And winning posters were designed by
Neo Gumabay, a sixth-grader at Giffen Memorial
Elementary School, Santos Otero, an
eighth-grader at Hackett, and Damir Oliver, an
eighth-grader at North Albany Academy.
(MORE)
Albany High select choir
earns highest
marks
They sang three pieces of extraordinarily
challenging music at the most difficult level. And
the judges gave their performance the highest
possible rating.
Led by Director Brendan Hoffman, Albany High
School's Select Choir earned a "gold with
distinction" rating -- the highest given to any
performing group -- at the
New York State School Music Association's Choral
Festival on May 2.
(MORE)
Online payment for school meals
available
You can pay online for your child’s school meals and
keep track of his or her account balance thanks to a new program being
offered to City School District of Albany families.
Through Parent Account Management Systems – or
PayPAMS – you also can set up automatic payment plans, make single
payments and get e-mail reminders if your child’s account balance is
low.
There is no cost to register, browse the website and
check your child’s account balance in this secure and convenient system.
However, you will be charged a $1.95 service fee each time you make an
online payment. Payments
through PayPAMS go directly into your child’s meal account in the school
cafeteria. (MORE)
The safety of our students is a top priority
in the City School District of Albany. We would like to remind parents of important safety
tips to review with the entire family.
Information about
pesticide use
The City School District of Albany will provide information to parents,
guardians and staff who want to receive advance notice about pesticide
use.
The district uses
pesticides as a last resort. And when pesticides are used, the district
practices Integrated Pest Management (IPM) -- a process for managing,
preventing and suppressing pests with minimal impact on human health and
the environment. The district hires outside pest-control contractors who
are required to follow IPM procedures. IPM is most successful when
teachers, students, employees and contractors work together.
If you would like to
be notified of pesticide use in the district, please contact the Buildings and
Grounds Office at 475-6160 to request a notification form, or
click here to download the form.
Asbestos plan notification
The City School District of Albany has a management plan to identify and
manage asbestos building materials in accordance with the EPA Asbestos
Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1987 (40 CFR Part 763).
Asbestos abatement projects were completed
during the building and renovation of district
elementary and middle schools. Also, asbestos
abatement was undertaken this summer at Albany
High School and Abrookin Career and Technical
Center.
In all cases, the district posted specific
notices in buildings where asbestos abatement
took place.
Periodic inspections are done every six months.
The triennial re-inspection that reviews and
updates the asbestos management plan for all
district buildings will be completed in the
summer of 2013.
The asbestos management plan is kept on file at
the district’s administrative headquarters in
Academy Park. These records are available for
review. For more
information, contact Director of Buildings and
Grounds Anthony Catalfamo at 475-6160.
Building inspection reports available
In
2010 a team of architects conducted a
building-condition inspection of all school
buildings in the City School District of Albany.
This inspection is conducted every five years;
reports for each
building are available for review. To
receive a copy or for additional information,
call the Buildings and Grounds Office at
475-6160.
Community
swimming is back at Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle
School this school year. 
