The Albany Academies coordinate single-sex and coeducational learning environments to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers.

January 6, 2023

The Skim

The Risk of COVID Transmissions Remains HIGH
College Counseling News
Winter Performances
Admissions Open House
Family Skate
Robotics Tournament
Summer Camp
Registration for NYSSMA Piano is Open
BINGO Night for the Whole Family
ARTrageous
A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms
Athletics Competitions January 6 - 8
Upcoming Events
Looking Ahead

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a chance to rest and rejuvenate with loved ones over the Winter Break. We returned to school with high energy during this shortened week and are looking forward to re-engaging our robust program.

As we all return to school, I want to welcome families that have joined us in the last month. Before you know it, your child will be fully integrated into the Academies community! This weekend has several opportunities to make these connections, including exciting basketball and hockey games and family skating. Please scroll down for more information.

I also want to remind us all about our upcoming Open House on January 18. If you know families with children who would benefit from the Academies experience, I hope you will suggest they consider learning more about us.

Believe it or not, it's time to think about summer plans. Our camp registration will open soon, and some sections sell through quickly. Please scroll down to learn more so you can go ahead and plan accordingly.

Best wishes for a great weekend!

Chris Lauricella

Head of School

The Risk of COVID Transmission remains HIGH

The community level of COVID-19 infection in Albany County is High, per CDC standards. The CDC recommends the following precautions during periods of high transmission:

Wear a mask indoors in public
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
Get tested if you have symptoms
Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness

College Counseling News

The college search process is officially about to begin for the Class of 2024! To help start this process, three senior college enrollment officers have been invited to present an overview of the process. This important event is intended for juniors and their parents, so both should plan to attend. The journey starts now!

Virtual College Search Kickoff

for the Class of 2024

Thursday, January 12

7:15 pm

Presenters

Christopher O’Brien - Associate Director of Admissions

Boston College

Robert Springall - Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions

Penn State University

John Young - Dean of Admissions

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Winter Performances Videos

The Winter Performances held in December are now available to view virtually. Please click here to view.

Save the Date for Family Skate! Please join us at the Robison Rink in the Michael B. Picotte Field House on Sunday, January 8 at noon.

Robotics Tournament

The Albany Academies award winning robotics team, 4809 Botman, will host The Albany Academies First Tech Challenge Qualifying Tournament on January 14, 2023. The competition starts at 10:15 a.m. in the Silipigno Athletic Facility and will end at 4 p.m. Come see over 20 robots battling it out for a chance to advance to the Regional Championships. The event is fun, free, and family friendly.

It's time to start thinking about summer! Online registration for summer camp date to be announced soon. Registration for current students attending The Albany Academies will open one week prior to the public! We have a variety of camps for students entering Pre-K through twelfth grade!

New this summer - Mr. Ford and Mr. Streifert are offering Middle & Upper School Musical Theatre Camp for grades 7-12. The production will be The Addams Family: Young at Part Edition. Mr. McNally will be directing Science Academy/Robotics & 3D Printing for grades 5-6 and 7-8.

Little Leap and Jr. Leap camps (grades Pk-2) reinforce skills while having fun with weekly themed activities.

We have many new LEAP (grades 3-8) class offerings! Your child can spend the day playing sports, working on summer math and reading, performing some mad science experiments, creating art projects, playing Quidditch, building rockets or studying animals just to name a few! Musical Theatre Camp (grades 3-6) will perform Alice in Wonderland, Jr. with Mr. Streifert & Mr. Ford. Immersion Chinese (grades 3-5) with Dr. Chen & Ms. Yu will guide campers to learn the language through activities designed with rich Chinese cultural elements.

Refer a family and receive $25 toward your summer 2023 registration fee!

Join us for a week, a two week session or the whole summer! Program dates and rates are available on our website. The 2023 brochure, LEAP class charts and more information on all our camps will be available on The Albany Academies website soon. Please contact Karin Epstein at epsteink@albanyacademies.org or 518-429-2332 with any questions.

Registration for NYSSMA Piano is Open

Students who wish to participate in the NYSSMA Piano Festival may register from now until Friday, January 13, 2023. This year, the festival will be held at Schenectady County Community College. The dates of the festival are March 3-4, 2023. The registration fees are $22 for Levels I-IV and $30 for Levels V-VI. Checks can be made payable to “The Albany Academies” and should be submitted to Mr. Matthew Streifert.

If you would like to register, please e-mail streifertm@albanyacademies.org with the following information:

Student Full Name
Student Grade in School
Level of Solo
Title of Solo
Required Movements
Composer
Arranger
NYSSMA Manual Page Number: (Piano teachers should be able to provide this information)
Date Preferred (Fri/Sat)
Time Preferred (Morn/Aft/Eve)

A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms

Chloe P '24 working on an oil painting in AP Art.

Students in 8^th grade Spanish completed a unit on family relationships and birthday celebrations in Spanish speaking countries. To mark the end of the unit, students learned to make flores de papel or paper flowers. Students also made papel picado paper banners.

AAG First Grade crafted their own crowns with candles to wear on St. Lucia’s Day. This Scandinavian holiday, was celebrated on December 13th, is meant to bring hope and light on the darkest day of the year. The candles are a symbol to remind people to be kind.

The boys in Pre-K enjoyed sharing their show and tell items for our letter of the week: W. They also enjoyed visiting our classroom hibernating bear in his cave while looking at photo posters and reading about hibernation, migration, and adaption this week.

Today we celebrated our Senior class by hosting our annual Senior Breakfast in The Buttery.

Second graders at AAG learned "El Dia de Los Reyes" or Three Kings' Day on January 6th and how Spanish and Latin American children celebrate the 12th day of Christmas. To mark the special holiday, students created their own King's Day crown.

Athletics Competitions January 6 - 8

Friday, January 6, 2023

4:30 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - CDHL vs. Shenendehowa (Away)

4:30 p.m. AA Varsity Swimming & Diving vs. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Home)

5:00 p.m. AAG JV Basketball vs. Catholic Central (Home)

6:30 p.m. AAG Varsity Basketball vs. Catholic Central (Home)

7:00 p.m. AA JV Basketball vs. LaSalle (Away)

Saturday, January 7, 2023

12:00 p.m. AA Basketball Holiday Tournament Begins (Home)

1:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - CDHL vs. LaSalle (Home)

3:00 p.m. AA Varsity Basketball vs. Dwight School (Home)

4:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - NEPL vs. The Hill School (Away)

Sunday, January 8, 2023

9:45 a.m. AAG Varsity Indoor Track & Field @ Springfield College (Away)

12:00 p.m. AA Basketball Holiday Tournament Begins (Home)

1:30 p.m. AA JV Basketball vs. Rome Free Academy (Home)

2:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - NEPL vs. The Hill School (Home)

Upcoming Events

January 9, 2023

Day 5