Head Lines July 10, 2020

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

July 10, 2020

The Skim

Reopening Update
Reminder: Enrollment Deadline Extended to July 31, 2020
Professional Community Transitions
Health Office Survey for 2020 School Reopening
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Meetings: July 14 and August 11
Summer Camp Openings Still Available

Dear Friends,

It’s been quite a week for those of us engrossed in planning for school reopening. While the topic has suddenly become front-page news, we continue to process a steady stream of helpful information about the pandemic and its potential effect on our plans for reopening school in the fall.

We were heartened to review studies of students returning to school in Europe and Asia in which schools were able to enact health and safety measures that allowed students to safely return to school.

It was also informative to read through the Guidance for School Re-Entry from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Massachusetts' Initial Fall Opening Guidance , both of which argue for the safe return of as many students as possible to in-person school settings.

We were much less enthusiastic about the rising cases of COVID-19 around the country and growing concerns about their potential impact on New York. This, coupled with the release of the N.Y.C Public School reopening plan, prompted Governor Cuomo to share a timeline for school reopening processes and decisions (see below).

There is an awful lot of uncertainty about all of this just now, much of which is outside of our control. What is in our control is to continue to learn as much as we can, methodically plan for a variety of reopening scenarios, and have faith that our professional community will meet whatever challenges await us.

That’s what I’m choosing to do, and I hope you’ll join me.

Warmly,

Reopening Update

The School’s Emergency Response Team continues to meet weekly to develop our reopening plan, with the specific policies and procedures required to operate as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are planning for a range of scenarios as detailed in our reopening framework .

At this time, based on all of the current information available to us, our goal continues to be reopening the school in an “Intensive On-Campus Operations" mode.

This mode would have all of us back on campus except for our medically vulnerable population and international students who might be unable to return to the United States due to travel restrictions. Students who are not able to join us on campus would be taught via distance learning.

We are focused on this mode because we believe the size of our campuses, relative to the number of students we serve, will allow us to meet physical distancing guidelines through the creative use of space and scheduling. When coupled with other community mitigation efforts and health and hygiene protocols, we feel we can create an operating mode that allows us to come back to school safely.

While this is our preferred plan, please remember that The Albany Academies is not independent of New York State public health mandates or state-wide school decisions. With this in mind, we are also developing plans that refine our distance learning model as well as a plan for hybrid learning, with some students on campus and some learning remotely.

Yesterday, Governor Cuomo announced that the State would decide whether schools will reopen in the fall during the first week of August and that plans to reopen schools must be submitted to the New York State Department of Education on July 31 for review and approval.

The State has also confirmed that reopening guidelines will be released on July 13. Once we have them, we will incorporate these guidelines into our planning and publish a working draft of our reopening plan by July 24. We will follow this with a series of webinars to review it with our professional community and families, gather feedback, and make any necessary revisions.

We are also seeking clarity regarding the new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy regarding International Students released earlier this week. Our international students are a vital part of our community, and we will do everything in our power to minimize the potential impact of this policy on them.

Reminder: Enrollment Deadline Extended to July 31, 2020

As we move forward with reopening planning, we understand that some families would appreciate a clearer understanding of what this might look like before making final decisions about enrollment. As detailed above, we anticipate publishing our reopening plan in late July, contingent upon the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) releasing reopening guidelines in mid-July.

As our reopening plan won't be available until after our usual June 30 ^th enrollment withdrawal deadline, we are extending it to July 31 ^st this year.

This will allow families an opportunity to review our reopening plan and make a fully informed decision regarding 2020/2021 enrollment. Please note that after this deadline, families are obligated for their contracted annual tuition per our usual terms and conditions. Please note that deposits are non-refundable.

Professional Community Transitions

Summer is often a time of transition for faculty and staff who move on to new opportunities, or come to us seeking a new opportunity, or take on new roles or responsibilities within the school. I hope you will join me in welcoming new people to campus and wishing those who have departed the best of luck in their new adventures.

Staff And Faculty Who Have Retired Or Recently Moved On To New Opportunities:

Mr. Ian Myers - Fine Arts Faculty

Mrs. Kelly Barr - Pre-Kindergarten Faculty

Ms. Eileen Kim - Computers, Latin Faculty

Ms. Cathy Rosenblatt - Fine Arts Faculty

Mr. Bo Buran - Science Chair, Faculty

Mrs. Bramble Buran - Admissions

Ms. Donna Ruggiero - Administration

Mr. Leonard Baker - Physical Education Faculty

Ms. Taylor Schupp - English Faculty

Mr. Mark Eisenhardt - Computer Science Faculty

Mr. Mike Monti - Athletics/AA Hockey

Ms. Meghan Burns - Pre-school Faculty

Mrs. Patti Smith - Pre-K Faculty

Mr. Mark Vogel - Institutional Advancement

New Staff and Faculty who are joining us:

Mr. James Vincent - Maintenance

Mr. Bryan Murray - Athletics/AAG Hockey

Mr. Brian Speck - Athletics/AAG Soccer

Mr. Stephen Mallaro - Athletics/AA Prep Hockey

Mr. Richard Puccio - Physical Education & Football

(To learn more about our new coaches, check out their welcome videos on our Facebook Page! )

Staff And Faculty Who Will Be Taking On New Responsibilities:

Mrs. Lauren DeGeorgia and Mr. Brian Fruscio have taken on the roles of Middle School Deans for AAG and AA respectively for 2020-2021.
Michele Jacobs has taken on the role of lead teacher for the Pre-Kindergarten program.
Ms. Hanna Cadman has taken on a new role as Administrative Assistant to Mrs. Hilary King, Upper School Director and Mrs. Michelle Hughes, Lower School Director and Middle School Academic Coordinator.
Mrs. Rebecca Trainor has assumed the role of Administrative Assistant to Dr. Scott Milliken, Chief Academic Officer.
Ms. Katie Conroy will serve as Administrative Assistant to Mrs. Melanie Lovett, AAG Dean. Ms. Conroy will continue in her roles of AAG Receptionist and assisting with busing coordination.
Mrs. Dodie Motley has assumed the positions of AA Receptionist and Administrative Assistant to Mr. Doug McIver, AA Dean.

H ealth Office Survey for 2020 School Reopening

As we plan for reopening, we are gathering information to help us understand which members of our community might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 and may need additional accommodations or support when we reopen.

For reference, The Center for Disease Control has published the following list of underlying medical conditions that should be considered, particularly if they are not well controlled. They include people with/are:

chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
serious heart conditions
immunocompromised
severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
diabetes
chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis
liver disease

To help our planning efforts, The Albany Academies’ Health Office has developed a very simple, 3-question survey, for you to complete.

This information is crucially important to our reopening planning. Thank you to those who have already responded to this survey. If you haven't had a chance to complete it, please do so.

To protect your health information, we ask that you contact our nurses directly regarding specific medical conditions, or with any questions or concerns that you may have.

AAG School Nurse: Angela Sears, RN searsa@albanyacademies.org

AA School Nurse: Lisa McDonald, FNP-BC mcdonaldl@albanyacademies.org

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Meetings: July 14 and August 11

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is responsible for leading organizational growth in this area over the next five years. The Committee is open to all interested community members and is composed of board members, students, faculty, school leaders, parents, past parents, alumni, and alumnae.

We would love to have more families and students join this committee.

To do so, kindly email David Lester at lesterd@albanyacademies.org

Summer Camp Openings Still Available

Are you searching for ideas that keep your children engaged this summer either in person or virtually? The Albany Academies Summer Camp can help. There are still openings!

Click here to register.

Next Update: July 24, 2020

https://www.albanyacademies.org/