The Albany Academies coordinate single-sex and coeducational learning environments to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers.
February 26, 2021
The Skim

  • NY State Travel Advisory
  • 2021-2022 Re-enrollment Now Open
  • Financial Aid
  • Merit Scholarship
  • Sign-Up for Voluntary Student COVID-Surveillance Testing, Week of March 1
  • Parking Lot Safety
  • Winter Musical, The Theory of Relativity 
  • AAG Grade 4 Play Mirror, Mirror
  • Founders Day
  • A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms
  • Upcoming Sports Facebook Livestream Schedule
  • Spring Gathering
  • Summer Camp Registration
  • Academies Connections to the Civil Rights Movement
  • Celebrating Black History Month
Source: COVID-Lab, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Source: Albany Academies Emergency Response Team
Dear Friends,

It’s an understatement to describe the last three months as “challenging.” In early December, we expected they would be when our weekly data review began to show numbers forecasting the regional surge we eventually experienced in January and early February. 

I am incredibly thankful for everyone in this community -- students, professionals, and families alike -- who worked together to persevere through this period.

Yesterday, we sent an update highlighting changes made to COVID mitigation in response to more positive trends in both school and regional data sets, which suggest a less turbulent period ahead of us.

We are particularly cheered by the increasing vaccination rate (currently 60% of teachers and staff) and by changes to the DOH standards for quarantining, both of which will mean significantly less disruption of in-person learning going forward.

That said, it’s too early for a victory lap. I suspect that new variants of the virus and personal behavior over spring break will be our community’s final COVID test for this academic year.

However, if current trends continue into early April, I believe we may finish the year with the same type of favorable conditions we managed so successfully in the fall.

That’s the vision for the spring. If we all continue to work together over the next few weeks to keep transmission levels trending downward, I know we will make it a reality.

Sincerely,
NY State Travel Advisory

When planning for spring break please be aware of the following:

  • Travel restrictions are still in place for travel to a non-bordering state outside of NY, and state and county officials are discouraging non-essential travel.

  • NY is NOT exempting individuals that have previously tested positive in the last 90 days from travel restrictions. 

  • NY has not changed its travel advisory based on COVID-19 vaccine status. 

  • For travel to a non-bordering state to NY, individuals need to test within three days before leaving the visiting state, quarantine for three days upon return to NYS, and test on the fourth day. If they have two negative test results, they should be released from their travel quarantine. 

  • Individuals who have not completed both tests will be required to quarantine for ten days before returning to school or work. 

2021-2022 Re-enrollment Now Open
Deadline: March 12

Re-enrollment contracts for the 2021-22 academic year are now available through the Blackbaud portal. As this is a new way of distributing and executing enrollment contracts, please follow these steps to re-enroll your child or children:
 
  • Sign in to the Blackbaud portal and click on the banner link that reads, “you have contracts to review and approve.” 

  • General Terms and Conditions. Please indicate your enrollment plans for next year. Kindly note that, counterintuitively, a “yes” response means that you are “not enrolling,” and a “no” indicates that you are re-enrolling. This is an unfortunate quirk of the third-party admissions platform that we are unable to change.

  • Your Student Information. Please confirm that the information presented is correct (Grade, Tuition, Fees) and enter your initials where indicated.

  • Select a Payment Plan. Please select your preferred payment plan and indicate if you will be enrolling in the Tuition Refund Plan (which is highly recommended).

  • Contract Cancellation and Refund information, please review these terms enter your initials where indicated.

  • Deposit. We are accepting ACH payments and credit card payments for tuition deposits this year. You may also make your deposit payment in school or mail a check; please follow those options’ instructions.

  • Acceptance. Please review the enrollment contract and sign it electronically.

  • When done, you will see a Confirmation of Completion message.

Thank you for doing this by the March 12 deadline, as we rely on this information to begin student scheduling and other mission-critical planning processes. Thank you, as well, for your continued support and commitment to The Albany Academies community.
Financial Aid

Families who are planning to participate in our Financial Aid program, but have not yet submitted their Parent Financial Statement, should do so as soon as possible. Information about the Financial Aid process and timeline can be found on the Parent Resources Board in the Blackbaud portal or by contacting the Office of Admissions at Admissions@AlbanyAcademies.org or by calling 518-429-2348. 
Merit Scholarships

Each year, The Albany Academies offers a limited number of Academic Merit Scholarships to our rising 9th Grade students. Parents of current 8th Grade students were sent an email today about the scholarship application process. Please contact Nicholas Forcier at ForcierN@albanyacademies.org
Sign-Up for Voluntary Student COVID-Surveillance Testing, Week of March 1

If you are interested in continuing to have your child surveillance tested for the COVID-19 virus, please use the link below to sign up for next week’s testing:


Sign-up must be done by 8:00 a.m., Monday, March 1, 2021.

Please continue with symptom screening each morning, record results in the Magnum App, and communicate frequently and transparently with our school nurses regarding your children’s health.
Temple Parking Lot Safety
The use of the Beth Emeth parking lot is a courtesy that the temple extends to our community. This week we were informed that we are at risk of losing this courtesy based on the driving behavior of some members of our community during pick-up.

The reported behavior endangers our students' safety and the safety of the students attending the Hebrew Academy. PLEASE be courteous neighbors and safe drivers, regardless of which lot you are using.
Winter Musical, The Theory of Relativity 

On Friday, March 5th & Saturday, March 6th at 7 pm and Sunday, March 8th at 1 pm The Fine Arts Department presents the streaming of the Winter Musical 
"The Theory of Relativity"  by Neil Bartram and Brian Hill.

It is free to watch, you will need to obtain a streaming 'ticket' for each device you plan on watching it from. Email Rich Johnson if you have any questions.

AAG Grade 4 Play Mirror, Mirror

On Wednesday, March 10th at 6:30 pm The Fine Arts Department presents the streaming of the AAG 4th Grade Play "Mirror, Mirror"  by Brian D. Taylor

It is free to watch, you will need to obtain a streaming 'ticket' for each device you plan on watching it from. Email Rich Johnson if you have any questions.

Founders' Day

Albany Academy for Girls Founders' Day is acknowledged each year on February 24, celebrating the importance of women's education then and now. Pictured within the photo is the first school located on Montgomery Street in 1814, first known as Albany Female Academy.
A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms
This week, Pre-K learned about teeth! The girls cleaned a yellow paper tooth with a toothbrush and white paint. Once the paint dried, the girls cut the tooth out, made a smiley face on it to resemble a healthy and clean tooth! 
"Kindness is the doorway to Happiness!"
Kindness was on the AA 4th Graders' mind! After concluding that kindness brings happiness to all, the Boys wrote poems and reflected on what Kindness means to them. Furthermore, they expressed their gratitude to people in our school community who have been special to them.
 Students in Mrs. Hollander's AAG 5th Grade Health Class this week learned about how to have a "Growth Mindset". They discussed how to think and remain positive, even during adversity. The students also shared examples with the class from their own personal experiences. 
Students in the AAG 6th grade created their own Sudanese Lost Boys to go along with the book they are reading, A Long Walk to Water. 
Continuing our studies in Black History Month, AAG Pre-K through Fifth Grade contributed their dreams and wishes during Art Class to finish a Letter Box Display in honor of Philip B. Downing, the inventor of the modern day letter box.
AAG Grade-6 Science students became geologists this week! They discovered how a simple acid test can be used to detect the presence of calcite in rocks (fizzing), thus distinguishing it as Limestone. 
“Mathematical Artwork”
AAG Grades 5 & 6 students had the opportunity to connect their measurement skills, love for art, and their own creative touches by creating a “winter wonderland” scene. A huge shot out to these young ladies who went above and beyond by taking advantage of extra credit!
The language and dance departments teamed up with AAG Kindergarteners to create our first episode of    "The Language of Ballet." The dancers demonstrated fundamental ballet steps which were put into a slide show and then Mrs. Whelchel and Madame Guidon hosted a virtual meeting to discuss the relationship between French vocabulary and ballet technique. Dancers from other classes enjoyed watching the presentation. Please click here to view the presentation.
AA Middle School students earned points for their houses today in a friendly game of dodgeball!
Sports Updates
AAG Grade 8 students enjoying their workout and having fun during Modified Squash practice with Coach Hollander.
Congratulations to the AAG Varsity Basketball team on their first win of the season against Mohonasen (65-43). On Tuesday, February 23, the Bears lost a tough game against Schalmont (64 - 52).
Congratulations to the AA Varsity Basketball team on their recent wins against Mohonasen (67-37), Shalmont (66-37), and Watervliet (74-39).
Upcoming Sports Facebook Livestream Schedule
AA Varsity Swimming & Diving
Saturday, February 27 at 4:30pm (Senior Day)
AAG Varsity Basketball
Tuesday, March 2 at 5:00pm (Senior Day)
AA Varsity Basketball
Saturday, February 27 at 1:00pm
Thursday, March 4 at 6:00pm
AA JV Basketball
Saturday, February 27 at 11:30am
Thursday, March 4 at 4:30pm
Academy Road

The student-run newspaper, Academy Road, published approximately 30 articles last year which is a testament to the involvement of both our writers and editors. New articles have been added which you can view by clicking here.
Tickets for the virtual Spring Gathering are on sale now! With every ticket purchased, you receive a special edition Spring Gathering 2021 t-shirt mailed right to your home. Spring Gathering directly benefits merit scholarships and financial aid at The Albany Academies, and we need your help to continue to support these crucial programs. To buy your tickets now, please visit https://SG2021.givesmart.com
Summer Camp Registration

Online registration for summer camp is now open! We have a variety of camps for students entering Pre-K through tenth grade! 

  • New this summer-Science Academy Mr. Essery and the students will be exploring chemistry, biology, physics, ecology, and physiology. Each day will be a different type of science, a problem to solve, and an adventure! 
  • Little Leap and Jr. Leap camps reinforce skills while having fun with weekly themed activities.
  • Rocketry Camp will study the history of rocketry and design and build rockets with Mr. Neudel.
  • The Leading Edge program will be focusing on team building, problem-solving, college preparation, and service projects with Mr. Essery. 
  • Theater Camp will be performing fully staged short plays with Mr. Streifert.

We have a new LEAP structure and class offerings! Your child will choose a block schedule and participate in six classes a day for the week. Block schedules include a variety of academics, world language, visual arts, and sports just to name a few!

Join us for a week, a two-week session, or the whole summer! Program dates and rates, LEAP class charts, and more information on all our camps is available on The Albany Academies website at albanyacademies.org. The 2021 brochure is now available online! Please contact Karin Epstein at epsteink@albanyacademies.org or 518-429-2332 with any questions.
Celebrating Black History Month

Students in the Upper School are sharing daily fun facts during morning meeting in celebration of Black History Month. The group then sends an email each day with more information about the fact and the person to Upper School students and members of the professional community. Below are two of the people highlighted this week. To learn more about additional people highlighted this week please visit our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion page on The Albany Academies website.
Phillis Wheatley

Did you know that Phillis Wheatley was the third woman in the world to publish a book of poetry? She met George Washington in March 1776 at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts after she had written several poems about him.

Wheatley was born in Senegal/Gambia around 1753. At the age of eight, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on an enslaved person ship. Upon her arrival, John Wheatley purchased the young girl, who was in critical health, as a servant for his wife, Susanna. Under the family's direction, Wheatley was taken under Susanna's wing. Her quick intelligence was noticed by the Wheatley's, and as a result, Susanna and her two children taught Wheatley to read and was actively encouraged in her literary pursuits by the household. Wheatley received lessons in theology, English, Latin, and Greek. Ancient history was soon folded into the teachings, as were lessons in mythology and literature.

Wheatley wrote her first published poem at around age 13. The work, a story about two men who nearly drown at sea, was printed in the Newport Mercury. In 1773, Wheatley gained considerable stature when her first and only book of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published, with the writer having received patronage from Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, in England. As proof of her authorship, the volume included a preface in which 17 Boston men, including John Hancock, asserted that she had indeed written the poems in it. Poems on Various Subjects is a landmark achievement in U.S. history. In publishing it, Wheatley became the first African American and the first U.S. enslaved person to publish a book of poems, as well as the third American woman to do so.

Phillis Wheatley died in her early 30s in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1784.
After her death, many of her poems continued to be edited, revised, and updated over the next fifty years.

Cite: Phillis Wheatley. (2021, January 11). Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://www.biography.com/writer/phillis-wheatley
Oscar Micheaux

Did you know that Oscar Micheaux was a pioneering African American author, filmmaker, and famous producer of race films? He was the firs African American to produce a film to be shown in "white" movie theaters.

Oscar Micheaux was born near Metropolis, Illinois. He was one of eleven children of former slaves and grew up in Great Bend, Kansas. He shined shoes and worked as a porter on the railway as a young boy, then as a young man, he very successfully homesteaded a farm in an all-white area of South Dakota where he began writing stories. Micheaux formed his own publishing company followed by his own movie production company, and in 1919 became the first African American to make a film. He wrote, directed, and produced the silent motion picture The Homesteader, starring the pioneering African American actress Evelyn Preer and based on his novel of the same name.

His accomplishments in filmmaking and publishing were outstanding, including being the first African American to produce a film to be shown in “white” movie theaters. He provided a diverse portfolio of non-stereotyped black characters, as well as images and stories of African American life. Additionally, in his film Within Our Gates, Micheaux attacked the racism depicted in D.W. Griffith’s film, The Birth of a Nation. The Producers Guild of America called him “The most prolific black – if not most prolific independent – filmmaker in American cinema.” Over his illustrious career, Micheaux wrote, produced, and directed forty-four feature-length films between 1919 and 1948, including musicals, comedies, westerns, romances, and gangster films. He also wrote seven novels, one of which was a national bestseller. 

Micheaux's place in history was assured as he injected an African American perspective, via the powerful medium of the motion picture, into the American consciousness. Some of the popular themes in his work were African Americans passing for white, intermarriage, and legal injustice. He used actors from New York's Lafayette Players and always cast his actors on the basis of type, with light-skinned African American actors typically playing the leads and darker-skinned blacks the heavies. That trait was part of the consciousness of the African American community (and mirrored the very racism that he inveigled against) that persists to this day, and Micheaux was severely chastised for it by later critics. However, no critic could deny the importance of Micheaux's movies, as they were a radical departure from Hollywood's racist portrayals of blacks as lazy dolts, Uncle Toms, Mammies, and dangerous bucks.

Cite: “NAACP | NAACP History: Oscar Micheaux.” 2018. NAACP. July 13, 2018. https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-oscar-micheaux/