April 24, 2020
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Academy Road!
The promise of sunnier days is ahead, heralded by a few bright, spring-like days we’ve had here in Albany recently. This promise has lifted our moods and reminded us that a better future awaits all of us. I hope that, wherever you are, your mood is also shifting
and you are looking forward to the weeks and months ahead when we can start to
resume our normal activities.
To help this along, I want to share some of the wonderful activities that are occurring
here at The Albany Academies.
Connecting Through Music.
Since Music Teacher Joseph Jacobs invited some former students to participate in his daily, online wind ensemble class, the time has turned into
a gathering of current students and alumni and alumnae (some of whom never even took the class) who get together every afternoon to learn about, listen to, and discuss music. This week he was joined by music teacher Matt Streifert as well! Our current students
get to see, hear from, and connect with the musicians who have gone before them,
and when the performance ends, many alumni and alumnae stay online to talk about
life, college, their careers and families. Of course, participants share their memories of the School as well, demonstrating just how strong former students’ connections are to
Video Interviews with our Faculty.
Over the past few weeks, Head of School Chris Lauricella has conducted virtual interviews with our college counselors and our mental health professionals. These interviews can be found on our
Distance Learning page
,
Frontline Heroes.
Many Academies graduates have gone on to have successful careers in health care and are putting their own lives at risk as they care for those infected with the Coronavirus. These modern-day heroes deserve our respect and our thanks. We want all of you who work in health care to know we recognize your selflessness and will keep you in our thoughts. Thank you for the care you are providing to your individual communities across the world. Please share your stories with me so that we can feature them on our social media platforms.
How You Can Help.
We are joining #GivingTuesdayNow, a global generosity movement that’s intended to unleash the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. This global day of unity will take place on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 in response to the needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to raise $75,000 to provide additional financial aid support to families who have been impacted
by the Pandemic as well as funds to support faculty salaries in this time of uncertain revenues and increased costs. Please watch your email and follow us on social media
for updates.
Reunion Weekend Postponed.
We believe it is necessary to postpone Reunion Weekend to the late fall because of the current uncertainty regarding the end of social distancing efforts in New York. We will send detailed information about this as soon as
we have firm plans, and look forward to getting together to belatedly celebrate these important milestones. Stay tuned!
Thank You!
Your continued interest and positive feedback about what is happening with our students, our faculty, and our entire School community has been uplifting for all of us. Thank you for this and your ongoing support of our efforts to provide an outstanding education for our students.
Please keep in touch. Stay safe and be well.
Warmly,
Ann Wendth
Director of Institutional Advancement
wendtha@albanyacademies.org
