The Albany Academies coordinate single-sex and coeducational learning environments to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers.
October 30, 2020
The Skim

  • Parent/Student Satisfaction Survey
  • Open House
  • The COVID talk, Part III: No Parties?
  • Upper School Lunches Moving to Cafeterias
  • Changes to COVID Screening
  • Temporary Remote Learning Policy
  • Election Day and Beyond
  • Halloween Fun
  • A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms
  • Academies Families Come Together to support the Annual Fund
  • Surprise Visit!
  • Academy Road
  • Writing Center
  • Celebrating Our Seniors
  • Fall Sports Update
  • Upcoming Holiday Travel and Hosting
Dear Friends,

Today marks our 31st Instructional Day. While this is a simple sentence, it’s hard to overstate what it describes: 

  • For teachers, it’s 31 days in simultaneous teaching modes, attending to both the students in their classrooms and on their screens while also closely supervising students when they’re not in class.
  • For families and students on campus, it’s 31 days of symptom screenings, wearing face coverings, social distancing, and cheerfully adjusting to all they have to do to come to school.
  • For students at home, it’s 31 days of remote learning, joining our community virtually, and keeping their families as safe as possible.
  • For staff members, it’s 31 days of tirelessly learning new jobs, refining them, and then relearning them as we work through continuous disruptions and ongoing changes to health protocols.
  • For administrators, it’s 31 days of thinking through new problems, creating unique policies and procedures, and managing the impact of continuous change and uncertainty on our community.

For all of us, it’s also been 31 days with no cases of COVID within our community because of everyone’s hard work and diligence.

We all know what to do now, and another 31 days is within our grasp if we keep it up.

Sincerely,
Parent/Student Satisfaction Survey

Please take five minutes to complete a survey designed to help us better understand your satisfaction with current school operations. We encourage you to complete this survey in partnership with your child(ren) when developmentally appropriate.

Your feedback will help us continue delivering our mission while supporting our school community during this unexpected transition. Individual answers will remain anonymous, but your views in combination with others will help us navigate this changing landscape.

Thank you in advance for your candid feedback. The survey can be found here:
Open House

Tell your friends and neighbors! The Office of Admissions is hosting a Virtual Open House on Saturday, Nov. 7th at 1 p.m. Current Academy families will be given a magnet when they refer prospective families who attend the Open House! Parents can refer families to our school on MyAcademy Parent Resource Board or by clicking https://albanyacademies.myschoolapp.com/app/parent#resourceboarddetail/22927.
The COVID Talk, Part III: No Parties?

Some good news about COVID and schools is that preliminary data from school reopenings in the US suggests that returning to school may not drive a surge in community spread.

This is tempered with alarming news that some local school communities are experiencing COVID clusters and returning to remote learning due to parties and other out-of-school activities.

Given these concerns, when presented with appropriate opportunities we are discussing weekend plans and activities with students here at school, and helping them think through the possible consequences that their out-of-school choices may have on the rest of the community.

We truly appreciate all of you who are joining us at home in these efforts.
Upper School Lunches Moving to Cafeterias

There will be a change to our upper school lunch service beginning on Monday. Students have been scheduled into two lunch shifts, with each shift now eating lunch in the Buttery (AA) or The Stevens Center (AAG). This change moves lunch service out of individual classrooms while still maintaining cohorts, appropriate student density, and physical distancing. It allows for more uniform supervision of students during the lunch period and a brief planning period for teachers. To accommodate this move, industrial air scrubbers are being deployed in both cafeterias, additional plexiglass barriers have been installed in The Stevens Center, and both spaces will be cleaned and disinfected between lunch shifts.
Changes to COVID Screening

This week the NY State Department of Health affirmed that they are enforcing two new pieces of guidance regarding COVID Screening:

1) Schools can now only accept PCR test results as proof of a negative COVID diagnosis. Rapid test results will no longer be accepted. This may cause additional delays in receiving the test results necessary to return to school.

2) Symptomatic students or staff who do not receive test results within 48 hours must be designated as positive COVID cases and remain in isolation until test results have been received. Once this designation occurs, all members of the household must also quarantine at home while the symptomatic student awaits results. This change will particularly impact families with multiple siblings enrolled and employees who have children enrolled. On Monday you will see the following additional question on the Magnus Mobile App, which reflects this change:
Temporary Remote Learning Policy

The Albany Academies have reviewed their current process of temporary remote learning. In order to allow time for teachers to prepare for students going into a temporary remote learning mode, 24 hours will be given prior to students accessing remote learning. This time will allow your child to rest and recover so that they will be well enough to attend school remotely or in-person after 24 hours.
Qualifications for temporary remote learning:

  • Quarantined
  • Screens for symptoms on the COVID-19 daily student questionnaire
  • Positive for COVID-19
  • Being tested for COVID-19
  • Another medical reason that enables them to be home and still learn (ex: surgery)

Temporary remote learner expectations are that they attend class on time, in their uniform, and without distractions. Please contact your child's teacher and attendance if they are determined to be a temporary remote learner but will be unable to attend class due to illness or a medical appointment.
Election Day and Beyond

As if 2020 wasn’t already exciting enough, we find ourselves on the eve of an historic general election, with politics having become a nearly inescapable force in our personal and professional lives. 

As a school, we see elections as teachable moments that help us teach students how to think and act as civil, productive members of society. When these moments present themselves, our focus is on helping them understand the political process and civil discourse in an age-appropriate, non-partisan, and unbiased manner. 

One way we do this is by reinforcing the community standards envisioned in our mission, core values, and code of honor. These standards emphasize compassion, tolerance, and mutual respect. They ask us to demonstrate the courage to support and affirm one another by conducting ourselves with civility in all aspects of our lives. 

Similar values and vision statements have sustained The Albany Academies since its founding in 1813 and 1814, when James Madison was president. These are the same values that will see us through 2020 and beyond.
Halloween Fun

Lower School students had fun playing virtual Bingo with several members of our Professional Community joining the fun by calling numbers. They were treated to a virtually spooktacular story read by Mrs. Miner followed by a slideshow of the Storybook Pumpkin Patch! The day ended with a parade in the James E. Poole Athletic Facility. Members of the Senior class decorated tables, with themes representing our sports teams and clubs.
A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms
AA Grade 4 students created "The Tree of Mindful Thoughts."
Descriptively, each boy wrote about a time in their lives that made them feel happy, sad, proud, or lonely.
AAG 8th graders just finished a challenging unit on 9/11. After learning the facts of the event, students interviewed a family member to learn firsthand about how a typical American experienced the trauma and emotional toll of that tragic day. Students then wrote a third person narrative to tell that person's story. 
AA Grade 1 students learned about “Día de los Muertos” in Spanish class, and decorated pumpkins in the style of sugar skulls (calaveras). 
Upper School students in Mr. Young's Anatomy & Physiology class worked on a lab using WiFi-enabled microscopes to examine the different stages of mitosis.
Upper School students in Mr. Bischoff's AP Stats class learned about investigating the proportion of teenagers who turn the water off when they brush their teeth.  It is an ecological issue with respect to water conservation. Water use in our communities is not sustainable.  Even simple measures, such as turning the water off when brushing one's teeth, can have an impact.
AA Grade 5 remote and in- class learners conducted a lab where they examined different objects to decide if non-living things can move. 
Academies Families Come Together to Support the Annual Fund 
 
Obviously, 2020 has been a year like no other. Since March, our school has been repeatedly called upon to navigate obstacles and overcome unimagined challenges. The results have been amazing (with 90% of our students in our classrooms and no cases of COVID) but the costs have been enormous (widescreen TVs in every classroom, updated technology to support distance learning, PPE and floor graphics at every turn, air scrubbers for high density areas, ventilation solutions, and expanded maintenance staff for constant cleaning). 
 
We are asking The Albany Academies parent community to Come Together with gifts to the Annual Fund, as the School supports our children through this global pandemic. The current parent appeal formally kicks off on Monday, November 16, but you can give any time between now and June 30, 2021, at www.albanyacademies.org/thank-you-for-your-gift. If you have questions about the Annual Fund, please contact Chief Advancement Officer Ann Wendth at wendtha@albanyacademies.org. Thank you for your consideration!
Surprise Visit!
We had a visit this week from a special alumnus from the Class of 1937 – Dr. Wayne Wilkins, our oldest living alumnus! He rode over to Albany with a friend to show off his alma mater! Although Wayne could not come inside the buildings due to our COVID visitor policy, he was able to catch up outdoors with Chief Advancement Officer Ann Wendth and hear about the many new happenings here on campus.

Dr. Wilkins graduated from Williams College and Harvard Medical School and has been a resident of Williamstown since his retirement in 1986. He played a key role in advancing emergency medicine in New England, as he served as chief of Mass. General’s emergency services for 18 years and helped found New England Life Flight helicopter service. An athlete himself, Wayne also served as head physician for the Boston Bruins for 16 years. In 1965, Sports Illustrated named him a Silver Anniversary All-American for reflecting human values in which athletics and education are joined.
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.
Reminder: The Writing Center is now open for in-person visits everyday during H block in the AA Library with Ms. Marchetti. 
Celebrating Senior Athletes
AAG Varsity Tennis Team members that were honored during Senior Recognition Day:
Tia d., Nora F., Miamuna H., Nyasha J., Morgan L., Emma M., Bridget N., Renee P., Simran S., Allison S., Nadira T., Megan W., and Carol W.,
AA Varsity Golf Team members that were honored during Senior Recognition Day: Nick L., Tim C., Jack S., and Chris H.
AA Varsity Golf Team member honored for Senior Recognition Day: Jillian B.
Fall Sports Update

The AA Varsity Golf Team completed their 2020 campaign with a perfect 15-0 record. It is the program’s 18th consecutive undefeated season in Colonial Council play and this year’s team posted the program’s 250th straight win over that time. 

The AAG Varsity Golf Team finished their 2020 season undefeated on Tuesday, October 27. The team went 7-0 with wins against Shaker, Holy Names, Queensbury, and Saratoga Catholic. Members of the team were interviewed by the Gazette and The Times Union following their last match.

The Varsity Tennis Team will complete their final match of the season against Holy Names next week.
Upcoming Holiday Travel and Hosting
 
We hope you are beginning to plan for the upcoming holiday season, including managing travel and hosting in such a way that it does not pose a health risk to your family or our school community. As a secondary consideration, we worry that not doing this might put our ability to continue to operate the school in an in-person learning mode at risk.
 
With this in mind, here are our preferences regarding holiday travel and gatherings:
 
  • We would prefer that families avoid traveling to states or countries listed in NY’s COVID-19 Travel Advisory
  • If you do travel to a state or country on the Advisory list, we ask that you adhere to the legal requirement to quarantine for 14 days after travel. 
  • If you do this, please communicate it with us and have your child quarantine at home. We will move them to temporary remote learning status during their quarantine.
  • We also hope that families will use appropriate judgement when hosting people from states or countries listed on the Advisory list and adhere to the quarantining guidelines in the Travel Advisory.

We understand that New York State is contemplating changes to the Travel Advisory system that is currently in place. If changes are made, we will update our preferences to reflect them.
 
For more information on planning for the holidays, see the CDC’s Coranavirus Guide to the Holidays. I know how unusual it is to have us weigh in on your out-of-school plans, but we are living in a time when we are interconnected by the decisions we make.