October 8, 2020     Hello Friends,

I have a great deal of good news to share this week, but let’s start with an admissions update. We are pleased that nine additional alumni/ae have chosen to enroll their children in The Albany Academies this year. Our thanks to the following parents for entrusting their children’s education to us: Laura Braunstein-Freiberg ’01, Jonathan Catlett ’97, Kevin Conway ’74, Melinda Farbman ’82, George Galib ’91, Peter Hansen ’91, David Hayes ’84, Bridget Milot Ren ’98, and Devon Wimberly ’97. With the fall well underway, we are seeing continued interest in mid-year transfers. If you know of anyone who is interested in learning more about enrollment, please encourage them to participate in our virtual open house on November 7.

Legacy of Dreams Our Legacy of Dreams event, live streamed last week from the James E. Poole Athletic Facility and co-chaired by Andy Safranko ’91, P’23 ’26 and Jenny Ritiano Levy ’93, P’28, was very successful. The event raised more than $60,000 to support our student-athletes, coaches, and athletic programs. Our sincere thanks go to Andy and Jenny for their leadership of this important event. And congratulations to Bridget Milot Ren ’98, P'25 who won the large screen television donated by alumnus Phillip Hazapis ’02 of local retailer Hippo’s.

Athletics Speaking of athletes, our AAG golf team was featured in a Times Union article that focused on the increasing number of girls playing high school golf. The article states in part, “Albany Academy for Girls, which captured the team title last year and dominated in individual competition, missed out on a chance to represent Section II at states when COVID-19 forced the end to all sports competition in the spring.” To read the entire article, click here. The AAG golf team is undefeated so far, with a 9th grade superstar leading the team for the second year in a row. The typical eight-week season has been shortened to just under four weeks, resulting in a packed schedule and play late into October. News Channel 10 will be covering the AAG golf team on Wednesday, October 14 and another media outlet will be doing a story on one of our AAG golfers on Friday, October 16. Keep an eye on this team as they compete for another undefeated title this fall!  The AA Varsity Golf Team is also off to another strong start. The squad is currently 6-0 with eight matches remaining in the season.

Positive Psychology Before the fall semester commenced, 20 members of our Professional Community participated in online coursework focused on positive psychology and attended a virtual positive education conference hosted by the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA. The theory of positive psychology was created by alumnus Marty Seligman ’60, a renowned American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Marty is highly regarded within the scientific community for his theories of positive psychology and well-being and has been a frequent visitor to our campus over the years. Our main objective for engaging in this education and training was to build and strengthen our curriculum across all grades and engage our families in the deliberate development of individual and collective well-being, particularly during this time of uncertainty. I’ll keep you updated on our progress.

In addition, our Emergency Response Team continues to meet weekly to discuss any challenges that might arise due to the unusual nature of this year. Team members are currently compiling ideas to help manage the stress and ensure the mental health of our Professional Community. Their well-being is a top priority for us.

New Institutional Advancement Team Member I am pleased to welcome Deborah Ostrander to the Office of Institutional Advancement in the part-time role of data entry specialist and office administrator. She joins us after 15 years in the health care sector, most recently at The Innovative Health Alliance of New York. Deb earned her Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Plattsburgh and brings a wealth of experience in database management to our school.

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Alumna in the News UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute Research Scientist Melissa Cline '81 of the Computational Genomics Lab was awarded an NHLBI fellowship to the BioData Catalyst program for her investigation titled “Elucidating the genetic risk of heritable cardiomyopathies through variant co-occurrence analysis.” Congratulations, Melissa! View the full article here.

2010-21 Annual Fund Remember, your gifts to our Annual Fund are especially important this year. We need your help to support the extraordinary expenses we face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our alumni/ae have always been generous in your contributions to the Annual Fund. We appreciate your consideration of a gift. Please click here to donate. Thank you!

We continue to recruit for a middle school science teacher at The Albany Academy. If you know of anyone looking for an opportunity to teach science at AA, please contact me. Referrals are always a great source for new teachers!

Sincerely,

Ann Wendth Chief Advancement Officer