Head Lines - January 24, 2020

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

January 24, 2020

The Skim

The Academy Road
Flu Season Information
SLAM North South Classic
Seen Around Campus
First Robotics Tournament
Chinese New Year
Shakespeare Competition
College Counseling News
Environmental Sustainability Soybeans
Mid-Winter Dinner to feature John McClintock '57
Spring Gathering 2020
Connor M. '22 Selected as Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Young Ambassador

Dear Friends,

Today we are a launching our "One Family" referral program (see link below).

We are doing this because when we ask prospective parents, “How did you hear about The Albany Academies?” the overwhelming response is, “ From a trusted friend whose children attend the School and love it.”

As a current parent, you have the unique ability to authentically share your perspective on our rigorous academic programs, innovative curriculum, emphasis on character development, caring community, individual attention, and diverse extra-curricular opportunities.

Referrals from our current parents continue to be our best avenue to connect with prospective candidates. Time and time again, sharing your child’s experiences with friends and family have resulted in new students who also come to love the Academy experience.

I hope you will take a moment to learn more about this exciting program, and decide to join us in actively promoting the best school in the Capital Region!

Warmly,

Click here for more details (there's an incentive for this!) and the referral form.

The Academy Road

When you have a moment, please visit The Academy Road , a student-produced news website.

Mr. Service, Academy Road's faculty advisor, writes, "we've put up about a dozen articles so far, ranging from school news, a piece on climate change, a film review, and opinion pieces. Students have put in a lot of work and hopefully we'll build more readership as the year goes on."

Flu Season Information

It's shaping up to be a particularly aggressive influenza season. New York DOH has provided access to the following online flu education to Parents/Guardians.

This also seems an opportune time to remind you that the School has the following protocol in place for managing student illnesses:

When notifying the school of your son or daughter's absence, please inform the school or school nurse of the type of illness and/or symptoms your child is experiencing. This information is very important to allow the health office to keep track of illness trends and to notify families if there is a need. As a reminder you should send all attendance emails to attendance@albanyacademies.org as well as your child's teacher or advisor.

Please do NOT send your student to school if he/she has or has had:

1. Fever 100 F or above within the last 24 hour (must be fever free without medication).

2. Vomiting or diarrhea within the last 24 hours.

3. Continuous coughing not relieved with cough medicine.

4. Strep throat. They may return 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

5. Please remember to notify the School Nurse or Front Office if your child has a contagious illness!

SLAM North South Classic

The Albany Academy Varsity Basketball Team (currently ranked 4 ^th in the State) will be playing in the SLAM North South Classic on Saturday, January 25 at the Washington Avenue Armory at 8:00 p.m. They will be playing The Park School of Buffalo (currently ranked 7 ^th ).

Click Here for ticket information.

FIRST Robotics Tournament

The Albany Academies hosted another well-received and successful FIRST Robotics Tournament on Saturday. In spite of the fact that the local team was not a competitor, many Academies faculty and students braved the snowy elements to host the 17 visiting teams.

Mr. John McNally worked tirelessly over the last 4 months to pull off a flawless tournament, and faculty members Bo Buran, Kathy Cella, Mark Eisenhardt, Matt Essery, Walter Keeley, and Jane Keyes contributed their time as officials and judges. Chris Lauricella gave opening remarks, and all were cheered on by fellow administrators Scott Milliken, Donna Ruggiero, and Ann Wendth.

Student volunteers were also instrumental in making the tournament successful. Anika M started it off with a fantastic rendition of the National Anthem, and Erik P, Katrina P, Liv E, Jenny D, Beyond L, Kelsey MW, Bella K, Josephine L, Austin M, Peter M, Shengwen L, Xiaoyu L, Yiming Z, and Brian S provided the wide range of talent and hard work necessary to set up and to keep it all going for 10 hours.

The payoff for all the hard work was the obvious enthusiasm and passion the young competitors demonstrated through their creative use of technology to solve challenges. It is what inspires all the volunteers to keep coming back!

Chinese New Year

In honor of the Chinese New Year and our international students, we will be celebrating on Monday with special food and a dress down day. We wish our international students from China a happy Lunar New Year!

Shakespeare Competition

On Friday January 24, the Academies held the annual school-wide Shakespeare Competition as part of the qualifying rounds for the 37th Annual ESU National Shakespeare Competition. Eight students were selected through grade level competitions at AA and AAG:

Class of 2023

Ana S.

Andrew C.

Class of 2022

Epiphany D.R.

Shengwen L.

Class of 2021

Bridget N. A.

Peter M.

Class of 2020

Maria K.

Austen M.

They enthralled the school community and a panel of faculty and alumni/ae judges with their renditions of Shakespeare monologues from various plays. The winner and a runner-up will be announced on Monday.

Beyond selecting a winner to represent the school, the stated goals of the competition are to:

Develop essential skills: critical thinking, close reading and public speaking
Increase self-confidence through reading, analysis and performance of Shakespeare
Explore the beauty of Shakespeare's language and classic themes
Bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling and clarity
Meet local, state and national standards in English Language Arts and Drama.

All of which were decidedly met this year. Well done, all!

College Counseling News

The College Counseling Team would like to thank the Class of 2021 and their families for their participation in last night's College Search Kickoff. Senior enrollment officers were on-hand from Boston College, Union College, College of the Holy Cross and Muhlenberg College to present on topics including campus visits, essays, applications, financial aid, and more! Students and parents should remember to activate their individual Naviance Student accounts and complete their respective student and parent questionnaires. Initial College Counseling meetings should also be scheduled using the Signup Genius link that was sent on January 14. Please remember that meetings may only be scheduled during a student's free block.

Environmental Sustainability Soybeans

Students in the Environmental Sustainability engineering course used the AAG greenhouse to grow soybean plants. They grew round-up ready and conventional soybeans and explored the genetic differences between the two. This lesson is part of the World Food Security unit.

Mid-Winter Dinner to feature John McClintock '57

Please consider joining us for the Mid-Winter Dinner

on Thursday, February 6, 2020, at Jack's Oyster House,

sponsored by The Albany Academy Alumni Association. Proceeds benefit initiatives to strengthen the bond between alumni and students.

For more details and to register, please click here:

https://www.albanyacademies.org/registration#

Spring Gathering 2020

Consider joining the Honorary Committee for Spring Gathering!

This annual event - to be held on April 25, 2020 at Franklin Plaza - benefits today’s students by helping to ensure that the Academies remain accessible to all deserving young men and women. Proceeds from the event support the financial aid and merit scholarship programs at our school.

Registration is now available:

https://www.albanyacademies.org/giving/events/spring-gathering

Connor M. '22 Selected as Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Young Ambassador

Currently in its fifth year, the HLFYA program empowers young men & women who want to be change-makers in their communities and beyond.

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation was founded in 2014 by New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and his wife, Therese, to make a difference in the lives of children and their families throughout the world, in the areas of health and education. The Young Ambassadors program was developed because HLF believes in the incredible power of young people to make a difference in the world and we want to give you a platform to do just that!

Connor's project work will appear on the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Website throughout the year.

Week at a Glance

January 27 - 31, 2020

Monday, January 27

Day 4