Dear Friends,

On behalf of all of us on Academy Road, I want to thank the AAPA for the best Teacher Appreciation Week I have ever experienced. And, of course, I also want to take this opportunity to thank our teachers, staff, and administrators for everything they do. We are blessed to have some of the finest educators in the world working with our students.

The results of their hard work are constantly reinforced through excellent student outcomes. For example, today, we were treated to an ECA and Lower School art festival showcasing our students' many talents in the arts. The study of song, instrumental music, and dance came together in a genuinely joyful performance for all involved.

Scrolling down, you will also see excellence in and out of our classrooms, including samples from AP Art portfolios, Grade 8 Honors Projects, and numerous field trips bringing student learning to life.

This week we also continued to honor senior scholar-athletes celebrating their last contributions to their teams before they graduate. Their impact has been mighty, including a new school record for the 4 x 100 in boys' track and field and a 400th strikeout in girls' softball.

Congratulations to Coach Scott Young for his selection as the 2021-2022 New York State Coach of the Year for Swimming and Diving! This award is a much-deserved recognition of the exceptional work he consistently does with our swimmers and divers and is yet another marker of excellence.

Speaking of excellence, we also celebrated Angela Sears and Amy McClain, two of the finest nurses in the business, during School Nurse Appreciation Day on Wednesday. We are so very grateful for their constant care of our community.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend, and Happy Mother's Day!

Warmly,

Chris Lauricella

Head of School

Parking Lot Safety

Please drive slowly and use extra caution in the Academies parking lots for the safety of our school community.

Cars dropping off or picking up students are prohibited in the front circles at AA or AAG. We must keep the front circle clear for pedestrian safety, bus safety, and emergency vehicles.

Spring Arts Festivals

The Arts Spring Festival: Middle School Music, Early Childhood and Lower School Girls' Music and Dance, Lower School Boys' Music, and 4^th Grade Band. 

Wednesday and Friday afternoons, we had the culmination of a year of excellent work for our Middle School Music students and all of our Early Childhood and Lower School students in the Visual and Performing Arts. 

Early Childhood Performance performed music directed by Mr. Streifert and Ms. Stella and had a wonderful cross-curricular dance performance with Ms. Whelchel.   

Lower School Girls performed music directed by Mr. Streifert and dance choreography by Ms. Whelchel. Ms. Kouloriotis directed the beginning 4th-grade band performance.  

Lower School Boys performed music directed by Ms. Stella, and it was a wonderful way to conclude a full day and a week of performances. 

Middle School Music had a wonderful showing with the 5/6 girls chorus directed by Mr. Streifert, the 5/6 boys and 7/8 chorus ensemble directed by Ms. Stella, and both 5/6 concert band and 7/8 symphonic band directed by Ms. Kouloriotis. 

Our next two performances are the 7/8 Theatre ensemble on May 23 and an Upper School Recital at 2:20 pm on May 26, both in the Black Box Theatre. 

Please click here to view the performances.

AP Arts

AP Arts & Photo students have been working on creating a portfolio of different pieces throughout the year to submit to the College Board. Below is a sampling from each portfolio submitted this week.

Student Artist: Katie L. '25

Student Artist: Chloe P. '24

Student Artist: Zara T. '24

Student Artist: Angela M. '23

Student Artist: Nat M. '23

Student Artist: Nico D. '24

Student Artist: Sophie Z. '23

Student Artist: Aoife C. '23

Student Photographer: Gigi S. '24

Grade 8 Honors Projects

The Eighth Grade Honors Project is an optional, independent, year-long endeavor, during which students can delve into any topic they choose. Whether investigating a brand new area or pursuing an already existing passion, these projects are student-designed and end with a culminating presentation, which is presented to their middle school colleagues. Below are the students presenting next week and summaries of their projects. 

Ava P. ‘27 “Public Schools Vs. Private Schools”

Through interviews and surveys Ava collected opinions on academic excellence, behavior, discipline, cost difference and more of students who attend both private and public schools. With proof from research and her personal investigation, Ava argues that it is beneficial to student education to send them to a private school.

Laurel R. ‘27 “Trailblazing Women of New York State”

Laurel’s project highlights 40 New York women throughout history for their trailblazing contributions to arts, education, civil rights, science, technology, government, etc. For each of the women identified, she visited and documented key sites and compiled facts and photos into a website. Lastly, she analyzed the geographical locations across the state and the type of recognition received. Unfortunately, more than 50% were unrecognized, Laurel hopes to change this!

Eliana G. ‘27 “Skiing through the ages”

Eliana’s project discusses how technology has had a significant impact on the ski industry, particularly by perfecting skiing techniques and equipment, improving safety, and making the sport more accessible for a wider range of people. From introducing shaped skis to the development of advanced ski boots and bindings, technology has made skiing easier, more comfortable, and more fun and enjoyable for all types of skiers.

Bender Summer Writing Class

Once again we will be offering the two-week Bender Summer Writing Course. This class is open to Academy students entering grades nine through twelve next year. In this class students work on the fundamental components of essay writing in a workshop format. Because the course is highly individualized, students of all levels of proficiency can benefit. Eleventh and twelfth graders work on college essay topics in the second week. The course will be run in Zoom. There is no fee for the course.

Dates: The first session will be the weeks of June 19 and 26. The second session will run the weeks of August 7 and 14.

Times: 40-minute classes of 4 or 5 students. Grade 9: 8:30-9:10; grade 10: 9:20-10:00; grade 11: 10:20-11:00; and grade 12: 11:10-11:50. These times are subject to change depending on the number of students that enroll in each grade level. Grades 9 and 10 can be scheduled together, as can grades 11 and 12. The maximum number of students enrolled in each session is 20.

To sign up for the class or to request more information, please email pasconed@albanyacademies.org.

Upper School Math for Credit Summer Classes

Classes: Algebra 1, Geometry and Pre-Calculus

Dates: June 20-July 31

Time: 8am-11am

Cost: $1,250

Registration is now open. Click here to view class information. Click here to register for the class.

For math specific questions, please contact Math Dept. Chair, Robert Bischoff at bischoffr@albanyacademies.org

Lost and Found Items

Is your child missing any items? Please check the lost and found collections located in:

• AAG Room 10-08 (Front hallway)
• AA Room 0-01 (Across from the Buttery)
• Silipigno Athletic Facility (Back hallway)
• Michael B. Picotte Field House (Main locker room)

Upper School students will be participating in the 19th Annual Team Billy Ride and Walk for Research in honor of Billy Grey, who passed away from a brain tumor while a student at The Albany Academy. Upper School student leaders, prefects, and incoming student leaders will be volunteering to help at this event, which Beck House prefects are coordinating.

The event will be held on Sunday, May 21, 2023, in Saratoga Springs. Proceeds from the Team Billy Ride and Walk for Research benefit the National Brain Tumor Society.

Please visit www.teambilly.org for more information and to register.

Field Trip to the Capitol

AA Grade 4 students studied the New York State government and created posters of the three state government branches. On Monday of this past week they visited the Capitol. There, they gained more information and appreciated the beauty of both the Senate and the Assembly buildings. Mrs. Russel, our librarian joined the trip along with Mrs. Jones and her AAG Grade 3 class.

Senator Breslin graciously spent time with our students listening to their ideas on proposals and bills that they would like to be turned into laws.

A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms

Second graders visited the Albany Pine Bush Preserve to learn about the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. They explored trails and hope to visit again with their families in the future.

Thank you to sixth graders Caroline, Elianna, Emma, Chloe, Sadie, and Emily for volunteering to help in the dance studio for our open house. The girls successfully navigated over 40 families through our dance obstacle course! 

This past week, 8^th grade girls enjoyed a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and stopped to get a closer look at Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece "Self-Portrait: Man in a Straw Hat".

The Spanish Honor Society members organized a guacamole contest for cinco de Mayo. There was a Chipolte gift card prize for the winner. Students and faculty had the opportunity to enjoy this event.

Students in Ms. Ellis' Grade 9 English class did an excellent job presenting their masterful graphic novel projects this past week.

The 8^th grade class recently spent the day in New York City as their end-of-year class trip. Activities included touring the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Immigration Musuem as well as a visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

AA 2nd graders continued their study of Ancient Greece in Art. Ms. Morris taught them to score, slope and construct amphoras, or Greek vases.

This past Friday, 6^th graders took a trip to tour Howe Caverns. Tour guides were impressed with their wealth of knowledge about the formations and excellent questions. Students also mined for and identified gemstones while on the trip.

Students in 1/2/3 Robotics Enrichment program created drawing robots to use in a collaborative art piece.

The first grade wrapped up their money unit in math by setting up a pop-up ice cream shop and selling sweet treats to the school. They had fun practicing their practical math skills and sweetening everyone’s day! 

The Mock Trial team had the unique opportunity to tour the Northern District of New York Federal Court on Thursday, May 11. Along with students from other local schools, they met with Judge Mae D’Agostino and an assistant US attorney. They also observed a sentencing hearing in the judge’s courtroom. Thank you to the Albany County Bar Association for organizing this. 

The AAG fourth grade has been working on a US History project all year. It began with each student reading a book from the Dear America series. The librarian helped them research the historical event from their book. They wrote research essays and created a slideshow. As a grand finale, they presented their slideshows to parents, grandparents and special guests. Congratulations to all of the girls for their perseverance and a job well done!

Athletics - Senior Recognitions

Golf Outing planned -- Make your reservation and purchase raffle tickets now for great prizes!



Spring is here and it’s the perfect time to hit the links! Join us on Monday, June 19, at Colonie Golf and Country Club for a fun-filled day of golf. Come out to meet some of our scholar-athletes, purchase raffle tickets, have dinner with us, donate, or join us for a round of golf – no golf experience needed! The cost is $250 per person for golf and dinner and $60 per person for dinner only. To register, purchase tickets to our awards dinner and raffle, or make a donation, CLICK HERE.

Opportunity to be a Host Family

As we prepare for the 2023-2024 academic year, we are looking for families who are interested in learning about hosting a student-athlete in their homes. A host family provides a safe, caring, and friendly home atmosphere and serves as the student's role model and extended family. Please click here to view the brochure for hosting a student-athlete. If you want to learn more about participating, please contact Amy McClain.

May 15, 2023

Day 6

8:00 a.m. Upper School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

8:00 a.m. Upper School Morning Meeting (Auditorium)

8:15 a.m. AA Grade 4 Breakfast & Tie Ceremony (Trustees Room)

12:00 p.m. AAG Middle School Honors Presentations (Auditorium)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Enrichment Programs

May 16, 2023

Day 1

8:00 a.m. Upper School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

8:00 a.m. Upper School Morning Meeting (Auditorium)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Enrichment Programs

May 17, 2023

Day 2

8:00 a.m. Upper School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

8:00 a.m. Upper School Morning Meeting (Auditorium)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Enrichment Programs

May 18, 2023

Day 3

8:00 a.m. Upper School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

8:00 a.m. Upper School Morning Meeting (Auditorium)

3:05 p.m. AAG Senior Speeches (Auditorium)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Enrichment Programs

6:00 p.m. Reunion Event - Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Dinner (Crowne Plaza Albany - The Desmond Hotel)

May 19, 2023

Day 4

8:00 a.m. Upper School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

8:00 a.m. Upper School Morning Meeting (Auditorium)

8:30 a.m. AAG Grade 2 Famous Women Presentation (Auditorium)

Reunion Events:

12:00 p.m. Old Guard Luncheon (Leonard House)

12:00 p.m. AAG Class of 1973 50th Reunion Luncheon (Drawing Room)

1:30 p.m. AAG Pen Pals Meet (Courtyard)

1:30 p.m. AA Pen Pals Meet (McNamee Library)

2:00 p.m. The Arts Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Performances & Ceremony) (Auditorium)

3:00 p.m. Arts Hall of Fame Reception

5:30 p.m. Alumni/ae Welcome Reception (Tent on the Front Lawn, The Albany Academy)

6:30 p.m. Class of 1973 50th Reunion Dinner (Class of 1970 Pavilion)

May 21 - Team Billy Ride and Walk for Research

May 23 - 7/8Theatre Ensemble Performance

May 24 - Division II/III Signing Day

May 25 - Grade 2 Field Trip to NYS Museum

May 26 - Upper School Recital (Black Box Theatre)

May 29 - Memorial Day (School Closed)

May 30 - June 2 - Upper School Final Exams

June 1 - AAG Grade 6 Renaissance Faire

June 5 - Lower School Field Day

June 6 - Middle School Field Day

June 7 - Last Chapel

June 7 - Final Assembly

June 7 - May Project Fair

June 8 - AA Middle School Closing Ceremony

June 8 - AAG Middle School Moving Up Ceremony

June 8 - Kindergarten Graduation Ceremonies

June 9 - AAG Lower School Closing Ceremony

June 9 - AA Lower School Closing Ceremony

June 9 - AAG Senior Tea

June 11 - AAG Commencement Rehearsal

June 12 - AAG Commencement

June 12 - AA Commencement Rehearsal

June 13 - AA Commencement

June 14 - 16 - Professional Development Days