Dear Friends,

It was another short but action-packed week at The Albany Academies! We began with a professional development day on Tuesday packed with presentations and teacher-created workshops aimed at the continuous improvement of our students’ experiences. As always, we are grateful to have this opportunity to focus on our practices.

We hosted an Open House on Wednesday evening, and I am very grateful for all the volunteers, faculty, staff, and administrators who spent the evening with prospective families in each division.

Yesterday we received word from the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) that we had a very successful accreditation visit earlier this year, with the full renewal of our state accreditation for another five years. Thank you to all who participated in both our rigorous self-study and hosting the Visiting Committee that wrote our accreditation report. We come away from this process with many commendations for the excellent work the school does, as well as numerous recommendations for improving the school.

Throughout the week, we also received some great media coverage reflecting the hard work of our students, faculty, and coaches, which I have shared below.

The weather over the last two days prompts me to republish information regarding our snow day process below. The short version is that we are open or closed during a weather event, keyed to bus transportation from larger public schools. However, if your local schools are delayed or closed, consider delaying coming to school or taking the day off and communicating your decision to us.

Best wishes for a great weekend and Happy Lunar New Year!

Chris Lauricella

Head of School

Snow Days

How the decision is made & what happens when we decide to close

A priority on safety. During inclement weather, our priority is the safety and welfare of our students and professional community. We also often rely on the decisions of some of our 17 sending public school districts as they provide transportation services for students and will often keep buses off the road in a snow event as a matter of public safety.

We know closing can be inconvenient. While safety is our priority, we know that snow days can be burdensome to families due to childcare and work schedules. So, please remember that we do not decide to close lightly.

No Delayed Openings. We do not have a delayed opening option because of the complexity of student travel within the region, with multiple entities transporting students.

The decision process. Each storm is different, but tracking a potential closing decision begins when a long-term forecast indicates that a significant weather event is possible. Considerations include current and forecasted weather, the readiness of our facilities to operate, and potential driving conditions.

The school relies on data from the National Weather Service, which provides regular updates on storms and the statistical probability of their impact. Whenever possible, we will try to make a closing decision the night before a weather event if there is a high degree of certainty about the forecast and storm impacts.

When an evening decision is not possible, the school’s administrative team members usually begin gathering information from local districts at 4:30 a.m. and make a closing decision by 5:45. However, in fast-changing conditions (i.e., freezing rain, clippers, lake effect snow), we could decide as late as 6:00 a.m. 

Snow day communication. When we decide to cancel school, we will notify the community via our parent notification system with an automated phone call, text, and email. The notification system pulls contact information from Blackbaud, the school’s student information system, so it is imperative to update this. Many local media outlets are also alerted and broadcast our closing. Closing notification is also posted on The Albany Academies website and social media pages.

Make the safest decision for you. The regional nature of our enrollment is such that students and members of our professional community travel as far as 60 miles to come to school. We know that these commuters may have very different weather conditions in their locality than what we are experiencing on campus. Therefore, in some weather events, we may elect to remain open and rely on the judgment of families to determine whether travel to the school is safe for them. We will fully support these decisions and any needs that arise from them.

Please communicate your decision. If you believe it is unsafe for you to commute to school, either take the day off or delay your departure until local conditions improve. In either case, if we are open, please get in touch with us and let us know your decision.

Remote learning. The school will NOT be using remote learning on snow days. Accommodation for a reasonable number of snow days is designed into the school calendar. We can catch students up with missed classes upon returning to school and still meet the objectives in our lesson planning.

The Risk of COVID Transmission remains HIGH

The community level of COVID-19 infection in Albany County is High, per CDC standards. The CDC recommends the following precautions during periods of high transmission:

• Wear a mask indoors in public
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
• Get tested if you have symptoms
• Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness

Attendance

A reminder to all parents of the protocol the for reporting absences is to email attendance@albanyacademies.org when notifying the school of students arriving late, or requesting for students to leave school early.

Please don't email Mrs. Motley, Ms. Conroy or advisors, directly regarding absences or appointments. Thank you for your cooperation.

Academies in the News

Starting five for Albany Academy for Girls' basketball have Bears thinking big- Times Union

Teams compete to win the FIRST Tech robotic challenge- CBS 6

Financial Aid

Reminder! Families that are planning to participate in our Financial Aid program for the 2023-24 School Year should submit the 2023-24 Parent Financial Statement at School and Student Services by February 15, 2023. Information about how to apply for Financial Aid can be found on our website or families can contact The Office of Admissions at Admissions@albanyacademies.org to receive instructions.

Please note - each year requests for financial assistance exceed our financial aid budget. Aid is therefore allocated on a first come, first serve basis and is carefully managed in conjunction with the Admissions and Re-Enrollment processes. Financial Aid decisions will be communicated together with Re-Enrollment Contracts. Preference will be given to families that complete their financial aid submissions by February 15, 2023.

International Taste of the World Festival

The Albany Academies will host the 12th annual International Taste of the World Festival on Saturday, March 11, 2023 in the Silipigno Athletic Facility.

We are inviting Academies families and student groups to share food and information about the cultural heritages represented in our community. If you are interested in participating by sponsoring a food table with a cultural display, providing entertainment and/or offering an interactive activity or craft, please click here for a registration form.

Robotics Tournament

Thank you to John McNally, STEM Coordinator and Engineering Faculty Member at the Academies, and the many parents and students for their volunteer efforts this past Saturday at the Robotics Tournament hosted by The Albany Academies! The tournament drew more than 400 people to watch teams of future scientists and engineers compete for the opportunity to advance to the regional championships. Check out these links for the great media coverage!

https://cbs6albany.com/.../teams-compete-to-win-the-first...

https://wnyt.com/.../albany-academy-hosts-first-tech.../

ECA and Lower School Reading Challenge Update

Thank You to Our Guest Readers!

Mr. Westerfield visited the AA Library to read one of his favorite childhood books to the 3rd Grade, The Wind in the Willows.

Mrs. See read one of her favorite childhood books, Tacky the Penguin, to the AA Kindergarten class. The class also talked about cool penguin facts and designed a fun shirt and bowtie for Tacky.

Online registration for summer camp for Albany Academies' students only will open Tuesday, January 31 at 9am. Registration will open to the public on Tuesday, February 7.  Space is limited and is on a first come first serve basis. The link to registration will be posted in Headlines on Friday, January 27. Please do not share the link with anyone outside of the Academy. We have a variety of camps for students entering Pre-K through twelfth grade! 

Join us for a week, a two week session or the whole summer! Program dates and rates are available on our website. The 2023 brochure, LEAP class charts and more information on all our camps will be available on The Albany Academies website late next week. Please contact Karin Epstein at epsteink@albanyacademies.org or 518-429-2332 with any questions.

ARTrageous Just Around the Corner

Join us for ARTrageous...a night of Arts, Sweets, and Treats! Come see our students in action in the studios and on stage. To purchase tickets, please click HERE.

Mid-Winter Gathering to Feature Actor and Alumnus

The Mid-Winter Gathering, sponsored by the Alumni Association, will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 6:00pm at the UAlbany ETEC Building on the Harriman Campus. Featured speaker will be Armen Garo '73. Parents are encouraged to attend the event! For more information about the event and Armen, please click here.

Save the Date for Spring Gathering

Our annual Spring Gathering will be held on Saturday evening, April 29 at the Albany Country Club. For more information, please click here.

A Glimpse Into Our Classrooms

The Pre-K boys have continued to talk about what animals do in the winter. This week we sorted some of our toy animals into groups (animals that hibernate, migrate, or adapt). They worked on a color-coded graph as they sorted them. Together they counted each column. They compared which group had the most, the least, and whether any were equal. The boys were very interested and motivated as they engaged in this activity.

Mr. Rafferty's 8th grade health class has been covering a unit on Mental & Emotional Health. Today, the class was visited by certified yoga instructor Kirill Gron. Mr. Gron taught the class a yoga session and explained to them the mental and physical benefits of yoga. The class did a great job!

AA Grades 1 - 6 students participated in swim classes this week with our new Aquatics Director, Jim Hennessey.

In STEM, 5th graders built and programmed "Hopper" robots and then made modifications to try to win in a race. 

5th Graders, Henry, Leo and Arshan, have been working on building and coding their pet robot Kiki with the new Spike Prime Robotics sets.

Mr. Ford’s First Grade class was baking up fun these last few days. We used fractions in our recipes to help us make some fun classroom snacks! 

To celebrate National Popcorn Day, Chef Adam visited to share some popular popcorn facts and jokes, read a popcorn poem and enjoyed fun popcorn combinations with the AA Lower School.

Second Grade student Owen R. was "Chef for the Day" at The Albany Academy. Owen and Chef Adam worked together to create a delicious lunch menu consisting of Miso Soup, Chicken Tenders, Baked French Fries, and Steamed Broccoli.

Preschoolers in Ms. Caschera's class practiced counting by playing a pop-it game during their center time.

Mr. Streifert's AAG Grade 6 theater class presented a stage reading of "10 Reasons You Should Have Stayed Home Sick Today".

2nd graders work together on a text feature scavenger hunt in non-fiction books.

At Caird Chapel this week, 3rd Grade students presented facts about the states they are researching in class.

Thank You for Legacy of Dreams Support

The AAG Varsity Basketball team wore their pink uniforms in their 65-24 victory over RCS earlier this week, bringing their record to 13-0. We were able to purchase these uniforms due to the donations acquired during Legacy of Dreams. Thank you to our generous donors for supporting our team!

Athletics Competitions January 20 - 22

Friday, January 20, 2023

4:15 p.m. AA Freshmen Basketball vs. LaSalle Institute (Home)

5:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - NEPL vs. Lawrenceville School (Away)

5:00 p.m. AAG JV Basketball vs. LaSalle Institute (Home)

5:15 p.m. AA Varsity Swimming & Diving vs. Glens Falls (Home)

6:30 p.m. AAG Varsity Basketball vs. Voorheesville (Home)

Saturday, January 21, 2023

1:00 p.m. AA JV Basketball vs. Glens Falls (Away @ College of St. Rose)

2:30 p.m. AA Varsity Basketball vs. Glens Falls (Away @ College of St. Rose)

5:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - NEPL vs. Lawrenceville School (Home)

7:00 p.m. AA Varsity Hockey - CDHSL vs. Saratoga (Away)

Sunday, January 22, 2023

8:00 a.m. AA & AAG Varsity Indoor Track & Field @ Colonial Council Championship (Away @ Union College)

1:30 p.m. AA Varsity Basketball vs. Rome Free Academy (Home)

January 23, 2023

Day 6

Chinese New Year Celebrations

• Dress-Up Day (Wear Red & Gold)
• Dumpling Day - Dumplings will be served at all lunches

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

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

11:30 a.m. Upper School Advising

12:10 p.m. Middle School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

12:10 p.m. Middle School Assembly (Auditorium)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Winter Enrichment Programs

January 24, 2023

Day 1

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

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

9:00 a.m. Lower School Parent Coffee Break (Zoom)

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Winter Enrichment Programs

January 25, 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 Winter Enrichment Programs

January 26, 2023

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

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

8:20 a.m. Lower School Chapel (Caird Chapel)

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

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Winter Enrichment Programs

January 27, 2023

Day 4

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

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

3:30 p.m. Afterschool Winter Enrichment Programs

3:30 p.m. Ski Club

February 2 - AAPA Meeting

February 2 - ARTrageous. Experience the Arts!

February 9 - Virtual College Night for the Class of 2025

February 10 - Senior Snow Day

February 11 - Upper School Snowball Dance

February 13 - Professional Development Day (No Classes)

February 15 - Admissions Lunch on Us

February 20 - School Closed - Presidents' Day

February 21 - 24 - Admissions Visiting Week

February 28 - Admissions Regional Prospective Family Reception

March 2 - AAPA Meeting

March 3 - Winter Term Ends

March 11 - Taste of the World Festival

March 13 - Parent/Student-Teacher Conferences (No Classes)

March 15 - Admissions Open House

March 20 - 31 Spring Break