The Albany Academies coordinate single-sex and coeducational learning environments to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers.
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The Skim
- Grade 4 Tie Ceremony
- AA Cum Laude
- Academic Scholarship Winners
- National Latin Exam Awards
- Chemical Reactions Project
- Butterflies Released
- Spring Gathering Virtual Event
- Class of 2020 special webpage
- Industry Professionals visit the Upper School Theatre and Filmmaking Classes
- Class of '65
- NAMASTE!
- Step Challenge
- Picking Up Personal Items & Dropping Off Textbooks
- The Albany Academies Summer Reading, 2020
- Yearbooks
- Distance Learning Page
- Quick Read: That Discomfort You're Feeling is Grief
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Dear Friends,
Happy Week 8 of Distance Learning!
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I found this to be a useful framework for understanding and processing my feelings of discomfort, and realized that my unease this week is probably rooted in the need to let go of the richness of our traditional year-end ceremonies, coupled with general uncertainty about the summer and next year.
I find that it helps to let these feelings happen rather than try to push them away. I can name them, notice how they’re affecting me, balance them against facts, and ground myself in the present if I find myself particularly worried about the future. I also find that gratitude helps. Gratitude for my relationships. Gratitude for having a sense of purpose and mission. Even gratitude towards a predisposition towards lifelong learning.
I’m hopeful you all have your own similar ports in this storm.
I also hope you take a few minutes to check out the article, that you find it useful, and that you and your family have a great long weekend!
Warmly,
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Grade 4 Tie Ceremony
The traditional Grade 4 Tie Ceremony is held each Spring and celebrated with a breakfast in the Trustees Room. The students receive their House tie as a rite of passage into Middle School. This year the students received a special video from Mr. Lauricella giving a lesson on the history of ties, a lesson in tying a tie, and a homework assignment. Please
click here
to view the video. The boys received their ties via a special delivery from Mrs. King and Mrs. Lois. Mr. Lauricella joined the class on Friday to discuss their assignment and to practice tying their House ties. Congratulations Class of 2026!
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Congratulations to The Albany Academy 2020 Cum Laude Inductees! Certificates and cupcakes were delivered to each recipient during the day on Wednesday and a virtual ceremony was held in the evening in honor of the academic excellence of these young men.
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Academic Scholarship Winners
Congratulations
to the Academic Scholarship Winners for the Class of 2024!
The Academies are pleased to announce the 8th Grade Merit Scholarship winners. The award winners demonstrated consistent academic excellence, strong character, commitment to extracurricular, club and community service activities, and a capacity to contribute as an engaged citizen at The Albany Academies. They will be formally recognized during the end-of-year Middle School ceremonies.
Please join us in congratulating:
AAG: Rhea A., Jillian R., Kennedy S.
AA: Anthony G., Gregory N., Ethan R.
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National Latin Exam Awards
On March 5, Upper School Latin students participated in the National Latin Exam. Congratulations to the following students that earned awards for their excellent performances:
Gold medal, summa cum laude: Jakob D. '23, Alex L. '21, Alina B. '22
Silver medal, maxima cum laude: Harry H. '22, Jay M. '21, Mea A. '23, Annika J. '23, Katie G. '23, Katrina P. '23, Ma A. '22, Allison P. '20
Cum laude certificate: Nicholas D. '22, Ellena C. '23, Kate M. '23, Lily S. '22, Lilly C. '22, Mia A. '21, Natalie A. '21
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Chemical Reactions Project
Grade Eight science wrapped up their unit on Chemical Reactions with a fun project. The students were able to choose a chemistry experiment they could complete with materials they had at home and create a video of themselves conducting the experiment. They used the unit vocabulary to describe what was happening. Experiments included rubber eggs, homemade acid-base indicators and lots of explosions!
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Butterflies Released
AAG and AA 2nd graders released their butterflies in their science Zoom class on Friday! They have been studying butterflies since they received them as caterpillars a few weeks ago. It has been so much fun watching them change from caterpillar to chrysalis and finally butterflies!
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Spring Gathering 2020
Thursday, June 11, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
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We’re going virtual this year with Spring Gathering! Mark your calendar for an evening of fun, bidding on some great items, and a special toast to the Class of 2020 families – all to raise money for financial aid and merit scholarships! The event will be live streamed on Facebook with more details to follow. Don’t forget to mail back your message on the leaf from the invitation!
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Class of 2020 Website Page
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We have launched a special page on our website dedicated to our Class of 2020. We'll be adding more information, photos and videos to this page over the next several weeks. Click the link below.
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Industry Professionals visit the Upper School Theatre and Filmmaking Classes
Since we started our distance learning program we have been fortunate to welcome ten professionals from the theatre and filmmaking industries to visit our classes to speak about their experiences. In the final weeks of classes we had the honor the these professionals to come in and talk with our students.
Actor Rachel Mulcahy -- who has starred in national tours and regional productions of Once, Bright Star, The Buddy Holly Story, Shakespeare in Love, Ring of Fire Once, A Christmas Carol, Rocky, Mountain High, and The King and I -- joined the call.
Editor Keith Reiner, a film editor on the reality television shows of Alone: The Beast, Pawn Stars, Reality Cupcakes, Bakers vs. Fakers and more, also joined us.
Actor Happy McPartlin who starred in "Come From Away" on Broadway when the theatre and chamber singer classes went to see the show this past March, was also a part of the program.
Producer Mike Camion P'22, P'23 -- who is the founding director of Capital Cinema Cultural Exchange, the international filmmakers lab based in Albany, NY and is a creator of a documentary series on Adirondack culture-- joined us as well.
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Class of '65 shares stories on Zoom
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With the 2020 reunion postponed this past weekend, the Class of ’65 had to cancel their reunion dinner. In spite of this, the class held a virtual cocktail party on May 16 on Zoom with 28 classmates sharing fond memories and anecdotes, as well as poignant life stories. The event was an overwhelming success and such a special opportunity to reconnect during this stressful time.
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NAMASTE!
A special thank you to Samantha S. '20 and Katia Ryan '17 who both volunteered to teach yoga to our Academy community during this period of distance learning. Physical Education students, faculty and staff participated in these classes.
Katia is a Kripaula trained yoga instructor who also teaches at Bates College. Samantha earned her yoga teaching certification last summer and has been teaching regular and teen yoga classes all year at the local studio, 365 Fit.
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For her May project, Samantha is researching new yoga forms and will continue to volunteer her time and offer free Zoom classes throughout the quarantine period. Below is a listing of her class schedule that the Academy community is welcome to attend. All of the classes use the same Zoom meeting room. Zoom ID: 533 976 6872 Password: yoga!! (Please don't share this outside of our community.)
Class Schedule:
Monday - Teen Class 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday - Core Strength Class 7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Wednesday - Strength Class 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday - Teen Class 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Friday - Gentle Yoga Flow 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday - Strong Yoga Flow 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Sunday - Gentle Yoga 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
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Step Challenge
Here are the results from the final week of the Step Challenge:
Lower School: Krisha N. '29 - 73,232 steps
Middle School: No participants
Upper School: Morgen I '20 - 136,242 steps
Faculty & Staff: Laura Frei - 135,326 steps
Parents: Angelica Ganna - 115,742 steps
Thank you to Laura Hollander for organizing this fun challenge!
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Picking Up Personal Items & Dropping Off Textbooks
AA/AAG pick-up dates and times:
Seniors – May 26-28 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Upper School – June 4-5 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Middle School – June 8-9 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m..
Lower School – June 10-11 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Dropping Off Books/Picking Up Personal Items.
On the designated day please come to the
front circle of AA or AAG
and a member of our staff will take your name and bring your personal belongings (locker contents, PE locker contents, cubbies, desks, art work, etc.) to your car.
Please have your text books, that need to be returned to the district (BOCES or Questar), in a bag with your name and grade. We will add these to your books from your locker and classrooms if applicable.
If you do not reside in a district that uses BOCES or Questar, please make sure you indicate that at pick up and we will bring you your text books found in your locker or classroom (if applicable).
Please note that families will be responsible for any lost or missing textbooks.
Library books
Please bring any library books you have at your home and we will return them to the library.
Special Items
If you have an item that we would not find in our course of cleaning out all the “regular places” such as something in your advisors room, please email
lockers@albanyacademies.org
with a location and a description of the item(s).
Lost and Found
We will have tables of lost and found in front of the school. If you are looking for an item(s) please let us know and we will help you look for it.
No access to buildings
Due to the current COVID-19 situation we are unable to provide any students or families access to buildings.
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The Albany Academies Summer Reading, 2020
Lower School Recommendations/Requirements
Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten:
Parents are asked to enjoy reading with their children for a minimum of 15 minutes per day.
Grade One & Grade Two:
Students should read books of choice for a minimum of 20 minutes per day throughout the summer.
Grade Three:
Students should read books that are based on their independent reading level for at least 30 minutes per day throughout the summer.
AA Grade Four:
Required reading, The Voyage of the Half Moon, by Tracey West
AAG Grade Four:
Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White; The Year of the Dog, by Grace Lin
Required reading for English class
AAG Middle School
Grade 5:
Free choice
Grade 6:
Free choice
Grade 7:
Free choice
(Please have copy available for class use in September.)
Grade 8:
Free choice
(Please have copy available for class use in September.)
AA Middle School
Grade 5:
The Secret of Platform 13,
by
Eva Ibbotson
Grade 6:
Gregor the Overlander (Book 1,)
by
Suzanne Collins
Form I:
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,
by John Boyne
Form II:
The Wednesday Wars,
by Gary D. Schmidt
AAG Upper School
Grade 9:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower,
by Stephen Chbosky
Grade 10:
Me Before You,
by
Jojo Moyes
AA Upper School
Form III:
Mexican WhiteBoy,
by Matt de la Pena
Form IV:
Heroes,
by Robert Cormier
Joint Upper School
English 11:
Best American Short Stories 2019,
edited by Anthony Doerr
English 11 Honors:
Best American Short Stories 2019,
edited by Anthony Doerr
Senior English I, II, III, IV, V, and VI:
Best American Essays 2019
edited by Rebecca Solnit and
Little Fires Everywhere,
by Celeste Ng
AP English:
All the Light We Cannot See,
by Anthony Doerr and
The Nickel Boys by,
Colson Whitehead
Required reading for AP and Honors History Classes
AP United States History:
The Price of Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation,
by Daina Ramey Berry
AP Government:
Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore,
by James Patterson
AP European History:
The Prince,
by Machiavelli
Honors US History:
Between the World and Me,
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Yearbooks
It is time to place your yearbook order!
Click here
to order a yearbook for your child. The deadline to place your order is May 31.
To order a yearbook for AAG enter passcode: 101411068383919
To order a yearbook for AA enter passcode: 10131170417192
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Distance Learning Page
Please be sure to visit our
Distance Learning Page
for information on our Distance Learning program. This page is updated frequently and has resources including:
- Webinar Recordings
- Head of School Weekly Video
- Videos of interviews with Faculty
- Archived Communications
- Key Contacts Who Can Help You
- Family Resources
- Information Pertinent to Each Division
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Scott Berinato,
Harvard Business Review
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During the global pandemic, a palpable sense of collective grief has emerged. Grief expert David Kessler says that grief is actually multiple feelings that we must manage.
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Week at a Glance
May 25 - May 29, 2020
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Monday, May 25
Memorial Day - No Classes
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Thursday, May 28
Day 5
New Family Reception hosted by the Admissions Office (Zoom)
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