The Albany Academies coordinate single-sex and coeducational learning environments to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers.
October 16, 2020
The Skim

  • Courtyard Concert
  • Flowchart Update, an Apology, and Information on Alternative Diagnoses
  • Academy Road
  • Clarifying Temporary Remote Learning 
  • NaNoWriMo
  • Halloween
  • Fall Picture Days
  • Golf Updates
  • AAPA
  • Upcoming Holiday Travel and Hosting
Dear Friends,

It is time for vigilance. As we finish out our sixth week of school, we see signs across the state, the country, and the world that COVID infections are on the rise.

This is to be expected as once novel patterns have become somewhat routine. Workplace safety experts call this the “complacency phase,” and it often presages an industrial accident.

One of the techniques used to cut through complacency is to highlight safety concerns in a public way. So with this in mind, I want to remind us all to maintain the good habits that have served us well over the last month and a half.

I hope you will consider joining me in this by having refresher conversations with your families and colleagues about the importance of face covering, maintaining social distancing, and avoiding the types of small group social interactions that seem to have contributed to the rise in infection rates.

That said, let's end on a happier note (literally). Today, our chamber singers treated the AAG campus to a socially-distanced and appropriately masked courtyard concert. What a gift it was to hear a live student performance again after such a long silence! 

The finale? Lean on Me. If you’ve forgotten the lyrics, here’s how the song begins:

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

For me, our students' live harmonies affirmed why we are all working so hard to make this year happen, and their song reminded me that the sun always rises, regardless of how dark the night has been.

Sincerely,
Courtyard Concert

Our community was treated to a courtyard concert today by the Vocal Music Ensemble directed by Mr. Streifert! The performance was accompanied by members of the faculty band: Dr. Milliken, Mr. Jacobs, and Mr. Streifert.
Flowchart Update, an Apology, and Information on Alternative Diagnoses

You may recall we created a symptom flowchart for families at the beginning of the academic year, in anticipation of state guidance that was being developed. That guidance was released in early October, incorporated into the existing flowchart, and posted to our reopening page.

When updating our chart, I missed the following exception to alternative diagnoses:
 
Note: a signed note documenting unconfirmed acute illnesses, such as viral upper respiratory illness (URI) or viral gastroenteritis, will not suffice and a negative COVID test will be required. 
 
I apologize for this oversight and have updated the flowchart as follows:
If you have downloaded the flowchart as a reference document, you will want this new version.

Please also be aware that the exception for an alternative diagnosis is intended only for a preexisting condition with unchanged symptoms (i.e. asthma or allergies) or a laboratory-confirmed acute illness (i.e. influenza or strep throat). All other acute illnesses will require a negative COVID test in order to return to school.
We continue to receive new health guidance from NY State as they make adjustments to public health protocols, and will update you about them via the reopening page of our Website and through Head Lines.
Academy Road

The student run newspaper, Academy Road, published approximately 30 articles last year which is a testament to the involvement of both our writers and editors. New articles have been added which you can view by clicking here.
Clarifying Temporary Remote Learning 
 
Students who are excluded from school due to COVID-19 screening or other long-term medical reasons may learn from home as “Temporary Remote Learners.” 
 
Providing this option represents significant logistical complications for both school operations and classroom teachers, which we feel are necessary in order to provide continuity of instruction during this remarkable time. However, after reviewing our experience with Temporary Remote Learning, we are implementing the following guidelines to clarify and streamline this status.

Designation of Temporary Remote Learning Status
 
Temporary Remote Learning status can only by designated by our school nurses. It is reserved for students who have been excluded from school for:
 
  • COVID symptom screening
  • COVID testing 
  • Quarantine 
  • COVID-19 Isolation with no symptoms or illness
  • Other medical reason, approved by the school’s nursing staff, that allows them to be home and continue learning (eg: surgery) 
  • Temporary Remote Learning status is NOT available for any other purpose.

Guidelines for Temporary Remote Learning

  • Temporary Remote Learning will be available to students one academic day after they have been designated as Temporary Remote Learners. 
  • We have determined this lead time is necessary for teachers to properly prepare for students’ change in status, and for students to rest, recover, or attend to medical concerns as needed. Make-up work will be provided for the day that is missed.
  • Temporary remote learner expectations are that they attend class on time, from a fixed location, in their uniform, and without distractions.  
  • Please contact your child’s teacher and the school’s attendance officer if they are determined to be a temporary remote learner but will be unable to attend a class due to illness or a medical appointment. 
  • Please also continue to communicate with the school’s nursing staff regarding the medical issue that is causing the exclusion, as well as the timeline for resolving the issue and returning to in-person learning
NaNoWriMo

Many Upper School students have signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel.

Students are encouraged to sign up with Ms. Marchetti: marchettic@albanyacademies.org
Halloween

All School
  • Costume masks will be allowed. However, if there are any facial openings in the mask, a facial covering is required.
  • Costumes must be school appropriate and may not include blood, guts, gore or weapons.
  • We ask that parents do not send in any classroom treats.
  • The Academies will be providing allergy-safe candy for students.

Upper School
Upper School students will be allowed to dress down in Halloween colors (black, orange, purple,) or wear a school-appropriate Halloween costume. At 2:20 p.m., seniors will have the opportunity to decorate a booth for their sports team, club or community commitment, and give out candy to LS students at their parade.

Middle School
Middle School will be having a Halloween costume contest! Students
can wear their uniform, purple, black, or orange Halloween themed outfits or Halloween costumes. We encourage everyone to wear costumes! There will be grade winners and a final Middle School winner for the contest.

Lower School
Lower School is getting ready for a spooktacular Halloween! The day will begin with a ghoulish game of BINGO, include an enchanting virtual visit to Mrs. Miner's Storybook Pumpkin Patch and conclude with an afternoon of enchanting Trick-or-Treating on the AA Track!
Fall Picture Days

School picture make up day and Remote Learners picture day has been scheduled for November 4, 2020.


Golf Updates
The AA Varsity Golf Team made its annual tribute to Bobby Jones on Wednesday in a match versus Ravena. Every year the team selects one match to wear their khakis, oxford and school tie to celebrate the history of the game. The Cadet golfers continued their winning ways with a victory over the Indians continuing their Colonial Council consecutive win streak which now stands at 246. The team has seven matches left for the 2020 season.
Players and Coach Adamowski of the Albany Academy for Girls Varsity Golf Team were interviewed on October 14 by WTEN Channel 10 during their home match. The team won against Academy of the Holy Names to continue their undefeated regular season. Way to go, AAG golf team!
AAPA

The AAPA Uniform Exchange will be accepting any gently used uniforms & spirit wear items from October 15 through October 30. This will be the only time donations will be accepted during the 2020-2021 school year. Donations can be dropped off to Ms. Katie Conroy at AAG and Mrs. Dodie Motley at AA.
Upcoming Holiday Travel and Hosting
 
We hope you are beginning to plan for the upcoming holiday season, including managing travel and hosting in such a way that it does not pose a health risk to your family or our school community. As a secondary consideration, we worry that not doing this might put our ability to continue to operate the school in an in-person learning mode at risk.
 
With this in mind, here are our preferences regarding holiday travel and gatherings:
 
  • We would prefer that families avoid traveling to states or countries listed in NY’s COVID-19 Travel Advisory
  • If you do travel to a state or country on the Advisory list, we ask that you adhere to the legal requirement to quarantine for 14 days after travel. 
  • If you do this, please communicate it with us and have your child quarantine at home. We will move them to temporary remote learning status during their quarantine.
  • We also hope that families will use appropriate judgement when hosting people from states or countries listed on the Advisory list and adhere to the quarantining guidelines in the Travel Advisory.
 
For more information on planning for the holidays, see the CDC’s Coranavirus Guide to the Holidays. I know how unusual it is to have us weigh in on your out-of-school plans, but we are living in a time when we are interconnected by the decisions we make.