Arbor Hill Elementary School

Prekindergarten-Grade 6

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1 Arbor Drive

Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 475-6625
Fax: (518) 475-6627

Rosalind Gaines-Harrell, Principal

E-mail: rgaines-harrell@albany.k12.ny.us

Janet Escoto-LaVoie, Assistant Principal

E-mail: jescoto-lavoie@albany.k12.ny.us

About Arbor Hill Elementary School

Built in 1973, Arbor Hill Elementary School is located on Arbor Drive, across the street from Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center. A two-year project to renovate the building  was completed in September 2010 and students and families returned to Arbor Hill Elementary School's familiar 1 Arbor Drive home!

At the new Arbor Hill Elementary, students learn in a modernized facility with new computers in every classroom, walls and doors surrounding every classroom (as opposed to the school's former open-classroom layout), new computer and science labs, a restored indoor atrium and a new heating and cooling system.

Anti-bullying efforts at Arbor Hill -- Let's complete the puzzle together

We invite you to visit Arbor Hill Elementary School's anti-bullying website.

Bullying hurts people, and at Arbor Hill Elementary we continue working toward making our school a better place. Our interactive website for students, parents and teachers will help everyone in our school community to understand the painful scars that are caused by bullies as well as what we all can do to stop it. Let’s complete the puzzle together!

School times

• Early Bird Program (space is limited, application required) -- 7:45 a.m.

• Breakfast begins -- 8:30 a.m.

• School day begins -- 9:00 a.m.

• School day ends -- Arbor Hill Elementary uses staggered dismissal times to avoid congestion in the building:

  • Pre-K -- 3:15 p.m. dismissal in the cafeteria. Parents must sign out students.

  • Kindergarten -- 3:25 p.m. dismissal in the front lobby. Parents picking up students must sign them out.

    • Yellow bus dismissal 3:25 p.m. from the cafeteria.

  • Grades 1-6 -- 3:35 p.m. dismissal from the side door/bridge area.

• After-school child care ends -- 6 p.m.

Early dismissal procedures

Please pick up all students for early dismissal before 3 p.m. Teachers read, review PBIS points and bring closure to the day between 3-3:30 p.m. It is extremely disruptive to the learning environment as well as experiencing a delay in your early pick-up if the rules are not followed. If you pick your child up daily at 3 p.m., they miss 2.5 hours of instruction in one week! That's 10 hours in a month -- more than a full day of school missed in a month!

Messages to students

Due to instruction and dismissal, we do not interrupt classrooms for student messages during the day. They will receive the message before they go home, but we will not interrupt the class to speak to them directly.

Signing out students

Sign out your child in the book located in the front lobby. A hall monitor will bring your child to the front lobby.

Visiting classroom areas

For safety reasons, parents are NOT permitted in the classroom areas unless it is by appointment or for a special class presentation. If you have an appointment to see a teacher, come to the desk in the front lobby to receive a visitor's pass. We will call your child's classroom to confirm the appointment or presentation with the teacher, you then can go to the classroom.

Late students

Hall monitors will accompany all late students to their classrooms.

Points of distinction

• Voluntary uniform policy

• Full-day prekindergarten and kindergarten programs offered

• Before- and after-school child care provided

• Recipient of Pathfinder Award for Outstanding Educational Achievement

• Located on extensive grounds surrounded by beautiful landscaping

Upcoming events