COMMUNITY UPDATE
MAY 2024
A time to celebrate our students and our school community!
Turning the calendar from May to June is always an exciting time in a school district.
It gives us an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned over the past nine months, prepare for the important work still ahead and look forward to the celebrations that always mark the final weeks of school leading up to high school graduation.
And to summer as well!
For me, this May 31 also marks the official end of my first full year in Albany. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of getting to know the City School District of Albany and our community.
That includes our work together, as an entire school community, to improve the culture and climate throughout the district. Reinvigorating a well-deserved sense of pride in our schools will be among our most important areas of focus.
This is a strong, vibrant and richly diverse school district. We are brimming with talented and dedicated staff in all areas, amazingly gifted students, and families and community members who care deeply about the success of public education in our city.
As just one recent example, that was evident in the overwhelming support for our budget proposal and related items earlier in May.
As we look ahead, we also are eager to receive recommendations in areas we have focused on this school year, such as facilities management, human resources, communications, magnet programs, organizational leadership structure and succession planning. These recommendations will be central to our future.
But first, let’s focus together on supporting and celebrating our students down the home stretch!
Please be sure to check out the end-of-year schedules for all of our schools. You also can check in with your school’s website for important dates and information about activities to uplift and honor all of our students for their excellent and hard work throughout the 2023-24 school year!
Sincerely,
Joseph Hochreiter
Superintendent
Thank you, Albany!!!
Albany voters overwhelmingly approved our budget on May 21, with a record 83% saying “yes” to the proposal for the 2024-25 school year!
The $326.2 million budget will continue to support all current programs and staffing, while also investing in additional staffing and support for students.
Voters also gave strong support to three additional school-related propositions. Board member Hassan Elminyawi won election to a new four-year term, which will begin July 1.
Summer program opportunities
We're thrilled to announce that among our many summer school opportunities, we are once again offering our Summer Arts Program, Middle School Summer Sports Academy and our Middle School Girls' STEM camp.
Be sure to visit each of the linked pages above to learn about eligbility, program dates and registration deadlines!
Newman to lead Giffen
Join us in congratulating veteran math teacher and administrator Nicole Newman, who has been appointed as the next principal of Giffen Memorial Elementary School!
Newman came to our district as a math teacher in 2003 (following 11 years teaching math in neighboring districts), and began her path toward building leadership with administrative internships in 2016.
She then served as an assistant academy principal at Albany High School from 2018-22 before joining the leadership team at North Albany at the start of the 2022-23 school year.
She will officially begin at Giffen on July 1.
Congratulations!
Congratulations, James Chaney!
Congratulations to Albany High TA James Chaney for being named NYSUT’s statewide 2024 School Related Professional Member of the Year!
Thank you Mr. Chaney for all you do for our students and families!
A repeat tennis champion!
Congratulations to Albany High School senior Masami Surisawa, who won his second straight Section 2 singles championship on May 18!
Masami finished the regular season and sectional tournament with an incredible 21-0 record before heading off to the state tennis tournament May 31-June 1 at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City. He won his opening match at states to improve to 22-0 before falling to the tournament's No. 1 seed in the round of 16.
Outstanding flag football season
Congratulations to our Albany High School girls’ flag football team for an outstanding first season!
The top-seeded Falcons headed into the Section 2 large-school championship game on an 11-game winning streak before an upset loss to Columbia, ending the season with an impressive 12-2 record.
Congratulations to coach Decky Lawson, assistant coach Rachel Swann and every player on the team who wowed fans each time they took the turf and, most importantly, worked so hard to make HERstory this season.
We are all so proud of you!
Unified basketball champions!
The Albany High School unified basketball team clinched its fourth consecutive Section 2 championship win with a 51-33 victory over Guilderland High School!
The team also had a special visit from the Albany Patroons during one if its final home games earlier in the season!
The unified basketball team is coed and made up of students from grades 9-12. Unified sports are Special Olympics programs that combine student-athletes with and without disabilities on sports teams for training and competition.
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Pit wins 'best student orchestra'
Bravo! The pit orchestra for Albany High School’s spring play won “Best Student Orchestra” at the 2024 High School Music Theatre Awards ceremony.
The awards event takes place each year at Proctors Theatre and recognizes outstanding local high school musical theater productions and students in a ceremony that is analogous to the Tony Awards.
Under the direction of teacher John Halvorsen, Albany High’s pit orchestra performed all the instrumental music for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” presented by the Theater Ensemble in March.
CREATE Fest '24
CREATE Fest 2024 was a huge success!
The annual Albany High School event showcases the talent of our students across a wide variety of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, textile work, animation, film, electronic media, graphic design and so much more.
CREATE Fest also highlights the wealth of artistic opportunities available at Albany High, as well as the dedication of our incredible art faculty!
Chamber Choir partners with Albany Symphony
Our incredibly talented Falcon vocalists are preparing for the world debut of a concerto in partnership with the Albany Symphony!
Brendan Hoffman and the Albany High School Chamber Choir students have partnered with the Albany Symphony to perform a new concerto commissioned by flautist Brandon Patrick George and composed by Michael Gilbertson.
The world premiere of this entirely new collaborative piece will take place at EMPAC on Saturday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. as a part of Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival.
Seniors kick off Tulip Fest '24
Albany High School seniors Rayna Swann, Tiana Adler, Maisie Sagaas, Zoey Volmer, Katherine Myers, Jessica Korbieh and Tyerra White donned authentic Dutch attire and took part in the ceremonial scrubbing of State Street, the official opening of Albany’s annual Tulip Festival during the second week of May.
Thanks to the City Club of Albany, which maintains and provides the Dutch clothing, caps and wooden shoes.
Looking ahead
Don't forget that you can view our online calendar for a look at all the important events coming up throughout the district and at our schools! Also, be sure the contact email we have on file for you is correct so that you automatically receive regular updates through SchoolMessenger, and don't forget to follow us on our various social media platforms!
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.