Middle school enrollment questions
Academic equity and programming FAQs
This section contains questions from families related to academic equity and programming.
One of the metrics I keep seeing and hearing about is “curriculum is the same at all schools.” Can you describe what is meant by this? NYS Standards are the same for each grade level, but, even at the elementary level, how a teacher designs lessons to meet the standards varies, even within a grade level. What does it mean at the middle school level that “all curriculum is the same?”
That means that all students can expect to find the same academic programs at the middle level city-wide. All of our middle schools follow the same state learning standards, benchmarks, pacing maps, etc., and there are no specialized programs or themes (such as magnet programs) that differentiate the academic programming for the middle schools. For example, the former Philip Livingston middle school had an arts and humanities magnet theme for many years. We do not have those types of programs at the middle level today. Faculty at all of our middle schools participate in common planning time as well as collaborative planning horizontally across the middle level and vertically with the high school.
New Scotland Elementary School uses AVID practices and my children have benefited from it. Are there plans to continue this method or expand this method at the middle school level, particularly at the middle school that New Scotland feeds to?
Yes, we do offer AVID at all the middle schools. Also, please visit our Middle School Curriculum section for more information.
I am concerned about another transition for Dual Language students. This program was just moved (from Delaware Community School to Edmund J. O’Neal School of Excellence to accommodate the start of an expansion that will see the program grow from one-deep to two-deep). It is now a vulnerable program that some families have left. The current fifth-graders have very little stability and have expected to go to Hackett. I think most of them live closer to Delaware Community School. It is upsetting to think they will once again have a huge, unexpected change. Why does it seem like a definite to send Dual to North Albany?
There is nothing definite about any of the proposals that the committee has proposed to the board at this time. The board appreciates this feedback and will continue to welcome all views and suggestions as it continues to work through this complex decision.
How can parents of children who have 504s request to have their children in their selected school because it would cause too much confusion and frustration for their child to be shipped across town or out of their neighborhood to go to school? Is their neighborhood preference?
A 504 plan is intended for children with disabilities who do not need or qualify for special education but could benefit from accommodations and/or specialized help in school. These plans identify accommodations a child with a disability needs to fully participate in the classroom and sets up ways to help the child succeed. The 504 Committee would not include a specific school in a 504 plan. All of our schools are equipped with the supports that a student may need in order to support the implementation of the 504 plan.
Can you give an example of resources that are currently available at one but not all middle schools?
North Albany Middle School is a Community School, whereas Myers and Hackett are not. However, there are some components of a Community School that are also in place at Hackett and Myers. An example of this is mental health supports through a community agency. Hackett partners with Catholic Charities, and Myers and North Albany partner with Northern Rivers.
Dual Language is a program that by design is 50% Spanish-speaking families. What is your plan to give this population a voice?
We will have translators in our top five languages, which include Spanish, at our in-person community forums Feb. 28 (Arbor Hill Elementary School) and March 1 (Giffen Memorial Elementary School). We also will have translated paper versions of our current feeder alignment survey available at both meetings.
All text on our website is translatable into nearly 100 languages using the Google Translate tool. All SchoolMessenger email communications also are translated into 30 languages, including Spanish.
As a whole, the school district has low academic performance as compared to other districts within the state.
It appears that equity assessments and proposals from the district have been geographically based. Has any thought been given to assessing needs and implementing improvements to existing school building communities? Geographically based changes may improve some areas of problems based on spacing, etc., but are not likely to address root causes as to the other factors that influence poor academic performance.
Some changes may actually exacerbate these problems or lead to families leaving the district. Has any thought been given to increasing equity by increasing district-level academic performance as a whole by providing children and families the academic support they need to do so?
Having children change school buildings is intended to be equitable but the actual impact on school- and student-level academic performance may not be significant and could in fact be superficial. I'm not sure I understand the focus on feeder patterns and not on making sure the district's academic performance increases by providing the resources and tools that students need to be successful.
The district’s current middle school feeder pattern never was intended to be permanent.
It was intended to be in place 3-5 years while the district determined how best to meet its facilities needs to educate all students in grades 6-8 in an equitable middle school setting. The district has been consistently clear about that since the current feeder pattern was implemented for 2017-18. The assignment of students from Arbor Hill Elementary School, Philip J. Schuyler Achievement Academy, Sheridan Preparatory Academy and the former North Albany Academy to the former Edmund J. O’Neal Middle School of Excellence (and now North Albany Middle School) was a temporary alignment brought about by the sudden closure of the former Brighter Choice charter middle schools at the end of the 2014-15 school year.
The district did not have adequate space to accommodate the influx of these new charter students and our own growing enrollment in those years. Several years of study led to overwhelming voter approval in 2019 of the facilities project currently in progress to expand and renovate North Albany to have space and facilities on par with Hackett and Myers. The district has been working toward a new permanent middle school feeder pattern since that time.
You can read more about this background in the"recordings and resources" section of our Feeder Alignment Committee page.
The district’s mission is to work in partnership with our diverse community to engage every learner in a robust educational program designed to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for success.
Our goals are to increase student achievement, enhance the delivery of quality instruction, build our leadership capacity and increase accountability, empower families and partner with our diverse community. We are committed to providing the academic and social-emotional resources and supports that every student needs to succeed. The current public health crisis has presented numerous significant challenges for school districts across the United States. We have continued to endeavor to meet the needs of each student and family in spite of these challenges, and will continue to do so as we move forward.
While we recognize that there is much work to be done, we also note the steady increase in the graduation rate for Albany High School over the past dozen years – from 50% for the Class of 2010 to 82% for the Class of 2021. Moreover, our efforts across the organization at all levels have contributed to a significant narrowing of the achievement gap between our African-American and White students. For the Class of 2021, that gap was 4 percentage points (87% for our White student subgroup compared to 83% for our African-American student subgroup, compared to a range of 79%-70% for the Class of 2020). The 2021 graduation rate for our African-American student subgroup (83%) is 3 percentage points higher than the statewide average.
Can you explain how changing where most of the elementary schools feed into addresses the inequities between middle school buildings? What is the main cause of those inequities: administration, staff and resources? How are those issues being addressed?
The district’s current middle school feeder pattern never was intended to be permanent.
It was intended to be in place 3-5 years while the district determined how best to meet its facilities needs to educate all students in grades 6-8 in an equitable middle school setting. The district has been consistently clear about that since the current feeder pattern was implemented for 2017-18. The assignment of students from Arbor Hill Elementary School, Philip J. Schuyler Achievement Academy, Sheridan Preparatory Academy and the former North Albany Academy to the former Edmund J. O’Neal Middle School of Excellence (and now North Albany Middle School) was a temporary alignment brought about by the sudden closure of the former Brighter Choice charter middle schools at the end of the 2014-15 school year.
The district did not have adequate space to accommodate the influx of these new charter students and our own growing enrollment in those years. Several years of study led to overwhelming voter approval in 2019 of the facilities project currently in progress to expand and renovate North Albany to have space and facilities on par with Hackett and Myers. The district has been working toward a new permanent middle school feeder pattern since that time.
You can read more about this background in the"recordings and resources" section of our Feeder Alignment Committee page.
What differentiation is provided for middle school students performing above grade-level standards?
Our three middle schools provide opportunities for all students performing above grade-level standards. These opportunities include:
- Social Studies honors in grades 7-8
- English honors in grades 7-8
- Math 7 honors
- Algebra in grade 8
- Science honors in grade 7
- Living Environment in grade 8
What happened to the agreement that was made between ASH and Myers? Us parents have been repeatedly told our school will be Myers! This agreement has been in place since Myers was built! I have spoken to several parents that have said the same thing!
Myers was enrolled via a city-wide lottery when it first opened in 2005. That lottery did include a 0.5-mile neighborhood preference zone. However, when Myers changed from an enrollment lottery to a feeder pattern in 2009, the neighborhood preference zone no longer was in place.
The district’s current middle school feeder pattern never was intended to be permanent since it was put in place for the 2017-18 school year. It was intended to be in place 3-5 years while the district determined how best to meet its facilities needs to educate all students in grades 6-8 in an equitable middle school setting.
The district has been consistently clear about that since the current feeder pattern was implemented for 2017-18. The assignment of students from Arbor Hill Elementary School, Philip J. Schuyler Achievement Academy, Sheridan Preparatory Academy and the former North Albany Academy to the former Edmund J. O’Neal Middle School of Excellence was a temporary alignment brought about by the sudden closure of the former Brighter Choice charter middle schools at the end of the 2014-15 school year.
The district did not have adequate space to accommodate the influx of these new charter students and our own growing enrollment in those years. Several years of study led to overwhelming voter approval in 2019 of the facilities project currently in progress to expand and renovate North Albany to have space and facilities on par with Hackett and Myers.
The district has been working toward a new permanent middle school feeder pattern since that time. You can read more about this background in the "recordings and resources" section of our Feeder Alignment Committee page.
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