April 16 district updates

Posted April 16, 2020

Governor extends school closure through May 15

Governor Cuomo on Thursday announced that he has extended the closure for all New York schools through Friday, May 15. The City School District will remain committed to continuity of instruction through our Google Classroom environment, distribution and availability of food and childcare, with an emphasis on serving children of essential workers.

See below for more information and reminders about each of these areas.

Advice on shopping and getting takeout food more safely

The City School District of Albany Pupil Personnel Services Department would like to share an informative video with guidelines for shopping and getting takeout food more safely during the COVID-19 closures. The video is produced by Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen, a family physician practicing in Grand Rapids, Mich.

County offering COVID-19 testing sites

A reminder that Albany County is offering walk-up COVID-19 test sites in four locations, including locations in Albany’s Arbor Hill, South End and West End neighborhoods.

Friday, April 17: Whitney Young Health Center, 920 Lark Drive, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Friday, April 17: Bleecker Terrace Apartments, North Manning Boulevard, 9 a.m.-noon
Friday, April 17: Watervliet Health Center, 1804 Second Ave., Watervliet, 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m.

Beginning Friday, the Whitney Young Health Center at 920 Lark Drive will be open each weekday for testing from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Testing also will be available on a rotating basis at the other sites, including the Capital South Campus Center at 20 Warren St., which offered testing beginning Thursday afternoon. We will share that information as we receive it from the county.

Please note that all testing is by appointment only, after being screened for symptoms over the phone. To be screened, please call (518) 465-4771. You can visit the Albany County website for more information and guidance about COVID-19 testing.

Office hours for secondary students

You may have noticed in our Google Classroom schedules for middle and high school students that each day includes office hours in specific subject areas.

Office hours are a regular part of the schedule for college students. We built this concept into our online teaching and learning schedules at the secondary level to provide students with opportunities to ask questions and get extra help outside of the regular instructional periods in each subject.

Students can drop in on office hours during each regularly scheduled time slot simply by logging in to their Google Classroom in each specific subject.

Meal program updates

The district has served more than 80,000 meals during the school closure and is planning to expand our meal delivery service again next week to allow us to serve even more families.

As a reminder, we have seven school locations for our “grab and go” meal pickup service in addition to our 20 daily delivery routes. The school sites are open each weekday from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.:

Albany High School (Washington Avenue entrance), 700 Washington Ave.
Albany School of Humanities (ASH), 108 Whitehall Road
Arbor Hill Elementary School, 1 Arbor Drive
Giffen Memorial Elementary School, 274 South Pearl St.
Schuyler Achievement Academy, 676 Clinton Ave.
Tony Clement Center for Education, 395 Elk St.
William S. Hackett Middle School, 45 Delaware Ave.

Chromebook distribution

The district has distributed nearly 2,200 Chromebooks to students and families and is continuing efforts to meet the needs of those families that are without computer access at home.

This process will continue to be managed through the schools. We also are working with T-Mobile for hotspots to help the approximately 550 families we have identified with no Internet connection at home.

Families can help us in this process in two ways. When you talk with your child’s teacher, please let them know that you have a need for computer access at home. Your teacher will help gather the necessary information. Families also can call their child’s school and leave a message with the following information:

Student name
Student grade
Student ID number (if available)

Following this process will help us meet the needs as efficiently as possible moving forward.

Technical support for students and families

The City School District of Albany’s Technology Help Desk is available to assist students and families with issues related to connecting a Chromebook to wireless access points, or with student login to the Chromebooks or the Clever suite of applications.

You can reach the Technology Help Desk from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. each weekday at (518) 475-6195.

Please note that the Help Desk cannot assist with matters related to use, content or activities within any of the district instructional applications or Google Classroom. Questions regarding the use of Google Classroom, instructional resources, learning tasks or expectations related to instructional content should be directed to each student’s teacher or principal.

You also can find instructions and other helpful Google Classroom guidance in our online instruction section.

Free WiFi opportunities

We would like to provide these reminders about WiFi access for Albany families.

The City of Albany has partnered with FirstLight Fiber to offer Albany FreeNet, a free high-speed WiFi service. Any WiFi-enabled device – laptops, smart phones, PDAs, etc. – can connect to the network wirelessly wherever there is coverage. For more information, including a coverage map, you can visit http://albanyfreenet.net/.
WiFi at all Albany Public Library branches and two city parks (near Lincoln Park pool and Washington Park playhouse and skate park) remain turned on, so you can access them if you are in close proximity to those locations.
Charter Communications is offering free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households.
- Charter will continue to offer Spectrum Internet Assist, high-speed broadband program to eligible low-income households delivering speeds of 30 Mbps.
- Charter will open its WiFi hotspots for public use.
  - Check out this online map to help you find free WiFi locations nearest to you.

Important health department notice

The Albany County Department of Health is looking to contact anyone who was at M&M Variety, 108 Lark St., between Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 8 during the hours of 7 a.m.-4 p.m. The health department is investigating possible exposure to COVID-19.

If you were at M&M Variety on those dates and times, please call the health department at (518) 447-4659 whether or not you are experiencing symptoms.

Also, if you were at the store from Thursday, March 26 through Monday, March 30 from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., and you are experiencing symptoms, please call the health department at the same number. This time period is outside of the 14-day quarantine window and those who visited the market during this time period AND have symptoms should also call.

Domestic violence resources

The New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence has a message for victims during these challenging times: You are not alone. Please call the New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline at 800-942-6906 for information on domestic violence resources in our community. You also can access these resources online.

Health insurance assistance

NY State of Health is committed to ensuring access to affordable, quality health insurance for all New Yorkers so they can get the care they need during the COVID-19 crisis.

Many New Yorkers are likely to be eligible for health coverage with financial assistance through NY State of Health due to their loss of coverage and income. NY State of Health opened a Special Enrollment Period last month to provide a safety net for people who are uninsured in difficult times like this.

You can apply for health insurance immediately through NY State of Health. If you lost employer coverage, you must apply within 60 days of losing that coverage.

Because of a loss of income, New Yorkers may also be eligible for Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus or subsidized Qualified Health Plan coverage.

Visit NY State of Health online for more information. You also can contact the Marketplace directly at (518) 486-9102 or NYSOH@health.ny.gov.

Be counted for Albany in the 2020 Census – from home!

This is an important reminder that in spite of the closures and significant precautions in place due to COVID-19, the 2020 U.S. Census is underway. The Census Bureau is carefully monitoring the situation and follows the guidance of federal, state and local health authorities.

The most important thing you can do is respond online, by phone, or by mail when you receive your invitation. Responding now will minimize the need for Census Bureau workers to be out in communities following up. Help your community – and help the Census Bureau adhere to social-distancing guidelines – by responding online to the 2020 Census. Do your part. Stay home. Get counted.

OCFS childcare survey

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services is asking parents, guardians and caregivers who are in need of childcare to complete a Parent Need for Childcare survey.

Based on the information collected in this survey, OCFS may be able to help families find the childcare program to meet their needs. It may be a challenge to find childcare due to COVID-19-related closures. However, OCFS is trying its best to support families to find high-quality childcare programs.

The OCFS website also has several resources available.

YMCA childcare partnership

The district is partnering with the YMCA to offer childcare services for health and emergency-response personnel. The YMCA is administering and staffing the program, which operates from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. daily at the following six schools:

Arbor Hill Elementary School, 1 Arbor Drive
Eagle Point Elementary School, 1044 Western Ave.
Giffen Memorial Elementary School, 274 South Pearl St.
New Scotland Elementary School, 369 New Scotland Ave.
Schuyler Achievement Academy, 676 Clinton Ave.
Sheridan Preparatory Academy, 400 Sheridan Ave.

The program has a limited capacity, with a maximum of 30 children per school (three classrooms with 10 children). The YMCA is staffing each room with two employees.

Online registration is available. Health and emergency personnel needing childcare are also welcome to call the YMCA at (518) 869-3500.

Picking up medications at school

In the event of an emergency, parents and guardians who need to pick up medication that is currently stored at school can contact Health Services Coordinator Suzanne McCarthy to schedule a time to pick up the medication.

Parents and guardians can contact the health services coordinator at (518) 475-6730 or smccarthy@albany.k12.ny.us. They should be sure to include their child’s name and school, and the best phone number where they can be reached. The health services coordinator will contact them to make arrangements to pick up medications.

National Grid assistance

National Grid has put a number of practices in place to assist families and lessen financial hardships during the COVID-19 crisis. These practices will remain in place until at least the end of April. They include the suspension of collections-related activities and service disconnections, more flexible billing and payment options and crisis intervention support for customers in need.

Visit National Grid’s COVID-19 Information section for more information and ongoing updates.