New name for school

The building that is home to Albany International Center and the Dual Language Program will have a new name by July 1: Albany International Academy.

The City School District Board of Education approved the name change Thursday night.

The board also formally approved making the Dual Language Program an official district elementary school as of July 1. Dual Language has functioned administratively as a program open to students citywide since it began over two decades ago. That meant that student data that the state uses for school accountability purposes reverted to each student's home school based on where each student lives.

Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, the Dual Language Program will maintain its own student data for accountability purposes, like the district's other 11 elementary schools. The school will continue to be enrolled through the district's annual magnet and prekindergarten lotteries and continue to serve students from pre-K through grade 5. Dual Language students also will continue to matriculate to William S. Hackett Middle School through the district's middle school enrollment pattern.

Albany International Center will remain a district-wide K-12 program, with students attending on a temporary basis before returning to their home schools.

The building, located at 50 Lark St., is currently named after Edmund J. O’Neal, the founding principal of Arbor Hill Elementary School and the district’s first African-American principal. The school formerly was Edmund J. O’Neal Middle School of Excellence before it transitioned to the home of the Albany International Center and Dual Language programs in 2021.

In 2022, in response to members of the school community who requested to rename the school in alignment with the district's School Naming/Renaming Policy, Principal Rachel Stead formed a Renaming Committee that included faculty, staff, parents and guardians. The committee began the process of considering a new building name that would unite the philosophically similar programs with a common vision and mission. Following a schoolwide process and vote, the committee proposed the new name to the board in the fall.

The building will continue to be known as Albany International Center and the Dual Language Program at Edmund J. O’Neal School of Excellence until the end of this school year. The district is considering ways to continue to formally honor and recognize O’Neal’s legacy going forward.

Stay tuned for more information on a timeline and events that will celebrate the new name, including the installation of new signage to officially designate the Albany International Academy.