Nov. 15, 2025
Albany High Safety Planning Updates
On Thursday, we held a public forum to share information and answer questions and concerns about our new enhanced security systems that will be implemented at Albany High. Learn more about the presentation via this news story.
If you were unable to attend the public forum, but would like to learn more information, we have two additional upcoming meetings:
- Monday, Nov. 17 – Virtual conversation with Principal Jodi Commerford, noon
- Tuesday, Nov. 18 – Albany High PTSA meeting, 5:30 p.m., library
Senior Class Group Photo: Nov. 17
Class of 2026, the time has come for our senior class photo! The photo will take place on Monday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. in the cafeteria courtyard. Please remember to adhere to our dress code for your attire.
If you'd like to order a 10x20 panoramic print of the photo, please visit the Upstate Images website. The cost is $20. Pre-order with free shipping to the school is available 48 hours after photo day.
Sensational sectionals
Congratulations to our Falcons for incredible postseason performances in sectional competitions!
- Our girls' and boys' cross country teams had a strong performance at the Section 2 Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8. Freshman Emmaline Dalland led our girls' team, finishing with a time of 20:47. Senior Noah Bizer was our top finisher on the boys’ team with a career personal record of 16:04, which qualified him for the state competition on Nov. 15! Read more about his tremendous season in this news story and purchase your ticket to the state championships via the GoFan website!
- Congratulations to our girls' swimming and diving team for a great season! At sectionals, our Falcons put forth an incredible effort in both relays and individual events, placing tenth overall. Highlight of the competition was Sara Carroll, Juliana DiVirgilio, Abigail Scaringe and Maya Colman placing eighth in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:14.06.
Be sure to follow Albany Athletics on Facebook and Instagram!
Winter sports practices & tryouts start Nov. 17
The winter sports season officially begins on Monday, Nov. 17 for City School District of Albany student-athletes in grades 9-12!
You can view practice and tryout schedules for each sport via this Google Sheet.
Check out this news story for additional details.
Albany High Theater Ensemble News
Congratulations to the Albany High Theater Ensemble for an amazing weekend of performances of Heroes Cabaret! Stories of courage and compassion were served up with a big dose of hilarity with a sprinkling of tender moments throughout the course of the show. We are proud of the cast and crew for an outstanding production!
Next week, the Albany High Theater Ensemble will hold auditions for our spring musical, Mean Girls: High School Version. Auditions will take place on Monday, Nov. 17 and Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 4-7 p.m. in the auditorium. Sign-ins for auditions begin at 3:45 p.m. Callbacks will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 as necessary. Students are encouraged to fill out this Google Form if they plan to audition!
Chamber Concert
Albany High kicked off our 2025-26 concert season with their Chamber Concert, featuring the incredible talents of the String Consort, Troubadours, Albanettes, B Flats and Jazzmanian Devils! A big thank you to everyone who came out to support our Falcon musicians under the expert direction of Tony Berman, Brendan Hoffman and John Halvorsen!
Check out this news story for more details about our upcoming concerts on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10!
Exceptional Senior All-Star Football Game
Come cheer on seniors Justin Almonte-Fernandez, Kahlil Beckett, Marvion Bowman, Davi Farmer, Mekhi Thompson and Maurice Sanders as they take the field at the Exceptional Senior All-Star Football Game on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. at Shaker!
Mentorship through Peer Group Connection (PGC)
Navigating the social, emotional and academic pressures of high school can be overwhelming! At Albany High, our school community is dedicated to finding creative and effective ways to support students as they begin their high school journey.
One impactful program is Peer Group Connection (PGC), a school-based, evidence-driven initiative designed to create a welcoming and supportive environment for new students.
Learn more about this program by checking out this news story!
FAFSA help sessions: Nov. 20
Our next FAFSA Help Session event is on Thursday, Nov. 20, from 3-6 p.m. Appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis and you must pre-register via this Google Form. Check out this news story about how to prepare for your session.
Art + Science
Nothing makes your heart beat a little faster like a student who brings a unique, interdisciplinary project to life! Read this news story to see how senior Edward "E.J." Verhoff combined his love of art and science to make something truly special!
After-school tutoring at Albany High
Falcons, do you need extra help with your coursework? Join us at our after-school tutoring program, which runs Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in room 2235. If you need extra help with your classes, come join us and get some support from Albany High teachers. Hope to see you there!
SchooLinks: tracking volunteer hours
Community service is a wonderful way for our Falcons to develop strong character and make a positive difference in the lives of those in our local community and beyond. Check out this news story which provides helpful details for students and families on how to log community service hours in the SchooLinks platform.
Albany Booster Club
The Albany Booster Club is a wonderful organization that supports and promotes athletic and extracurricular programs of the City School District of Albany. The Booster Club will hold their next meeting on Monday, Dec. 15. We hope to see you there!
Academy Lottery applications are open
Do you know a family with an eighth-grade student who would be interested in enrolling at Albany High? Private, parochial and charter school families in the city who would like to enroll their current eighth-grader in the lottery must be sure to complete an application by Nov. 25, 2025. Please note that all current district eighth-graders will have the opportunity to learn about the high school and complete the application with their school counselors, so no action is required for district families.
Visit our Albany High Academy Lottery web page to learn more.
Albany High communications
We hope you enjoyed this Albany High weekly update! As a reminder, to avoid overwhelming your inbox with lots of messages throughout the week, we curate this weekly communication on Fridays at this web page with important updates and exciting news to keep our Falcon families "in-the-know." Feel free to bookmark this page so you always have the important details you need at hand.
We also have dedicated Albany High social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. Follow us to see lots of great photos and reels!
Exciting events coming up soon
This is a list of events coming up that we want to draw particular attention to for students and families! These are just some of the great things happening here at Albany High, and remember you can view our full calendar to see them all!
Follow Albany High!
Looking for last week's update?
Food assistance for families
The federal government shutdown continues to affect families across our school district, state and nation. We have put together this news story with helpful details about food assistance resources available locally.
Additionally, the Regional Food Bank is hosting a food distribution event at Albany High on Monday, Nov. 10. The distribution event will take place on the access road that runs behind the football stadium. Please enter the access road from Washington Ave. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. and is open to the public. No pre-registration is required. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, and the distribution will last until supplies are gone.
Heroes Cabaret opens this Friday, Nov. 7!
The Albany High Theater Ensemble is thrilled to present our fall musical Heroes Cabaret, which will run Friday, Nov. 7 to Sunday, Nov. 9! Check out this news story for additional details and be sure to take a peek at these amazing dress rehearsal photos!
Huge finale launches Beckett into the 1,000-yard club
Kahlil Beckett capped his high school football career and an exceptional senior season with a stunning performance in his final game Thursday night. Beckett finished the season with 1,229 rushing yards - the most by an Albany High running back since Ky'ere Tillery gained nearly 1,400 as a junior in 2015! Check out our news story to read more!
Registration for high school winter sports ends Nov. 14
One week left to register for winter sports! Be sure to check our Athletics news feed for stories on important topics such as the registration process, sports physicals and reminders about the City School District of Albany’s Interscholastic Athletics Code of Conduct, and our Academic Eligibility Policy.
Winter concert series at Albany High
Our Falcon musicians have been hard at work preparing incredible pieces of vocal and instrumental music for our upcoming winter concert series, which kicks off on Wednesday, Nov. 12 with our Chamber Concert featuring the Albanettes, Troubadours, Chamber Choir, String Quartet, Advanced Jazz Ensemble and Intermediate Jazz Ensemble.
Check out this news story for more details about our winter concerts!
Spotlight on sports
As our Falcons wrap up the fall season, we have some wonderful highlights to share:
- On Saturday, we celebrated our seniors on the football team with a heartfelt pre-game ceremony! Visit our Facebook page to see the photos!
- Our cheerleading team had the opportunity to compete in the Game Day Cheerleading Sectional hosted at Albany High on Saturday. Their routine was bursting with Falcon pride, and they represented our school with excellence!
- We wish our girls' swimming team the best as they compete in their sectional event! Prelims took place at 3 p.m. on Nov. 7 and finals take place at 3 p.m. on Nov. 8. Tickets for the Nov. 8 event can be purchased at the GoFan website.
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Our boys' and girls' cross country teams are headed to the Section 2 Cross Country Sectional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8! The event will take place at Queensbury High School at 409 Aviation Road in Queensbury. Girls' Class A race is at 1:30 p.m. Boys' Class A race is at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are per vehicle and must be purchased online at the GoFan website. Go Falcons!
Be sure to follow Albany Athletics on Facebook and Instagram!
Dynamic lessons
Our teachers at Albany High strive to provide engaging lessons across a variety of disciplines! Here's a glimpse:
- Our Advanced Placement chemistry students traveled to the University at Albany to perform a lab where they synthesized aspirin.
- Students in Automotive II and Automotive III hit the virtual road by trying out a Commercial Driver's License simulator.
FAFSA help sessions: Nov. 20
Our next FAFSA Help Session event is on Thursday, Nov. 20, from 3-6 p.m. Check out this news story about how to prepare for your session and be sure to pre-register via this Google Form.
Exploring Bangladesh at International Club
Over 50 students gathered at our International Club on Wednesday afternoon to learn about the culture of Bangladesh! Our Falcons loved expanding their horizons as they took part in an enriching student-led experience of cultural sharing filled with the sounds, sights and tastes of this South Asian country.
Be sure to check out our Clubs & Enrichment web page to see the dozens of amazing clubs at Albany High.
After-school tutoring at Albany High
Falcons, do you need extra help with your coursework? Join us at our after-school tutoring program, which runs Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in room 2235. If you need extra help with your classes, come join us and get some support from Albany High teachers. Hope to see you there!
SchooLinks: tracking volunteer hours
Community service is a wonderful way for our Falcons to develop strong character and make a positive difference in the lives of those in our local community and beyond. Check out this news story which provides helpful details for students and families on how to log community service hours in the SchooLinks platform.
Academy Lottery applications are open
Do you know a family with an eighth-grade student who would be interested in enrolling at Albany High? Private, parochial and charter school families in the city who would like to enroll their current eighth-grader in the lottery must be sure to complete an application by Nov. 25, 2025. Please note that all current district eighth-graders will have the opportunity to learn about the high school and complete the application with their school counselors, so no action is required for district families.
Visit our Albany High Academy Lottery web page to learn more.
Albany High communications
We hope you enjoyed this Albany High weekly update! As a reminder, to avoid overwhelming your inbox with lots of messages throughout the week, we curate this weekly communication on Fridays at this web page with important updates and exciting news to keep our Falcon families "in-the-know." Feel free to bookmark this page so you always have the important details you need at hand.
We also have dedicated Albany High social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. Follow us to see lots of great photos and reels!
Exciting events coming up soon
This is a list of events coming up that we want to draw particular attention to for students and families! These are just some of the great things happening here at Albany High, and remember you can view our full calendar to see them all!
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.