Veteran Teachers Join Albany High School’s Administration

By Maya Caparaz, Kunsel Kalsang, and Amelia Marks

Principal Darren McNally and Assistant Principal Michelle Lau-Seim are two of the newest administrative hires at Albany High School.

Mr. McNally was appointed to the position on May 1, shortly after the emergency transition to virtual school in March. Mr. McNally is a familiar face around the campus. He had worked at AHS as a science teacher, served as MacGregor’s principal, and worked alongside former AHS principal Alexia Ritchie as assistant principal.

“Pretty much my whole time as principal has been with remote learning,” Mr. McNally said. “These are definitely not the circumstances I would want to become principal in, but I’m really excited to have this opportunity and I’m really humbled by the trust put in me by the superintendent and the school board. I really hope to make some positive changes to the school.”

Mr. McNally plans to use his experience at MacGregor and summer school with students struggling academically to support underserved students holistically, after he finishes setting up the complicated administrative systems that allow remote learning to operate smoothly.

Ms. Lau-Seim was assigned her position as an assistant principal of Albany High School over the summer, less than a year after she took on the now terminated position of assistant principal at Ocean View Elementary School. Before working at Ocean View, she taught in the Social Science Department at Albany High School for 17 years.

“I am currently working with tenth and twelfth grade student services,” Ms. Lau-Seim said. “Since Assistant Principal Mr. Pratt and the athletic director, Mr. Tresler, are no longer here, we are currently trying to fill those positions. I am also working with 11th graders as well as filling in for athletic needs.”

Ms. Lau-Seim hopes to make a positive impact in the Albany High community as assistant principal.

“I became an administrator to be a leader at Albany High and work with students, teachers, and the community to find ways I can support them,” Ms. Lau-Seim said. “[I] hope that I can use my experience in the administration role to connect the various groups and individuals to the school.”

Administrative staff have been working hard to carry AHS into the future.

“The whole school district, starting at the top with the district office, has definitely been thinking about how to do a lot more work around equity,” Mr. McNally said. “And I’d like to see us also doing a lot more work at the site level, as well.”

“I can tell you, this was the busiest July I’ve ever spent working in education.”