Gretta Kirkby Signs National Letter of Intent

Albany High Senior, Gretta Kirkby, signs a National Letter of Intent on Friday, May 11, 2018 to play Volleyball at California State University, Chico in the Fall of 2018. Gretta celebrated her accomplishment in the company of her parents, sister, Guidance Counselor (Becca Burns), and many friends! Congratulations, Gretta! We are proud of you!

Chaperones Needed For Senior Trip

Parent Chaperones are needed for the Senior Retreat field trip to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on Wednesday, May 30th. We will depart from AHS at 9AM and return at 8PM. We are taking chartered buses. Please contact Liz Reimuller, Assistant Principal, ereimuller@ausdk12.org, 510-558-2503 if you'd like to join the seniors for a day at the beach! 

AP Exam Volunteers Needed

We are in need of volunteers for the AP Exams, which start next week. Eligible volunteers must have no relatives taking exams this year, nor have ever taught the subject for which they are volunteering. The current openings are listed on Sign-Up Genius at http://bit.ly/APhelpers2018. Please contact Ms. Parrott, the AP Coordinator, at cparrott@ausdk12.org if you have any questions.

Boys Tennis Strong Season Continues Into NCS Finals

The Albany Boy's Tennis Team ended the season undefeated and headed into the TCAL championships with a golden line up of two singles players and two doubles teams. Ian Chuang and Nathan Procek led the singles players and Atticus Pallock and Ari Zeiler- Abarbanel were one of the doubles team, and Ben Driscoll  and Brett Chan were the other doubles team. Ian Chuang lost to the league's Number 2 seeded player in his singles match, and our own team took BOTH first and second in the Boy's Doubles match.

And the fun continues with NCS finals on May 8th.

Congrats to all members of the 2018 AHS Boy's Tennis Team for a great season and a big thanks to Coach Taylor Breland for leading the team to its success!

Scoops For Schools, AEF's Annual (and Free!) Ice Cream Thank You

On Sunday, April 29, the Albany Community Center (1249 Marin Ave. Albany) will be filled with extraordinary musicians from the Albany Schools along with ice cream and cookies.

Scoops for Schools, the Albany Education Foundation’s annual free ice cream social will be held from 2:00 – 5:00.  Throughout the year AEF solicits donations from parents and community members which are used for new teacher grants, field trip grants, mini grants, and Sally Outis block grants which provide funds for large numbers of students or across a curriculum area.   Scoops for Schools is our thank you to the community for all of the support we receive.

This year’s Scoops for Schools is being co – sponsored by Belmont Village and Winkler Real Estate Group. Thank you for your continued support of AEF, it is truly appreciated.

Ice cream and cookies will be served by local “celebrity scoopers”. 

The Albany Education Foundation hopes you will join us on Sunday, April 29 for an afternoon of music, ice cream, and fun.

Help Mr. Bryant Become an NBC Sports Bay Area All-Star Teacher!

Did you know that our very own Craig Bryant is a finalist for this year's NBC Sports Bay Area All-Star Teacher award? The winning teacher's school receives $20,000. Help Mr. Bryant and Albany High by casting your vote here, now through June 1st. Congratulations Mr. Bryant. Good luck!

2nd Annual AAB Pasta Dinner

Please join us for the 2nd annual Albany Athletics Boosters Pasta Dinner at the Albany Veteran's Memorial Hall on Friday, April 27th from 6-9pm.  There will be two dessert auctions and a cash bar with beer, wine and sodas.  All proceeds will benefit the AHS/AMS athletic teams and AHS leadership.  Come enjoy this community building event while raising funds for Albany sports!

To purchase tickets, please go to:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-albany-athletics-boosters-pasta-dinner-tickets-44584792314

ACT Parent Engagement Survey Follow-up

Dear Albany Parent Community,

On behalf of the Parent Engagement Committee that was formed as a part of the Albany Coming Together (ACT) group that responded to the 2017 incidents of racism and bullying on social media last year, a big thank you to those who completed the survey regarding racism and bullying in our schools. The response was robust (225 total responses) and informed recommendations ACT made to the School Board in February. 

To see the results, click on the "Responses" tab at this link. (Note you MUST select the responses tab (right side), not "Questions" to see the results.)

Highlights More than 1 in 4 parents said their child(ren) had been bullied or teased because of their race, religion or other aspect of their identity. Parents were split between whether the incident was handled properly, but more than 1/4 felt it was not handled well. Notably, more than half of all respondents think several days of school should be devoted to teaching our kids 4th grade and up about responsible use of social media and the internet. More than half of respondents said they are interested in attending talks/workshops regarding racism, implicit bias & how to talk to their kids about race. 

Background ACT was convened last year by Superintendent Val Williams in the wake of the 2017 hate incidents as a way for stakeholders to provide input on racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bias and oppression in our community. ACT recommendations to the Board can be found in the February 13, 2018 School Board Agenda starting on p. 24. 

The ACT recommendations envision an ongoing partnership among staff, parents and students to foster an equitable, nurturing and inclusive school climate. While the formal work of the ACT is complete, there's lots more work to be done and progress depends in large part on how much we, as parents, remain engaged. Keep your eyes out for more opportunities to be part of this conversation. 

Best regards,
ACT Parent-Engagement Committee:
Andrea Clark
Michael Goldbach
Rebecca Long
Francisco Lopez
Kate Mehler
Jason Patent

If you have questions or want to be involved in discussions about next steps for this work and parent-engagement around these issues, please contact Rebecca Long at rebeljlong@gmail.com

Thanks!

AHS PTSA Needs you!

There are several board positions opening up for the 2018-19 school year on the AHS PTSA board.  We’d love your help — either as a volunteer or to make recommendations on who’d be great for the following roles:

• President (co-president)
• Vice President
• Treasurer
• Communications chair
• Membership Recruiter

We have a great parents continuing next year as our secretary, fundraising chair, and membership secretary as well as the outgoing Treasurer and outgoing VP to provide mentorship.

We are a small group now but are looking forward to a great year of expanding our efforts to support Albany High.  We are proud that our main goal is to provide funding to teachers and many, many great student clubs like Best Buddies, Speech and Debate, as well as the newspaper and library.

Please join us in making the high school a fabulous experience for everyone!  

If you’re have any questions or would like more details contact:

President Phoebe Greene (phoebegptsa@gmail.com)
VP Tracey Brown (tracey@traceybrown.com)
Treasurer (cgbaty@gmail.com)
Communications Offices (jkchem9120@gmail.com)

Thank you,
AHS PTSA Board

Last Chance to Pre-purchase Yearbooks

Last chance to pre-purchase yearbooks. Cost is $90 and checks can be written to AHS and given to Ms. Radford. Cut off date is Friday, April 28. Some books will be available for purchase during distribution days in June.  Questions? Email jradford@ausdk.12org