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.”
Leadership Students Organize Virtual Club Rush
By Wendy Chen, Leila Ghuloum, Isabel Hall, Caitlin Watt
To encourage students’ continued engagement in clubs during remote learning, Albany High School’s student leadership organized an online version of the annual Club Rush from October 5 to October 9. Unfortunately, the new format caused a decrease in sign ups for some clubs.
In previous years many students enjoyed the high-energy atmosphere of Club Rush, an event that happens during the first few weeks of school. Clubs set up tables with signs and free food, and students had the chance to walk around, sign up for a wide variety of groups, and meet new people.
During the 2019 Club Rush, students were able to explore numerous clubs at the front of the school, enjoy free food, and sign up for club activities. Photos by Wendy Chen.
This year, due to remote learning, students read about different clubs on a Google document and signed up via Google form. Club leaders saw fewer sign-ups this year than in the past.
According to junior Jared Nakahara, president of the Asian Students Union, “Remote learning has cut down approximately 50 percent of the sign ups we would usually get from normal Club Rush.”
Junior Emma Li, president of Photography Club, agreed, “Remote learning has definitely decreased the number of students who signed up for our club.”
Senior Zoe Ou, vice president of the Albany Student Board, discussed one reason for this decline in sign-ups.
“Publicity opportunities are obviously not quite the same without being at campus,” Ou said.“This year, it's been hard to integrate that ‘hype’ factor that would draw many students.”
Another challenge club leaders face is finding activities that can happen in an online format.
“Over Zoom, it's easiest to create presentations and have discussions on them, so for now, that's our plan,” said senior Hannah Jaffe, president of Feminist Club.
Many club leaders are also planning to focus on community building during this isolating time.
Senior Sophia Del Priore, Albany Student Board Secretary/Treasurer and co-president of BuildOn, said, “club leaders are being more deliberate with adding times during meetings just for community building and fun, like playing an online game.”
Ou expressed how students previously involved in clubs have been eager to continue their meetings over Zoom.
“There are still multiple clubs of various "categories," including the arts and sciences, social justice, and identity, so I would say that club variety is still present this year,” Ou said.
“In general, I feel that returning students, who have already experienced clubs in person, are very motivated to continue clubs because they provide an opportunity to socialize with fellow students during this particularly isolating time.”
Ou also mentioned that club leaders are trying different ways to let more students receive information about clubs.
“Some of the ways we've done that include asking IHS teachers to set aside time for freshmen to browse through the clubs, sending school-wide emails about it, and asking the class presidents to communicate regarding Club Rush to their class specifically,” Ou said. Obviously, without the school atmosphere, we can't reach everybody, but this is how we hope to keep clubs active during remote learning.”
“This year is going to require a lot of creativity and persistence from both club leaders and members,” Del Priore said, “but I think everyone is up to the task and wants to make sure the strong role clubs play in student life continues.”
School Librarian Provides Online Resources for Students
By Giulia Del Priore, Elizabeth Gesinger, and Julie Hansen
The shelves, study spaces, and relaxing areas of Albany High School’s library remain closed during virtual learning, but many of its resources have moved online.
School librarian Mary Ann Scheuer created four Google Classrooms individualized for each grade level to accommodate virtual learning, full of important resources.This new system allows students to quickly log on and view current information.
There is a new COVID-19 safe checkout process for library books. Students search through the online catalog or the library’s profile on Goodreads to select their books. They then fill out and submit a request form and pick their selections up at the AHS library on Fridays between 9 and 4 P.M.
“Students may not browse the shelves or study in the library,” Ms. Scheuer said. During Friday’s pick-up times, “students wear masks and practice social distancing.”
Resources for the book checkout process can be found on the library Google Classrooms and on the library page of the AHS website.
The classrooms also serve as a bulletin board for AHS news, with posts from student leadership about activities like Club Rush and other current events.
If students are experiencing technical issues, Ms.Scheuer created an AHS tech support guide that helps students to sign into AUSD Zoom classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 - 11 A.M., she hosts library office hours dedicated to helping students with tech problems.
According to Ms. Scheuer, the Google Classrooms have been successful.
“About 80 percent of each grade level has joined,” she said. “Student leadership finds the Google Classroom to be very helpful as a way to share information.”
AUSD Coordinates Tech Resource Distribution for Remote Learning
By Myroslava Fisun, Nat James, Tatiana Lira
Due to the shelter-in-place order resulting from COVID-19, Albany Unified School District students who had previously relied on in-person learning abruptly lost access to both human and technological school resources. However, tech distribution efforts by Albany High School staff have helped many students receive the technology they need during this pandemic.
With school now fully online and all instruction taking place remotely, the need for technology has skyrocketed. Some families discovered that their single home computer now needed to be shared among multiple family members, creating an untenable situation: Required synchronous learning as well as electronic textbooks and web-based homework assignments meant that students needed full-time access to both computers and reliable internet.
This created an urgent dilemma: what can be done for students who do not have sufficient—or any—access to the technology they need to learn from home?
In August, once the decision to continue with remote learning in the fall had been made, AUSD superintendent Frank Wells sent out an email outlining the revised plan for remote learning and reassuring worried families that the district would “ensure all students have consistent access to a Chromebook and internet” through the provision of WiFi hotspots and school-owned laptops.
So far, according to a report from AHS Principal Darren McNally, AHS has distributed approximately 230 Chromebooks. McNally also adds that the check-out process for Chromebooks has not changed much since in-person learning.
AHS staff “intentionally made the process as much like checking out a library book as we could, to make it easier for students,” McNally said.
Much like the Google form students could fill out to request to pick up a book from the library, a Google form has been made for school-owned Chromebook requests as well.
AUSD does not charge fees to students for any of the technology. The district is allowing students to use these computers and WiFi hotspots as long as they need them to access class and complete schoolwork, which means as long as AUSD offers any type of remote learning.
While there remain concerns about adequate access, especially for Albany’s most vulnerable families, these steps help ensure that more students have access to remote learning, an important step towards equity in education during one of the district’s most challenging times.
Albany Disability Squad Family Support Group
Please join us for the next meeting of…
The ADS Family Support Group:
Supporting each other in raising kids who learn differently
How is distance learning going? How are you managing multiple roles? How can we help each other and our kids?
Date: Wednesday October 14, 2020
(and the second Wednesday of every month)
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88600184968?pwd=bEgvZ0NLSFY5aWM4OHN5UGxZanQwZz09
or
Dial by your location:
(408) 638 0968
Meeting ID: 886 0018 4968
Passcode: 798604
albanydisabilitysquad@gmail.com ◽ https://albanydisabilitysquad.org
Albany Unified School District is Turning the Lights Back On!
Dear AUSD Community,
I am writing to share some important news regarding the school reopening plans here at Albany USD.
As you may recall, on October 1st, the Alameda County Department of Public Health updated their Shelter-In Place orders, allowing school districts to begin reopening elementary schools on or after October 13. The Alameda County Superintendent of Schools also issued a statement on a Phased Reopening for Alameda County Schools, providing guidance permitting a limited and phased reopening of elementary schools, without the need for the waiver required previously. Furthermore, on October 6th, ACOE released their Reopening School checklist.
At the Board of Education Special Meeting last Tuesday, October 6, I shared our proposal to pivot from a 100% remote-learning model of instruction to a hybrid model of instruction. We also presented a remote only option for families who need to continue in remote learning. After hearing many concerns from community members related to the remote-only option, we decided to revise this model, and we met again on Thursday, October 8th in an emergency meeting for the Board to further review, discuss, and ultimately vote on the overall, updated proposal.
The School Board voted to approve the plan to pivot to hybrid learning, with a few amended target dates (final dates are listed below). The following is a brief summary of the plan to date; more details will be presented in future communications and will be posted on our district website.
Elementary Hybrid Blended Learning Model
Students receive in-person instruction in stable cohorts (12-15 students) on M/T or Th/Fri
Students receive remote instruction three days per week
Remote learning days will include synchronous and asynchronous instruction with AUSD staff
All students receive remote instruction on Wednesday (to allow for deep cleaning between cohorts)
Students receive daily required instructional minutes
Elementary 100% Remote Instruction Model
Students who are medically fragile or would be put at risk by in-person instruction, or who are self-quarantining because of exposure to COVID-19 may receive 100% remote learning
In addition, any AUSD family may choose to continue to receive 100% remote learning
Students in remote learning will receive instruction from AUSD staff
Remote learning will include synchronous and asynchronous remote instruction
Students will receive state-approved and standards-based curriculum
Detailed information regarding secondary hybrid and remote instruction models will be forthcoming.
Target Dates for Pivoting to Hybrid Instruction:
November 2: Preschool/School-Age Hubs (teacher/student ratio 1:7)
November 30: Preschool/School-Age (teacher/student ratio 1:14)
January 4: TK-1st Grade
January 11: 2nd-3rd Grade
January 18: 4th-5th Grade
February 1: 6th-12th Grade
Additional Next Steps Include the following:
Hubs: Opening hubs was discussed in the proposal as a high-priority and the Board’s acknowledgement included the understanding that District Staff is working to open these as soon as possible for the following groups: Special Education, 504’s, Intervention, English Learners, Mental Health and Physical Education (Dance, Yoga, hiking and other outdoor physical activities).
Staff and Parent Surveys: We will be administering surveys regarding our reopening school options in order to plan appropriate staffing for both our hybrid and remote learning models.
AUSD Public Health Component Dashboard For Reopening Schools: we will be launching this dashboard, which is a checklist allowing us to track and communicate our progress toward reopening schools. This will be posted on the district website and will be updated weekly.
Our commitment is to keep our students, staff and community safe during these challenging times.
My hope is that you stay Safe, Healthy and Encouraged!
Sincerely,
Frank Wells, Ed.D.
Superintendent - Albany Unified School District
PTSA+Zacharys Fundraiser
Tired of cooking the same old dinners? Want to spice up online learning with a surprise hot lunch for your kids? Buy lunch for your "office"? This Tuesday, October 13th, the PTSA is having a fundraiser with Zachary's on Solano Ave.. Please bring in the coupon below or show it to them on your phone when you pay for your take out! The PTSA will receive 15% of the sales between 11-8:30 pm that day. Thank you for your support!!
Help Our Students Change the World!
Dear AUSD Community,
Albany students want to diversify the narrative they are taught in school about our world--its rich and diverse cultural heritage and real history. Our students deserve an education that includes racially and culturally diverse voices. If you are one of the many in the Albany community who want to be a part of making that happen, read on...
The Albany Diversify Our Narrative student team states:
“Diversify Our Narrative is a nationwide, student-led initiative dedicated to teaching anti-racism in schools. The group was formed in June of 2020 in response to the many instances of anti-black hate and systemic racism that have been occurring for over 400 years in this country. As a group, we recognize the influence schools have in fostering a safe, supportive, and inclusive community. We believe creating this kind of environment should be AUSD’s number one priority. One important step towards this goal is to incorporate texts that are diverse and representative into English classes from kindergarten through 12th grade. While this won’t entirely resolve the issue of racism in Albany, we’re confident that it will lead to positive change that is long overdue.”
For more information regarding this campaign, please reference our linktr.ee or contact us at ausddon@gmail.com
Albany Unified School District strongly supports our students in this effort. Teachers support it, as do our administrators. AUSD receives state funds annually that must be spent on curricular materials and have often been spent to further these goals. The state-defined adequacy of AUSD instructional materials is verified annually. Although these things are done, they do not propel the District forward at the speed our students, our staff, and many in our community would like us to move.
If you want to help the District respond to this need and leap forward this year, you can help by making an earmarked donation expressly for Diversify Our Narrative curricular materials. You can donate online via MySchoolBucks (account set up is easy and free), drop a check through the mail slot on the door of the Student Enrollment Center at 1200 Solano Ave., or mail a check to:
Albany Unified School District
Diversify Our Narrative Campaign
819 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94710
All donations to AUSD are fully tax deductible and receipts are provided. All earmarked funds received this school year will be expended by June 30, 2021.
Thank you so much for your support as we help our students change the world.
Stay Safe, Healthy and Encouraged!
Frank Wells, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Albany Unified School District
Honor Latinx and Hispanic heritage with AHS Library
We are celebrating Latinx and Hispanic heritage this month at the Albany High Library. I’ve gathered together a wide variety of resources in this collection, which takes you right to our online catalog: Latinx and Hispanic Heritage. Right now, I’m reading a new collection of essays by Luis J. Rodriguez called “From Our Land to Our Land: Essays, Journeys and Imaginings From a Native Xicanx Writer.” It’s a fascinating look at identity, heritage, religion and culture from a leading author and former poet-laureate of Los Angeles.
Here are a few favorite books at the AHS Library:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Barely Missing Everything, by Matt Mendez
Dealing in Dreams, by Lilliam Rivera
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, by Isabel Quintero
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sánchez
In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez
The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo
Yes! We Are Latinos, by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Remember that the library is open every Friday from 9am till 4pm to pick up and return books. If you have any questions, just send me an email.
Mary Ann Scheuer
AHS Teacher Librarian
mscheuer@ausdk12.org
Purchase Your 2021 Yearbook
Don’t miss out on this historic book!
***All yearbook pre-orders will be done online this year.***
Visit the Herff-Jones Yearbook Order Center at:
https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/
Enter School Order #12564
Cost: $85 through Friday, Oct 2; then goes up to $90. (Personalized nameplates also available.)
Senior Families: You can also order and create yearbook senior ads using the same process.
Questions? Contact Ms Radford: jradford@ausdk12.org