News

About 75 people attended a community forum to discuss options for Oak Grove students during the construction of the new Oak Grove Elementary School in 2018-19. The students will need to move off-site for one year while the new building is constructed.

The meeting, held at North Albany Middle School, was an opportunity to discuss the three options on the table and take input and answer questions from parents.

“We want to put kids first and put them at the heart of our decisions,” said Assistant Superintendent Tonja Everest.

This was the second parent forum. Input will be compiled with input from a survey that is available online or as a hard copy in school offices. The survey closes on Feb. 11.

Take the survey: Open until Feb. 11

Responda la encuesta: Abierto hasta el 11 de febrero

Parents shared concerns, suggestions and questions. Input included questions about busing; combining the elementary students with middle school students in one building; availability of school-based childcare; bell times, class sizes, staff consistency; and non-core enrichment programs.

Many parents also raised concerns about school climate and behavioral issues at North Albany Middle School. Superintendent Jim Golden said that he has identified areas for improvement and is working on implementing new programs in classrooms, school-wide and district-wide.

“We all want to make the culture improve,” he said. “You have the commitment of the school and district administration and the board.”

The new Anti-Bullying, Anti-Harassment Task Force is part of the effort to focus on solutions to improve school climate. It will hold a second meeting on Feb. 7 at Albany Options School.

The second meeting of the new Anti-Bullying, Anti-Harassment Task Force is scheduled for Feb. 7 at Albany Options School at 6 p.m.

More than 40 parents, community members and staff attended the first meeting on Jan. 24. Participants had the opportunity to share, in small groups, why they were attending and what outcomes they anticipating.

At the meeting, district staff presented and overview of bullying and had participants break into small groups to analyze various aspects and data relating to bullying that they could share out to the larger group.

See the presentation.

At the end of the evening, the small groups focused on beginning to look at the various roles community stakeholders play in addressing the issue of bullying in our community. A summary of those findings will be presented at the Feb. 7 meeting.

After extensive research on the environmental impact of single-use plastic bags, Memorial Middle School Environmental Club members Danielle Hernandez, William Summit and Joshua LaBelle shared their research in a presentation to the School Board on Jan. 22.

With the help of teachers Jennie Allen and Anna Harris, the students researched how these plastic bags impact the human population, environment and animals worldwide.

“They worked very hard on it, especially considering we only see them for a half an hour each week day and for only 10 minutes on Wednesdays,” said Harris.

From the presentation:

Why should we ban single-use plastic bags?

Because they are so lightweight plastic bags can travel long distances by wind and water. They litter our landscapes, get caught in fences and trees, float around in waterways, and can eventually make their way into the world’s oceans.

The presentation concluded with rationale for using reusable bags instead of single-use bags in our community and a request for permission to speak to the Albany City Council. They are scheduled to present at the Council meeting on Feb. 28 at 7:15 p.m.

See the student presentation.

On Tuesday, Feb. 13, the award-winning West Albany High School Jazz Band will host a dinner with live jazz music starting at 6:30 p.m. in the West Albany High School café.

The Jazz Bands from Memorial Middle School and North Albany Middle School will make guest appearances. The cost of the plated and served, three-course dinner is $15 per person with all proceeds to benefit the WAHS band program.

The dinner menu features food prepared by Mid Valley Greek Fest chef, Mona Soot, and will include Moroccan Chicken with Carmelized Onions, Green Salad with homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette. Jasmine Rice Pilaf, and Green Beans tossed with Browned Butter and Orange Zest, with Baklava for dessert.  The menu items, excluding the dessert, are gluten free.

Tickets are available online, at the West Albany High School office, and at the door.  Reservations are requested but not required.

See the flyer. For more information, email monasoot@gmail.com.

The Oregon Department of Education recently released graduation rates for the 2016-17 school year. The report showed the already strong graduation rates in Greater Albany High schools stayed strong for students.

For 2016-17, Albany Options rate is 38.39%; South Albany High School is 88.68%; and West Albany High School is 95.83%. The state graduation rate was 76.65%.

The news was even better for Latino students or students who took at least one career technical class.

At South Albany High School, 92% of Latino students graduated within four years; at West Albany High School, 100% of Latino students earned a diploma.

See the ODE data.

Read more in the Democrat-Herald.