News

Adjustments have been made to the bell schedules at all schools. The changes will be in place when school starts in the fall.

The changes will reduce differences in start and stop times among same-level schools. Elementary schools will be in two bell schedule groups rather than nine different schedules, and they will gain 20 minutes of instructional time per day. Middle schools will all start and stop at the same time.

Research has shown that students benefit from more sleep, but the natural sleep and wake cycles are later for older students and earlier for younger students. Adjusting the schedule will allow older students to start a little later in the day.

The changes are also expected to make the district transportation system more efficient.

Bell schedule for all schools

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North Albany Elementary School Teacher Tracy Day will lead Liberty Elementary School next year. The following is a statement from Superintendent Jim Golden:

It is my pleasure to announce that Tracy Day has accepted our invitation to become the next principal of Liberty Elementary School.

Tracy was hired by the District on Aug. 26, 1991. She began as a middle school language arts and social studies teacher at Memorial Middle School, where she continued through June, 2007.

She was then hired in July as a Secondary Student Achievement Specialist for the 2007/08 school year. In 2008/09, she was hired as Assistant Principal at North Albany Middle School. She shared those duties with Timber Ridge and North Albany Middle School in 2011/12.

In 2012/13, she became the Elementary Principal at North Albany Elementary.  She has continued in that role as well as assisting Human Resources with the redesign of the teacher evaluation system.

Tracy received her B.S. in Elementary Education from OSU in 1988 and her M.A. from WOU in 2002. She completed her administrative licensure program through UO.

Winners of the annual character education poster contest were recognized at the June 5 School Board meeting. The winners at the elementary, middle and high school levels received framed prints of their artwork. Awards were presented by Amanda Miller.

The annual contest is sponsored by the Albany Public Library. Students were allowed to submit original art in any medium and must feature one of eight character traits: honesty and integrity, self-discipline, courage, social responsibility, kindness, respect, justice and personal responsibility.

There were 625 entries from students in grades K-12. Winners are:

• Grades K-2 winner: Paige Morse, Liberty Elementary School
• Grades 3-5 winner: Jazmin Palencia Rosel, South Shore Elementary School
• Grades 6-8 winner: Bella Forney, Memorial Middle School
• Grade 9-12 winner: Trevor DeFord, South Albany High School

The 27th annual Tangent Elementary School Tour de Tangent bike program brought fifth graders out to learn and practice bike safety skills last Friday.

Students rode a neighborhood loop despite the windy and rainy weather. The program is taught by school staff and community volunteers.

At the end of every year, GAPS schools celebrate the hard work and achievement of students. We are proud of all of our students, but we are especially proud of and happy for our graduating seniors who persevered.

Here are some end-of-year highlights so far:

Congratulations South Albany High School Valedictorian Rachel DeVyldere (featured photo, above: Democrat-Herald). Read about Rachel in the Democrat-Herald.

Albany Options will hold its graduation ceremony at Linn Benton Community College on June 12 at 7 p.m. Two students, Luis DeSantiago Martinez and Jaushua Jung, will be the class speakers.

The South Albany High School graduation ceremony is next Tuesday, June 13, at 6:30 p.m. at he Linn County Fair and Expo Center.

SAHS will bring students around the district to elementary and middle schools earlier in the day on June 13. The annual senior walk is an inspiration to younger students.

West Albany High School graduated seniors on June 6. See the video in the Democrat-Herald and a photo gallery.

See the videos produced by West Albany High School of the graduation ceremony and the grad walk earlier in the day.