News

This month is School Board Appreciation Month. We honor the volunteers in our community who have dedicated countless hours of services to Greater Albany Schools. Our elected School Board members are dedicated to improving education for all students.

Thank you, Jerry Boehme, Frank Bricker, Sandi Gordon, Micah Smith and Lyle Utt.

At the School Board meeting on Jan. 23, students from schools around the district publicly thanked the Board for their service. Recognition activities included:

Fir Grove and Oak Grove Elementary Schools: Oak Grove Mustang backpacks and Oak Grove water bottles filled with Hershey kisses.

Lafayette Elementary School: Directors received a color photo of the students. Children wore color coded t-shirts to indicate their grade level.

North Albany Elementary: Students made a glitter poster, thank you note and gift card for each Director.

Oak Elementary School: Students created a poster depicting a very large wrist watch thanking Board Members for their time. It was signed by the kids and staff.

Periwinkle Elementary: Principal Bob Daugherty, a fifth-grade teacher and fifth-grade students delivered an electronic presentation thanking the Board for building the modular classrooms at Periwinkle School.

Timber Ridge School: Third graders made a poster for each Director. Art teacher Elizabeth Mann sewed carry bags from art canvas and the eighth graders added the design. There are also Thank You messages inside each bag.

West Albany High School: Dinner before the Board meeting was provided by the culinary arts class of West Albany High School.

Sodexo Food Service: Cookies were provided by Sodexo Food Service.

January is School Board Recognition Month to honor the hours of dedicated service by volunteer board members.

Fourth- and fifth-grade Periwinkle students who are using the new modular classroom facility came to the Board meeting on Monday night to thank the Board for moving them to the space, which, they say, is less crowded, more quiet and has plenty of space to work.

See the student presentation.

Periwinkle opened the new building a few weeks after the school year started. Growth in the area has resulted in overcrowding. The new modular provides more space.

The District is continuing to grow. Projections show an enrollment increase of about 500 new students in the next five years.

The School Board unanimously voted to send a $159 million bond measure to voters in the May 16, 2017, election.

The measure would:

• Make upgrades and improvements, including replacing roofs, siding, windows, plumbing, electrical systems in schools around the District.
• Make energy improvements, including replacing old, inefficient high maintenance heating/ventilation systems, doors, which would save energy costs.
• Make safety/security upgrades, including automatic door locks, fire alarms, security cameras to improve the safety of students.
• Make seismic upgrades to enable buildings to better withstand earthquakes.
• Renovate and/or add classroom space to support vocational/technical classes for all district middle school buildings.
• Renovate and add classrooms and a cafeteria at Oak Grove Elementary School; purchase property and construct a new elementary school in NE Albany to address growing enrollment and reduce overcrowding.
• Complete the first phase of West Albany High School’s rebuild that would include new classrooms, commons, auditorium, cafeteria and administrative space; and multipurpose space for vocational/technical education and gymnasium uses at South Albany High School.

The bond proposal is the result of a more than two-year process to identify facility needs in the District. The projects were reviewed by architects and recommended by a community-based District Facilities Advisory Committee (DFAC) that was made up of community members, parents and staff members.

DFAC initially identified more than $250 million in facility needs. This proposal represents the School Board’s priority to balance the most critical needs and the cost to taxpayers. This bond proposal is expected to increase taxes by an estimated $.64 per $1,000 of assessed property value because the 2006 bond is expiring.

For more information, read the resolution and explanatory statement. 

Find more information on the bond information page.

On Monday, the School Board honored Student All-Stars from Tangent Elementary School for earning the highest scores on the 2015-16 state assessments in reading, math and science.

Tangent students (pictured from left) are Jaxon Wirth, fifth-grade science; Emma Melton, fourth-grade language arts and math; Avery Brown, third-grade math; and Kailey Pierce, third-grade language arts.

Not pictured: Joseph Henderson, fifth-grade language arts.

On Monday, the School Board honored Student All-Stars from Oak Elementary School for earning the highest scores on the 2015-16 state assessments in reading, math and science.

Oak students (pictured from left) are Hannah Dempsey, fifth-grade math and science; Sara Nafziger, fifth-grade language arts; Izzy Amberg, third-grade math; Abby Fief, third-grade language arts; and Ryan Diller, fourth-grade language arts and math.