News

Last spring, hundreds of parents, staff and community members attended GAPS-sponsored Oregon Rising Forums. Oregon Rising is was a statewide effort to learn more about what we want for our schools.

Participants had a chance to learn about local schools, share their voice in the forums and complete a survey about their priorities.

In all, 10,894 people around the state shared their views about education.

The statewide report sums up the input. You can read it here.

Get ready for some great performances by GAPS students. The West Albany High School Jazz Band will kick off their season next week with a dinner performance to raise money for their program.

The music boosters will sell chili and cornbread while the students perform.

The event will start at 6:30 p.m. in the West Albany High School cafeteria.

See the list of WAHS high school music performances. Performances are scheduled all year around the district. Contact your school for more information.

Albany Options horticulture visited South Shore Elementary School this week, where they partnered up with a second-grade class to do some landscaping projects around the school.

Students spread mulch and wood chips, weeded, removed blackberry bushes, and trimmed the bushes. The second graders were partnered with the high school students to complete the tasks. After they finished the work, the AOS students joined the second graders for lunch in the cafeteria.

Staff at both schools said the students enjoyed the partnership and look forward to working together again in the future.

The School Board continues to review facility needs for a possible bond proposal for next spring. The District will host a series of community meetings in October to gather input about community priorities, which will help the Board develop a final bond proposal for next May

A proposal could include:

• Projects to upgrade existing schools for instructional programs
  Safety and security projects
• Maintenance projects to protect the community’s investments in school buildings
• New elementary schools to relieve overcrowding and manage growth
• Reconstruction of buildings that need large-scale repair and renovation

Please join us and share your input. All meetings are planned for 6-7:30 p.m.

• Oct. 5: Timber Ridge
• Oct. 12: Oak Grove Elementary
• Oct. 20: West Albany High School
• Oct. 26: South Albany High School

Saturday, Sept. 24, was the open house for the new cafeteria at South Albany High School. It was a chance for community members to see the beautiful new learning space for students.

It was also a chance to recognize and thank community members who contributed more than $212,000 to the Albany Public Schools Foundation to support furniture, equipment and facilities that were not part of the rebuild budget.

Student leaders gave tours of the building, and SAHS staff were on hand to talk about culinary arts, consumer science and music programs. The SAHS band and the new Rebel Nation a capella choir performed.