Enrollment up about 30
By Kathy Thomson
The Albany Independent School District 2019-2020 school year began today, Aug. 15, with classes starting at 7:55 a.m. on the elementary campus and five minutes later, at 8:00 a.m., for junior and senior high students.
Nancy Smith Elementary had 283 students registered as of Monday, Aug. 12, compared with 272 at the same time last year and 279 two years ago.
“All of the new students that we know of have registered,” said administrative assistant Stephanie Gleitz.
AJH/SH Registration
On Monday afternoon, Albany Junior/Senior High principal Edward Morales said that 243 were enrolled on the secondary campus, quite a few more than the 219 who attended the first day of school in 2018.
Registration for new students at AJ/SH began on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Schedules were available to be picked up anytime this week during the regular school office hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
“Packets will go out on the first day of school,” said Morales. “Once students return the signed paperwork and a $25 computer user fee they can pick up their laptops.”
Any students not yet registered need to contact the school office at 325-762-3974.
NSES Registration
The elementary campus new student registration took place on July 31, and Meet the Teacher was held this Tuesday.
Returning elementary students were able to pre-register for the new school year at the end of the last school year, but about half of the parents of those students delayed completing the new online registration process until August.
According to Gleitz, almost all of the returning students are now registered.
“We have less than 10 of our returning students whose parents have not yet completed the online registration process.” Gleitz said on Monday.
The grade school office is open on a daily basis, with hours from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Any parent with a new student or with questions should contact the school by calling 325-762-3384.
Facilities
The facilities at both campuses are ready, and teachers have been in their classrooms getting prepared for the start of the year.
“Everybody will be all set for students on Thursday,” said Gleitz earlier this week.
Morales also expects the rooms at his campus to be ready by the start of school.
“We’ve had several teachers working on their classrooms, but they still have a couple of teacher workdays,” he said on Monday. “Hopefully, they will have them all geared up to go before school starts. It’ll be blowing and going on Thursday.”
The new Melba Graham Memorial Pavilion, which is next to the tennis courts at Albany High, is also ready for student use, according to Morales.
“The metal work is all up,” said the principal. “The construction, except for a memorial plaque of some type, is completed. Two picnic tables are in place, and one more has been ordered.”
The tables were paid for by the AHS Student Council and out of the principal’s fund.
According to Morales, some of the money donated for the pavilion may be used to purchase a couple more tables and/or fans.
Other Information
All parents who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program are requested to enroll for the program every year, even if their child does not plan to use the cafeteria services.
Students are not required to eat in the cafe-teria, but all who qualify should be registered in order to provide for Title I reports.
District Breakfast
The district breakfast took place at the NSES cafeteria on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 7.
“The Parent Teachers Organization and First National Bank provided welcome gifts to the new staff members,” said superintendent Jonathan Scott. “Representatives from FNB, First Financial Bank, Albany Chamber of Commerce, Abilene Teacher Federal Credit Union, Albany Ministerial Alliance, and the Feed Store attended the meeting and provided a few ‘goodies’ to welcome the staff back.”
Years of service were recognized again this year, but rather than a pin, this year each teacher who hit a five-year milestone was given a gift card.
“We awarded each a gift card worth $25 for every fifth year of service,” said Scott. “So a teacher with 15 years of service received a $75 gift card.”
The district meeting followed the staff breakfast.
Robert Montgomery, AISD board president, took a few minutes to welcome the staff back to school, according to Scott.
“Overall, we had a very nice meeting,” said Scott. “I appreciate the partnership with our community in providing an atmosphere for fun and pleasant welcome back breakfast. Albany ISD is very grateful to have such partnerships.”
Start Date
AISD chose to start classes today, Aug. 15.
Texas law requires districts to start classes on the fourth Monday of August or later. However, many schools, like Albany, have secured “District of Innovation” status, which allows flexibility in the start date.
The earlier start date results in Christmas holidays falling in the middle of the two semesters, and allows more preparation before mandatory state required testing dates in the spring. It also enabled the local district to schedule a couple of additional holidays during the year and an earlier end to the school year next spring.
