Classes to start today

The Albany Independent School District 2018-2019 school year began today, Aug. 16, with classes starting at 7:55 a.m. on both campuses.

As of press time, administrators were not ready to forecast enrollment numbers.

“We don’t have numbers yet, because our high school students are still picking up schedules,” said interim superintendent Doyleen Terrell.

Nancy Smith Elementary had 272 students registered by Monday, compared with 279 at the same time last year.

Classes at both NSES and the secondary campus will begin at 7:55 a.m. this year, the same as last year.

AJH/SH Registration

Students at Albany Junior/Senior High were still registering and picking up schedules on Monday afternoon. 

Registration for new students at AJ/SH was on Thursday, Aug. 9.

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.

Any students not yet registered need to contact the school office at 325-762-3974.

Other Information

All parents who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program are requested to register 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.

NSES Registration

Returning elementary students were able to pre-registered 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 the NSES PEIMS coordinator Lillian Wheeler, almost all of the returning students are now registered.

“We only have about three returning students that have not yet registered,” Wheeler said. “We have been in touch with their parents, and they know that they need to do so.”

The elementary campus new student registration took place on Aug. 1.

“We had quite a few new students that registered, and it went well,” said Wheeler. “We will have three classes of kindergartners again this year.

The grade school office is open on a daily basis, with hours from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. Any parent with a new student or with questions should contact NSES principal Jonathan Scott at the school by calling 762-3384.

“We typically have a couple more students register during the first few days of school,” Scott said.

The facilities are ready, and teachers were in their classrooms getting ready for the start of the year after the district breakfast earlier this week, added Wheeler.

District Breakfast

The district breakfast took place at The Feed Store on the morning of Monday, Aug. 13.

Guests at the district breakfast included representatives from First National Bank, First Financial Bank, Albany Chamber of Commerce, Albany Ministerial Alliance, and The Feed Store.

“The Albany PTO provided gifts for all, and special gifts to the new teachers,” said Terrell. “We presented five, 10, 15, 20, and 25 year pins to staff members who had earned them.”

In addition, Lillian Wheeler received a 30 year pin, according to Terrell.

“We had a good breakfast and first meeting,” said the superintendent. “We went over the school safety plan and also the standard response protocol.”

Texas statute requires school districts to have a multi-hazard emergency operations plan in place to ensure coordination with the Texas Department of State Health Services and local emergency management agencies, law enforcement, health departments, and fire departments in the event of a local emergency.

AISD chose to start classes today, Aug. 16.

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.