NSES registration set
Albany schools will start the first six weeks of the fall semester in five weeks, and it’s time for parents and school staff members to begin preparations for the upcoming school year, making sure that children are properly enrolled, and the school is ready for the starting day of the fall semester.
Classes at the Albany Independent School District will begin on Thursday, Aug. 16, one day earlier than last year.
Teachers will officially start their school year the prior week, with comp days on Thursday, Aug. 9 and Friday, Aug. 10. The annual staff breakfast will take place on Monday, Aug. 13, a staff development day. Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 14-15, are designated as teacher work days.
NSES Registration
Parents of all new students should make plans to register their children at the Nancy Smith School office between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 1, while parents of returning elementary students should have already enrolled their children using the new online system available at reg.albanyisd.net.
“Like anything new, it takes a while to catch on,” said NSES principal Jonathan Scott. “I’ve heard that about 50 percent of our parents have already completed the online enrollment process.”
Parents of new enrollees should bring the child’s birth certificate, immunization records, and social security card, as well a parent’s drivers license and proof of residence with them to the office when they register.
“A utility bill, showing the parent or guardian’s name and address, can be used for proof of residence,” Scott said.
The Aug. 1 registration at Nancy Smith Elementary School is just for students new to the district and students that still need to enroll in either pre-kindergarten or Head Start, according Scott.
Head Start and Pre-K
Scott confirmed that there are still openings in both the Head Start and pre-kindergarten classes. Parents of children who did not qualify for Head Start should check with the school office to see if the child might qualify for pre-kindergarten.
Students who will be four years of age prior to Sept. 1 have priority over younger students if space is limited.
“Students do have to qualify,” said Scott. “But there are several qualifications that can get students in the class.”
Parents enrolling students in either pre-K or Head Start need to provide proof of income.
Criteria for the programs include any one or more of the following qualifiers: eligible for free or reduced lunch program, having a parent that is on active duty in the military or who was injured or killed during military service, homeless children, students unable to speak and comprehend English, children in CPS, and children of a Star of Texas award recipient.
The Star of Texas award is given to peace officers, firefighters, and emergency first responders who are killed or suffer serious injury in the line of duty, and to citizens who were seriously injured or killed while assisting Texas first responders.
Meet the Teacher
A “Meet the Teacher” event is tentatively planned for Tuesday, Aug. 14 at the elementary school.
“I haven’t yet had a chance to sit down and go over dates with our interim superintendent, Doyleen Terrell and principal (Edward) Morales from the secondary campus, so the date may change,” said Scott.
Pre-K through second grade teachers plan to meet with parents from 5:00-5:30 p.m. while third through sixth grade teachers will be available from 5:30-6:00 p.m. on Meet the Teacher night.
Morales said that a similar event, primarily aimed at incoming seventh graders and students new to the campus, is tentatively planned for 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
“We try to have ours on the same day, just at a slightly different time, so that any parents with children at both schools can make both events,” Morales said.
A list of student classroom assignments at NSES will be posted at the event, although most teachers will have notified the parents before that night.
School supply lists for elementary students are available and are posted online at the NSES website. They will also be placed in The Albany News, and posted in various stores in town.
School Start Time
Scott reminded parents and students that the class day at NSES will start at 7:55 a.m.
“Our elementary school start time is 7:50 a.m. for the first bell, and 7:55 a.m. for the tardy bell,” Scott said. “This is the same as last year.”
Morales said that junior high and high school students will also start classes at 7:55 a.m. again this year.
Facility Projects
The typical maintenance of the school buildings including carpet cleaning and floor waxing is underway at both campuses in preparation for the upcoming school year, and some painting is also underway at the secondary campus.
The twice-a-year gym floor refinishing project is scheduled to start this week, and the process should be completed by next Wednesday.
“We are stripping the old carpet out of four of the fifth and sixth grade classrooms,” added Scott. “We looked at various options, and decided to stain the concrete rather than replace the carpet in those rooms.”
Faculty
Scott said that four new teachers will be at the elementary school this year, and he is still in the process of trying to hire a new para-professional.
New teachers at NSES in 2018 will be Logan Kinder (pre-K), Savannah Mayberry (first grade), Teri Antilley (fifth grade), and Sarah Moore (sixth grade).
Para-professional Jennifer Bowman has switched locations from NSES to the secondary campus.
Lindsey Vaughn will teach junior high science and sponsor the varsity cheerleaders, according to Morales. He added that Kenzie Fairchild will oversee the junior high cheerleaders.
Morgan Whitley is the new secretary to the superintendent, and Doyleen Terrell will serve as interim superintendent.
Secondary Plans
Registration at Albany High and Junior High School will start on Monday Aug. 13, according to Morales.
“Most of our students are already registered for classes, they just need to pick up their schedules, and they always have to fill out some paperwork,” the principal said. “Once they have filled out all their forms, and turned them back in, we can start issuing them their laptops.”
Changes at the secondary campus this year will include a couple of new classes, and increased student access to dual credit classes.
“We’ll have some drone classes this year,” Morales said. “By the end of the class, the students should be able to qualify to take the test to get their commercial drone pilot’s license. Another new option this year will be a photography course.”
The principal added that dual credit options will remain the same, but junior class members will now be able to take some of those classes, opening up additional options for them the following year.
Numbers
Both principals are expecting registration numbers to end up similar to last year.
“We graduated a large senior class of 46 students, and the incoming seventh grade class only has 30 something in it,” Morales said. “But I have heard rumors that some students have moved into the area. If that is true, our numbers should end up about the same.”
Summer School
Summer school student numbers were up this year, according to Scott.
“We had three teachers, and one of the larger summer schools we have had,” said Scott. “We not only had students that needed to make up for absences, and retake tests, we also did some intervention with students that we thought would benefit from some additional instruction.”
Test results for the fifth graders required to retake the STAAR test were not available as of press time, however, according to Scott, everyone met attendance and grade requirements.
