Albany High School (Albany, California)

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For other schools of a similar name, see Albany High School.

Albany High School is a comprehensive secondary school located in Albany, California (near Berkeley, California). Educating students in grades 9–12, the school has an enrollment of 1200 students and a diverse student body. The school mascot is a cougar and the school colors are red and white. Ronald Rosenbaum has been the school principal since the 2004-2005 school year.

[edit] Achievements

In 2001, Albany was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for the maximum term of six years. Albany has one of the highest standardized test scores in the state of California. For 2005, the average SAT I reasoning verbal score was 566 and average math score was 616. 95% of the class of 2005 passed the California High School Exit Exam.

The school is well known for its wrestling and volleyball, as well as science and math teams. The former won the 1993 national Department of Energy science bowl competition.^{[citation needed]} In 2005-06, both Albany's girls varsity cross country team and their softball team won league championship over rival Piedmont High School and tied with Alameda High School.^{[citation needed]}

As part of the Albany Unified School District, Albany High School can claim credit for the high and rising property value in the city of Albany.^{[citation needed]} Citizens generally agree that the high demand stems mostly from incoming families seeking strong educational opportunities for their children, for which Albany has earned a reputation.

[edit] Recent events

Albany High School's new building.

In 1997, the old main building and gymnasium, WPA structures which opened in 1934, were torn down for either earthquake or asbestos safety issues, discovering the other in the process.^{[citation needed]} A full four school years of portables later, a new three story building opened in 2001, just in time for the incoming freshmen. Oddly enough, the "trailer park" era held some architectural advantages over its predecessor and successor structures, most notably with its broad, expansive open air decks, which brought a positive centralizing and social mixing aspect to the campus. The new building's design efforts - characterized by critics as "design by committee" - resulted in a large but functionless glass tower next to the main entrance, and an external appearance of an airplane hangar. The whole building, as well as the tiled floor, is trimmed with red and white, representing the school colors.

During the 2004-2005 school year, several security cameras were installed in the building to prevent various acts of vandalism, mainly prank pulling of fire alarms.^{[citation needed]} 2004 was also the year the school suffered overcrowding due to an overly large freshmen class, which caused great traffic jam on the main building's two staircases. The large influx of students was caused in part by an Albany Unified School District policy allowing students from other cities such as El Cerrito and Richmond to enter Albany schools.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Academics

Albany participates in many local competitions, including NAQT, NOSB's Otter Bowl (which they won in 2006 and took fourth nationwide), and the National Science Bowl in which they also took fourth place nationwide.

[edit] Block schedule

Albany High changed from a 7 periods per day schedule to a block schedule during the 2005-2006 school year. Instead of having seven 57min periods per day, the new block schedule consists of two blocks, A and B. Block A, Tuesday and Thursday, have 95 min periods for periods 1, 3, 5, and 7. Block B, Wednesday and Friday, have 95 min periods for periods 2, 4, and 6 with an added 40 minute Advisory period between 2nd and 4th period. On Monday, all classes meet for 52 mins. The first class always begins at 7:40.

Reaction to the block schedule has been positive so far. Students, especially those without a 7th period, appreciate the earlier release times (school ends for them at 12:45 twice a week). Teachers appreciate the longer periods because of more time to teach and engage students in educational activities. However, not everyone is pleased. Some students complain that some teachers are not prepared to teach within the extended timeframe and that their classes are dull.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Substance abuse issues

A survey conducted by the Albany Schools Drug and Alcohol Task Force on the students of Albany High concluded some interesting results. 9.6% of Albany High students are frequent users of alcohol and 8.5% are frequent users of marijuana. Alarmingly, 11.7% of the students do not care at all about the short and long term health problems of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.^{[citation needed]} The fact that about 20% of the students reported using marijuana in the past six months, and about 20% of the students reported using alcohol in the past six months, has been erroneously stated as "More than forty percent of the student body has experimented with alcohol and marijuana." However, the survey provided no way to tell how much overlap there was between the groups.

During Homecoming Week 2005, students at Albany High caused a commotion by having Wild Child day, which many interpreted as "Pimps and Hoes" day. A few residents filed police reports. The Homecoming Dance was a disaster that ended up with two students being treated for excessive alcohol consumption.^{[citation needed]} To ensure more sobriety at dances, the school administration resolved to use breathalysers on students entering future school dances. An earlier attempt at introducing breathalyser tests failed because of a threat by a parent promising to sue for invasion of student privacy. This time, the idea of using breathalysers faced little opposition. The Albany Parent Teacher Association, The Albany Leadership Class and numerous reporters for the school paper, The Cougar, support the use of breathalysers.^{[citation needed]}

During Winter Ball 2006, the breathalysers were used for the first time with success. None of the students showed up drunk, and no incidents of drinking during the dance were officially reported. Although there was an appearance of a streaker at the dance, there appears to be no alcohol connection. Students, parents, and faculty were pleased with the results. Breathalysers (and a "no in-and-out policy") have become standard procedure for dances at Albany High.

Albany High was in the local Bay Area spotlight once again on 2/10/2006, when a murder took place in the house of an Albany High senior and sophomore, located in North Berkeley. The senior threw a house party while the parents were away, and numerous guests started to arrive. A dispute of unknown reasons erupted, resulting in one death (a former Albany student) and three wounded by knife violence. As of March 2006, the incident is still under investigation.^{[citation needed]}

In response to these incidents and previously unfulfilled state requirements, a health class is mandatory for all freshmen entering Albany High starting the school year of 2006-2007. The health class aims to educate students about alcohol safety, sexual education, nutrition, and other health related issues not normally taught in the school curriculum.

[edit] See also

• Albany Middle School
• Albany Unified School District

[edit] External links

• Albany High School website
• Albany High Newspaper - The Cougar
• Albany High School Alumni website
• Albany High School baseball team website
• Albany Unified School District website
• Albany Volleyball website
• Albany Video Production Website
• CBS news report on student drinking at Albany High
• insidebayarea news report on 2/10/06 stabbing