| Albany High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 603 Key Route Blvd. Albany, California, USA |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| School district | Albany Unified School District |
| Principal | Ted Barone |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Campus | Semi-urban |
| Color(s) | red and white[1] |
| Mascot | cougar |
| Newspaper | The Cougar |
| Website | Albany High School Official Website |
Albany High School (AHS) is a comprehensive secondary school located in Albany, California. Educating students in grades 9–12, the school has an enrollment of 1293 students. The school mascot is a cougar and the school colors are red and white. Ted Barone is the current principal.
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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; 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 successful wrestling, soccer, science, math, and music programs.
The music program at the school serves approximately 250 students and supports strong choral, orchestral, concert band, and jazz programs. Craig Bryant serves as the Director of Instrumental Music at Albany High School in Albany, CA, a position he has held since the Fall of 2007. Mr. Bryant leads a strong and visible music program that has quickly become recognized for its musical excellence throughout the Bay Area. Numerous students participate in the Jazz School Studio bands, the Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco Youth Orchestras, the CMEA and CBDA All-State Bands as well as with other area honor groups.
The instrumental music program is made up of 2 concert bands, 2 jazz bands, and a string orchestra. There are about 140 students involved in the program, with about half the jazz students also participating in one of the concert bands. Each group at the school meets 3 times per week to rehearse (50 mins. on Mondays, and 90 on T/TH or W/F.)
Many performing groups have received Superior ratings at the CMEA large ensemble festivals. The ensembles at AHS perform four main concerts a year in addition to participating in festivals and recording competitions. The groups have garnered positive attention through performances at Yoshi’s Oakland, Ashkenaz, the Freight and Salvage and other Bay Area venues.
The Albany High School Jazz Band is the top performance ensemble at the AHS. They have received top ratings and awards at the Folsom, Reno and Santa Cruz Jazz Festivals. The 2010 group performed as a featured ensemble at the 2010 California Music Education Association State Conference in Sacramento. The band was also selected as a finalist for the 2010 Next Generation Festival, presented by the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the 2010 Essentially Ellington festival, presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY.
The science team won the 1993 Department of Energy National Science Bowl competition.[2] In 2005-06, the girls varsity cross country team won the league championship and the girls softball team won the Northern California Championship over rival Piedmont High School (California). Albany's soccer program is also very strong, with the varsity boys and girls going undefeated in the winter season of 2010.
In 2011, the school Science Bowl team went to Washington D.C. for the nationals.
U.S. News & World Report, in their recent survey of public high schools, awarded Albany High with a silver medal, placing it in the top 500 in the country.
The Albany High School women's volleyball team went to the Northern California State Championships in 2011, but lost.
In 1997, Albany High School’s main building and gymnasium, both completed in 1934, were deemed to be seismically unsound. They were demolished, and construction began on a new campus. During the four years of construction, between 1997 and 2001, classes were held in portable trailers. The new school building and gymnasium opened in 2001. The front of the school, with its huge, glass facade and adjacent functionless glass tower, were considered by many to be eyesores. Some derided the structure as being “designed by committee,” without input from the community. Many in Albany consider the new school building, which resembles an airplane hangar, to be incongruous with the single-story wood and stucco homes in the surrounding neighborhood.
During the 2004-2005 school year, several security cameras were installed in the building to prevent various acts of vandalism. 2004 was also the year the school suffered overcrowding due to an overly large freshman class. The large influx of students was caused in part by an Albany Unified School District policy, which allowed students from other cities such as El Cerrito and Richmond to enter Albany schools.
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. Albany High won its 2008 Science Bowl regional competition, defeating academic rival Mission San Jose High School. Traditionally, both schools went to different regional competitions, but in 2008, due to a desire to participate in both the Otter Bowl and Science Bowl, whose regionals coincided, Albany was forced to attend MSJ's regional competition for Science Bowl. In 2009, their NOSB team did not fare as well. However they fared much better in National Science Bowl, placing 5th nationwide.
The school also hosts a well established Model United Nations program. In the 2010-2011 academic year, Albany also became home to a forensic (Speech and Debate) team. The Albany High Speech and Debate team[3] is a member of the Golden Gate Speech Association and the National Forensic League. It should be noted that both programs are established in club format: while other local schools have classes dedicated solely to Model UN and debate, Albany runs both programs as student clubs.
Albany High changed from a 7-period per day schedule to a block schedule during the 2005-2006 school year. Instead of having seven 57-minute 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 AM, excepting finals week.
The entire city of Albany is zoned to this school.[4] The University Village development, a student housing complex of the University of California Berkeley which houses families, is assigned to this school.[5]