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Information AboutAlbany High School, California |
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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 Color s are red and white. Ronald Rosenbaum has been the school principal since the 2004-2005 school year. ACHIEVEMENTS In 2001 , Albany was accredited by the Western Association of School 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 and the latter is almost always undefeated in Bay Area math competitions. In 2005, Albany's girls varsity cross country team won league championship over rival Piedmont High School and tied with Alameda High School . 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. Citizens generally agree that the high demand stems mostly from incoming familys seeking strong educational opportunities for their children, for which Albany has earned a reputation. RECENT EVENTS In October 1998 , a former Albany High School female student won a $685,000 verdict in a Lawsuit against an ex-boyfriend who allegedly treated her violently at the school chool, and against the Albany Unified School District and superintendent responsible for the school. {Link without Title} In 1997, the old campus, which opened in 1934 , was torn down for either earthquake or aesbestoes safety issues, discovering the other in the process. 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 predessor 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 resulted in a large but functionless glass tower next to the main entrance, and an external appearance of an airplane hanger. The whole building, as well as the tiled floor, is trimmed with red and white. 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. 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 a Albany Unified School District policy allowing students from other cities such as El Cerrito and Richmond to enter Albany schools. These out-of-district students attend Albany schools without paying the expensive parcel taxes that ordinary Albany citizens have to pay. Many citizens of Albany believe out-of-district students are taking educational resources away from Albany schools, since the out-of-districts do not have to bear the financial burden of providing a quality education. 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 55min 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. First period 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). 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. 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 . Most alarmingly, 11.7% of the students do not care at all about the short and long term health problems of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. During Homecoming Week 2005, Albany High caused a commotion by having a "Pimps and Hoes" day, which was officially called Wild Child Day to evade the school's administration. A few residents filed reports of prostitutes and pimps "overrunning" the school. The Homecoming Dance was a disaster that ended up having 2 students treated for alcohol poisoning. To ensure safer dances, the school administration resolved to use Breathalyser s 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. During Winter Ball 2006, the breathalysers were used for the first time with success. None of the students showed up drunk and there was no wide spread of drinking during the dance, except an appearance of a streaker. Students, parents, and faculty were pleased with the results. Breathalysers may become standard procedure for all future dances at Albany High. Albany High was in the local Bay Area spotlight once again during 2/10/2006, when a murder took place in the house of an Albany High student. The student threw a house party while the parents were away, and numerous guests, including people from other high schools, started to arrive. A dispute of unknown reasons erupted between the teenagers, resulting in one death and three wounded by knife violence. As of March 2006, the incident is still under investigation. In response to these incidents, a health class will be mandatory for all freshmens entering Albany High next year. 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. EXTERNAL LINKS
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