Principal Newsletter

We are officially in Week 4, and our students are settling into the routines and rhythms of the school year beautifully! Across classrooms, lunch, break, recess, and throughout our school, students are showing that they know how to navigate their day, connect with others, and engage in their learning. We continue to see students doing well academically while also building the relationships and habits that make our school community strong.

Every Monday morning, we come together as a whole school for our weekly assembly. We take time to share acknowledgements and celebrations, cover important school business, and then finish with a quick game that gets everyone laughing and participating together. These weekly gatherings are one more way we build connection, celebrate our students, and remind ourselves that Albany Wolves run together and rise together! 🐺

If you missed it, here's the newsletter from our teachers on what's going on in their classrooms!

Please take a moment to make sure your child’s required forms in PowerSchool are completed. This includes the field trip permission slip and technology agreement. These forms are necessary for students to participate fully in school activities, including field trips and use of school computers and technology. If you are having trouble accessing or completing the forms, please reach out to Wendy in the office for help.

This week we officially launched FLEX Time, with two 20-minute blocks each day Monday through Thursday dedicated to providing students with targeted intervention or extension in math, science, ELA, and social studies. This structure helps us create tight instructional cycles around a small number of essential standards that we want every student to master by the end of the school year.

We are also using this time to support students’ social-emotional learning needs. We use student data and observations to help identify areas of need, guide instruction, and provide targeted support so students can be successful both in the classroom and throughout our school community.

We are using Securly Flex to help staff assign students to the support or extension they need. Students who do not have a specific assignment can choose an open location to receive additional help or attend Study Hall to work on homework and stay caught up with assignments.

Every student has their own planner, which should be kept in their binder. At the beginning or end of each class, teachers are asking students to record their homework and any assignments they need to finish. Often, this is classwork that was not completed during the class period. Students are welcome to bring their planners home, and we encourage families to check planners regularly to help their child stay organized and caught up. Students need to remember to bring their planners back to school each day. During Study Hall, we are also reviewing assignments with students and providing additional support with organization and getting work completed.

We are also using Securly Pass to strengthen consistency around students leaving class—for example, to visit the health office, get a drink of water, or for another approved reason. The system also allows us to record appointments and track class tardies, helping us use the same routines and expectations across classrooms and other settings. When students reach a new level of tardies, Securly automatically assigns the appropriate next step, including scheduling the consequence with the student and the adult who oversees it. These systems are helping us create clear, predictable routines across the school while supporting students in building independence and accountability. Students have a login and can see appointments as well as how many tardies they are at.

Our students have been explicitly taught our classroom expectations and what it means to have Perseverance, Accountability, Courage, and Knowledge. When a student is not meeting those expectations, the teacher first provides reminders, redirections, and opportunities to reset. The teacher and student work together to identify what is getting in the way and make a plan for the student to successfully rejoin the learning.

When a student continues to disrupt the learning of others after these supports, they may bring their work to the Planning Room and complete a reflection connected to our PACK agreements. The student then has a restorative conversation with their teacher to reflect on what happened, repair the relationship, and make a plan for returning to class successfully. The teacher and staff member will also connect with the student’s parent or caregiver so that we can work together to support the student.

Our goal is always to keep students learning while protecting the learning opportunities of everyone in the classroom. We appreciate families partnering with us by reinforcing these expectations at home and helping us support your child in finding success at school.

We are already beginning to plan for our winter activities and want families to know that two funding sources we have used in the past to help support these opportunities are not available this school year. We are committed to finding ways to continue offering these experiences for our students, which will likely include some fundraising by our school community. We are also hopeful that some Title funds may become available when they roll over in October. We will keep families updated as we learn more and determine what will be possible this year.

You may be hearing “I’ve got it!” a little more often these days. During adolescence, students are developing a stronger sense of independence and identity, and they naturally want more ownership over their choices. At the same time, the skills that help them plan, organize, manage time, and think through consequences are still developing. That means your middle schooler may genuinely want to do things independently while still needing reminders, structure, and support.

A helpful approach is to support without taking over. Instead of doing the task for them, try asking, “What’s your plan?” or “What do you think you should do first?” We want students to build the confidence and skills to say “I’ve got it” and eventually have the skills to truly do it themselves.

Please drop off donations in a bag and place it in the big red bin towards the far side of the parking lot, by the building. Thank you!

Jessica Thomas, Principal
Albany Community School
802-755-6168 | jthomas@ocsu.org