Albany Middle School (old reviews)
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Albany Middle School
Sept 1999
A few people asked me why I considered taking my son out of AMS.
Besides
the proximity to our home, BHMS has a MESA program this year. Also, we
were never satisfied with Albany schools in the first place. Pehaps if
your child is an over-acheiver, they're fine, but for us and many others I
know, if your child has special needs, is low-income, or--dare I say it--of
color, then it's another story. We had problems at Marin School (my son's
hats were stolen, but I was told he probably lost them--only when I
demanded that something be done, did the principal respond and his hats
were returned without punishment to the theif; a teacher called my son lazy
to his face, and refused to request testing for his learning disablilities)
I know other parents (Chicano, like us or Black, all UCB students) who took
their kids out of Albany schools because their needs were not met, and they
felt some discrimination. Another UCB student recently requested an
application for the free lunch program but was told that there was none
because there were no poor people in Albany!
Finally, I decided against AMS because of the resource specialist
at AMS. I found her to be usnsupportive, judgemental and discouraging.
My son's IEP was not thouroughly followed (he didn't get an in-class aid, or
have daily access to a computer, etc). When he progressed slowly, she
blamed him for not trying hard enough, me for not working with him
(although she never asked what I was doing), and his teacher for being too
easy. When we told her that my son wanted to take Spanish in the 7th grade and
she gave us a horrified look and said "What a terrible idea!" I told her
his teacher thought it would be fine, but she said he would never be able
to do it, speaking as if he wasn't in the room! By the time left, he was
so discouraged, he said, "I might as well give up if she thinks I'm so
stupid." His attitude chanded when he excelled in the MESA Summer Academy,
learning 3rd year college Mechanical Engingeering concepts and physics.
At Bret Harte, his councilor signed him up for Algebra and Spanish, first
thing. I didn't realize I'm still hurt by this!
March 1999
I have a 12 yr old son at Albany Middle School. We just moved into
the area from NJ 3 mos ago. Has anybody had experience or opinions on
the 8th grade curriculum, especially re: students only required to
have 1 semester of science? In NJ a full year of science is a core
requirement for all middle school kids. I also hear there is a mtg on
3/24 with the curriculum director re:8th grade. How does one provide
the necessary exposure/experiences in the sciences when the public
school is so limiting?
Both of my children took full year science at Albany Middle
School. It is my understanding that all students who desire to take a
full year of science are now able to do so. This was made possible by
a dedicated group of parents back in 1996(?) who petitioned the school
board to make funding available for this. It used to be that only 2
classes (60 students) were able to sign up for 2 semesters of science
and they had to line up on the first day of registration and hope they
were one of the first 60 students to select full year science! I
would highly recommend the full year science at AMS not just because
it is educationally sound but also because Ms. Sorg is an
inspirational teacher who has that rare ability to really excite 13/14
year olds about science. To this day, my high schoolers contend that
it was the best science class they have ever had.
As for providing the necessary exposure/experiences? Be prepared
to supplement your childs science classes in high school and push (the
counselors and your child) to take higher level classes as soon as he
can. The regular route through mainstream Albany High science classes
(Bio-Physical Sciences (freshman), Biology (sophomore), Chemistry
(junior)) may be quite boring after a year of Ms. Sorg in the 8th
grade!
Ruth
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