Transfer to Albany High from Berkeley?

Does anyone have information about attending Albany High, for a student that does not live in Albany? Is this even possible? How do you apply, and where is the information? We only saw very old information on the BPN web site, and are looking for more recent information and advice. Our daughter is in tears at the prospect of attending Berkeley High, and we want to find out about Albany. Thanks. In Berkeley, Want Albany

Priority is given to students whose parent works in Albany or who has a sibling already attending school in Albany. In the past, Albany has accepted more transfers at elementary and middle school level than in high school. Transfers are accepted only to bring classes to maximum size. Once a transfer student is in AUSD, they can continue as long as they behave. AUSD facilities were already overcrowded by about 20%, and they're now hit badly by budget cuts. Since teachers are being let go, and classes made larger anyway, it's hard to say in the shuffle where there will be any space for transfers.

Albany citizens also pay high parcel taxes that go to the schools and are desperately raising money to preserve school programs, electives, & sports. If your child gets in, I hope you volunteer time for school activities and also make a significant donation to SCHOOLCARE or the Albany Education Foundation.

The only guaranteed way to get into AHS is to move to Albany. You must show the school district a lease or deed, plus utility bills and a driver's license, with your name and Albany address. Albany apartments aren't as expensive as you might think, and there are some older condos with beautiful Bay views on Pierce Street. Albany parent

This is an important part of what keeps AUSD alive. Households are encouraged to donate $500. per child attending Albany schools. In addition to this there is the ''Albany Music Fund'' which supports the sagging but terrific music program with many years of tradition and high quality. Ditto for sports boosters. Being an AUSD family means paying high parcel tax as was mentioned above and donating money and/or time. AUSD parent

Transferring from private school to AUSD

We are considering transferring our kids from private school to the Albany school district next year. They are currently attending a small school with hardly any homework and no standardized tests. Our daughter will be going into fifth grade and our son into third grade. I would like to hear about other people's experience: what was it like academically and socially, what is your sense of the parent community, sense of safety in the school and communication with teachers. And also: what would you recommend doing in preparation for this move? Thanks. anon

Non-Albany resident attending Albany High?

It looks like my son Ben, 15, will be coming to live with me at the end of the year. He currently goes to a private school in San Jose, where he is about to begin 10th grade. I live and work in the Berkeley area. I am happy to move so that he will be in the best place in the area, but it's been years since I thought about high school. My other boy is 25 and went to Davis. Ben has no special issues and is bright and athletic. I want to put him somewhere he can thrive. I don't hear such great things about Berkeley High. What about Albany etc? Thanks, single parent again. Nick

We moved to Albany before we had children, and now have one child in high school and one in middle school. Both schools are HORRIBLY crowded, even though both facilities are practically new. The teachers are pleased to teach kids whose parents care about education (a high proportion of Albany parents have college degrees, especially the foreign families in University Village).

If you want to send your kid to Albany, please be prepared to support Albany schools the way Albany parents are asked to do: a total of $1000 per child is recommended by fundraising groups, of which SCHOOLCARE is the largest. Albany has to raise money to pay for school counselors, librarians, lunchtime supervision, electives, music, and after-school sports. Without this money, and without the dedicated parent volunteers, Albany would not be a good educational experience at all.

Transfer policies for middle school & high school

I attended a PTA meeting at AHS on May 2 for a presentation by the school board and the school superintendant. Among other interesting things they said, was that the school district's policy is NOT to take transfer students in middle school or high school (except, perhaps, to replace other transfer students who leave). They do accept new students at those levels who live in (have moved to) Albany. However, they DO accept transfers at the elementary level-- and then, once you're in, you stay in all the way, unless the student becomes an attendance problem. Warning: practically every school in Albany is overcrowded, and the latest estimate is that over 40% of all new K-1 students are English language learners. It's not clear if there's funding for ESL teachers. concerned

Transferring to Albany High from Berkeley High

I would like information about Albany High School in the 10th - 12th grades. My son finished ninth grade at Berkeley High with very poor academic results. He cut a lot of classes, didn't do his homework and generally has a very cavalier attitude about school. I have the possibility of sending him to Albany High School. I'd like to know if the school climate is more personal and if the school keeps closer track of students? I'd also like to know what the social atmosphere of the school is like? Sherry

This year is a very good time for the AHS community because the teachers and the District have reached a tentative agreement which we hope will resolve the labor dispute, and the new high school will open in September.

Around 95% of Albany graduates go on to a two or four year college. The class work is academically challenging for most kids beginning in the 10th grade. However it is small enough that most kids can find some type of extra curricular activity in which they can become involved...music, theater, athlectics, journalism or a myriad of clubs. Most kids know all their classmates (about 240 per grade level) and some have know each other since kindergarten. I would like to say that it depends for the most part on the individual student whether they can find a place in the social life of the school.

The size makes it very hard for a student to fall through the cracks academically. There are 3 counselors for about 900 students, quite a great ratio. The current administration is young, energetic and student centered.

Is it a perfect place?,,,of course not. Some kids don't find the hook they need to plug into the school, not all classes work for all students, the size also limits the breadth of academic choices that a large school offers, sometimes kids feel it is too small. Also it is not always easy to be admitted as space is limited.

I would recommend you call the school office and ask to speak with the principal to see if there is an opportunity for your son this year. It is certainly worth looking at alternatives if another school is not working for your particular child. Sandy

Albany HS has less than 1000 students. This means that the average teacher who sees about 150 students per year (5 classes of 30 each) will know between 300 and 500 of the students at any given time, depending on the grades taught. If a teacher notices a student doing something antisocial or having any kind of trouble the teacher is likely to know the student and to report it to a counselor or administrator or to intervene in some other way. This means it is very hard for kids at AHS to get away with bad behavior. In general, I'm a proponent of positive reinforcement for good behavior as the major method of helping students learn to behave; but negative response to bad behavior is also critical. The big problem at BHS is that any given teacher will know a much smaller percentage of students and thus is unlikely to be able to respond effectively to bad behavior.

Students who are unresponsive to the teachers at BHS and who do poorly as a result are probably not getting sufficient feedback from teachers who they know and respect. At AHS they are more likely to hear from people who know them and see them acting badly. It's really hard to cut classes at AHS without being noticed. When you can cut and don't get any consequences as can happen at BHS, then you're likely to continue that behavior since it is easier and presumably appears to be more fun. I'd strongly recommend AHS for the student mentioned. The teachers and the curriculum are approximately equivalent to BHS but the adult supervision is superior because of the small school size. Steve