News

AOS Hosts Successful Annual Open House

Albany Options School successfully hosted another annual Fall Open House for our students and their families on Tuesday, October 27th.

Mrs. Harryman’s Family and Consumer Sciences Class prepared a dinner for the families that consisted of  meat chili, tortilla soup, corn bread, vegetables, and an assortment of cookies.

Students in the class also decorated the cafeteria and volunteered for the evening to serve the food and clean up afterwards.

The staff was overjoyed at how many students and families joined us that evening. There were so many present that the cafeteria ran out of room , resulting in families enjoying their dinner on the picnic benches out front.

Partnerships from the community were also present in the library to share local resources and opportunities for our students and families.

After the dinner, families had the opportunities to meet with the teachers to discuss their student’s classes and successes.

AOS Biology Students Participate in Stream Studies

Both of Mrs. Gillispie’s Biology classes have been testing the water quality of Periwinkle Creek near Mega Foods.

This fall both classes will be monitoring this small section of Periwinkle Creek to see what kind of water exists in the heart of Albany. Some of the tests that are being performed are pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and temperature.

All of these qualities work together to allow different species to successfully exist in the water system.

Recently Mrs. Gillispie partnered with a non- profit organization called Blue Ocean Project. This group focuses on the cleanliness of water around Oregon. One of their employees is focusing on this very section of Periwinkle Creek, due to its poor conditions.

Over the course of the year the class hopes to take multiple readings of the water, clean up the stream, and help this section of Periwinkle to not only be healthier, but to grow and sustain aquatic life.

Stay tuned for tree planting and river clean up opportunities.

Albany Options horticulture visited South Shore Elementary School this week, where they partnered up with a second-grade class to do some landscaping projects around the school.

Students spread mulch and wood chips, weeded, removed blackberry bushes, and trimmed the bushes. The second graders were partnered with the high school students to complete the tasks. After they finished the work, the AOS students joined the second graders for lunch in the cafeteria.

Staff at both schools said the students enjoyed the partnership and look forward to working together again in the future.

The School Board continues to review facility needs for a possible bond proposal for next spring. The District will host a series of community meetings in October to gather input about community priorities, which will help the Board develop a final bond proposal for next May

A proposal could include:

• Projects to upgrade existing schools for instructional programs
  Safety and security projects
• Maintenance projects to protect the community’s investments in school buildings
• New elementary schools to relieve overcrowding and manage growth
• Reconstruction of buildings that need large-scale repair and renovation

Please join us and share your input. All meetings are planned for 6-7:30 p.m.

• Oct. 5: Timber Ridge
• Oct. 12: Oak Grove Elementary
• Oct. 20: West Albany High School
• Oct. 26: South Albany High School

GAPS submitted water samples for lead testing at all schools and facilities this summer. The labs are returning results as fast as possible but have high demand from school districts around the state.

We are repairing and then retesting all fixtures with elevated lead levels. Any fixture with tests showing elevated lead levels will be kept out of service until tests show that they no longer exceed allowable lead levels set by the EPA.

Read the latest update about water tests for each school.