Albany High School

I love Albany High and I thank it's a great school despite of public keeping their eyes target on the negative situations regarding the school. My granddaughter is a junior and a good student who has been confronted by some rude students who tease and taunt her for last two years. I was very involved with the school about the situation and was not pleased on how they handled it. I hope with the new principal will find a better system to handle that the bullying, teasing and taunting of students who are trying to do the right thing to better themselves for a higher education. The positive regarding my granddaughter is that the teachers has been terrific in seeing that my granddaughter receive anything that she needs to obtain the best education that she can obtain according to her abilities.
--Submitted by a parent

Albany High gets so much bad press, but truly is excellent school. So much for children to learn and excel with to achieve great career building skills. Great staff and kids!
--Submitted by a parent

Albany High can be a great school academically, depending upon how involved you are willing to be in your child's education. If your student is a below average performer, it is easy to slip through the cracks unless he/she has strong parent or guardian advocacy at home. If a student's family places importance, value and the need to work hard on education and backs that up with active support, such as lining up tutors, if necessary, then Albany High will serve them well. Albany High has world class programs for the serious student and sports/activities to involve just about every type of student. It is culturally and racially diverse and not clique'y.' It has a lot to offer if a student is willing to get involved. But the student has to take the initiative. No one is going to seek them out or hold them by the hand.
--Submitted by a parent

albany is a good school..if you send your child then they have to have to be able not to follow the crowd and know that they dont have to be like everyone else..but thats any school..the classes and teachers are all good there and they offer claases and programs that other schools dont have.
--Submitted by a student

I'm a former student of Albany High School. In my opinion, it is too difficult to rate this school because of the conflict between it's invaluable and incomparable attributes, and its incredible mismanagement. Several of the things already discussed on this forum I whole heartedly believe. For instance, any middle-class college bound student (regardless of race) can excel towards their full potential more so at this school than at any other. As a white middle class girl currently attending Syracuse University, a campus with one of the highest de facto segregation instances, I now fully appreciate the lessons I learned outside the classroom: multiculturalism, respect, open-mindedness, and disregard for pettiness or superficiality. The socio-economic problems that plague the Albany community can, I believe, be alleviated by appropriate administration and programming that target the bottom and middle-tier students, instead of simply boosting the top.
--Submitted by a student

Albany High has a lot to offer. It has the highest number of AP classes of any school in the Capital Region and the IB program, which is only available in a handful of schools in country. There are also a lot of support services for kids with learning needs. I really don't think the whole race/socio-economic issue makes sense. The great school supports are there for ALL kids! My biggest issue is hearing about kids who bring street issues (turf wars, fights) into school. My only wish is that they could develop some alternative programs for students who are intent on fighting, so that the rest of the kids could focus on getting a good education.
--Submitted by a parent

To be fair AHS probably deserves 4 stars for most middle class college bound kids from 2 parent households who have no special needs. This is true for kids from all ethnic backgrounds, including blacks, Hispanics, etc. Unfortunately this accounts for only about 20% of the student population. For the rest of the student population it gets 0 starts. Fortunately there are plenty of high quality nearby alternatives including reasonably priced private schools and charter schools right in Albany, and excellent schools in nearby suburban districts.
--Submitted by a parent

Albany High gets a bad rep because of a few roudy kids. If you overlook the few incidents which have been highly publicized recently you are left with a fantastic school. There is no school like it in the area. They don't nearly match the ap, ibo or vocational opportunites this school offers. Not to mention the countless extracurriculars offered.

i love this school is fun and it has a good education
--Submitted by a student

Even though albany is known for its tough and rough crowd, it is a really great school. I graduated from albany in 2003 and i'm currently preparing to become a teacher, and i would love to teach at the high school. There are great programs for those student who are willing to work hard in the honors, ap and ibo program as well as great programs for those students who wish to do a vocational track. There are wonderful teachers at the high school who will go out of their way to make sure that you are doing waht you are supposed to. The theater and music departments are wonderful! there are a number of sports that students can partcipate in as well as clubs and other organizations. The level of parent involvement could be a bit more, but there is a cohort of parents that are really involved!
--Submitted by a former student