Category Archives: News

Staff are returning to get ready for the 2017-18 school year. On Friday, new teachers joined GAPS administrators for an orientation session.

Seventy-four new teachers have joined the GAPS team in schools around the District this year, bringing the total number of teachers to 475.

The new teacher group includes 52 new teachers who are starting this fall and 22 teachers who were hired during the school year. Nineteen of these teachers are first-year teachers.

The District recently sold the bonds approved by voters for school construction projects. There was very good news: they were able to get more for the money through premium bonds, a higher cost bond for investors. For GAPS taxpayers, this means that an additional $28 million will be available for projects at no additional cost to them.

The District also qualified for $6.9 million in state matching funds that became available after other districts with higher priority for the funds failed to pass their measures. These funds will ensure that the tax rate stays at the level that was estimated prior to the election.

Planning for the projects is on a fast track. Design drawings, timelines and project details will be published this fall. We’ll publish the news as we get it.

Read the story in the Democrat-Herald.

People around the country anticipated today’s eclipse, and it didn’t disappoint. Here is a recap[ of the event.

Thank you to Albany Options teacher Tassay Gillispie and counselor Anna Harryman for the photos.

Memorial Middle School teacher Jana Swearingen and West Albany High School teacher Erik Ihde will join teachers from around the state at a statewide civics conference. The two were nominated by Representative Andy Olson to represent civics educators from his house district.

The following announcement came from the conference sponsor, the Classroom Law Project:

Congratulations on two teachers from the Greater Albany School District being named 2017-18 Civic Scholars by Representative Andy Olson for House District 15! They are Jana Swearingen, Memorial MS, and Erik Ihde, West Albany HS. Congratulations!

Every state legislator is naming two teachers from their district to be Civic Scholars. This is part of a statewide initiative to enhance high quality professional development in civic education for teachers.

With the recognition of Civic Scholar, teachers receive:

•  registration for the Civics Conference for Teachers at the State Capitol, Dec. 1, 2017. The conference will feature workshop presenters from each branch of Oregon government as well as strategies from master teachers.
•  special recognition at the conference
•  follow-up classroom assistance

We look forward to seeing Ms. Swearingen and Mr. Ihde the conference. Best wishes and, again, congratulations!

The start of the new school year is around the corner. Find information to help get ready for on the Back-to-School Resource page, including:

• Registration Dates
• School Supply List
• Start Times
• School Calendar