The Albany City School District has closed schools for unused snow days. Please note the change to our calendar to reflect that there will be no school on Thursday 5/27, Friday 5/28, and Monday 5/31.

Staff will be in conference on Thursday.

Come join us for the upcoming Spring Carnival, Saturday May 15th

3-5pm at the Free School!

 The Spring Carnival is a chance for families and neighbors to come together for kid focused activities, information tables about local summer camps, and an art show of amazing creations from Free School students. Arts, crafts, cookie decorating station, trapeeze, face paint, projects, and more! Fun, fanfare, and refreshments, not to mention a great way to meet new people in the neighborhood! Spread the word!

**** This event will also highlight the opportunity to re-register for the 2010-2011 school year. All students presently enrolled are expected to be re-registered before June 1st so that we can process all paperwork in a timely fashion. In addition to updating paperwork for the 2010-2011 school year, we must also have all updates for changes of address and contact information. Tuition forms will be mailed home with your June invoice and are expected to be returned with your June payment for processing. Please come and re-register at the Spring carnival, although limited appointments for re-registering can also be made at the discretion of the Registrar, Megan.******

We are celebrating many things this year and Earth Day's 40th Anniversary is no exception. Please support us in celebrating our Earth this Thursday, April 22nd with a neighborhood clean-up in the morning followed by lunch in the Wilbur Street/Grand Street corner park (often called People's Park). After lunch, we will have a discussion and activities about Earth Day.

If you have lawn bags,work gloves, rakes, or garbage bags to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated! Hope to see you there!

Reminder that there is No School Friday, April 2 - April 11th for Spring Break.

Classes will resume Monday, April 12th

We are sorry to announce that the Parent Forum, scheduled for this Thursday, February 11th, has been cancelled. Please join us for our next sheduled Parents' Forum on Wednesday, May 12th. We look forward to seeing yout all then!

The coldest part of winter has set in and it won't be long before this relatively snowless winter gives up some serious snow! Kids are eager to sled and play in that wintery whiteness and take on the challenge of Dead Man's Hill at Lincoln Park.

Until then, it's important that you all know some of the upcoming things happening at school this month.

SPIRIT WEEK - February 1st - 5th

Ya got spirit? What?

That's right, the interns have some crazy spirit they want to shake out of us all at school and what better time then NOW! This week is jammed packed with fun activities, like Pajama Day, Crazy Hair Day, and more. Need more information, be sure to grab Mia or Leonora for more questions!

Mid-Winter Break - SCHOOL NOT IN SESSION February 15 - 19th

Sweet Buns Cafe

Come on out Saturday February 6th for Sweet Buns...We Do Salty Too! OPen 8.30 - 11.30am at school, get your pastry on with Deirdre and Caroline for our ongoing efforts to help raise money for the Free School Kitchen Program and USCRI.  Enjoy amazing food while the kids play on the jungle gym and cozy up on a cold winter's morning for coffee, tea, great conversation, and the best breakfast specials this side of the Mississippi!

Some General School Announcements

Be sure to get a hard copy of our November Newsletter or check out the PDF right here on our website.  There are lots of school updates and announcements, such as some of the following upcoming things to note:

SWEET BUNS CAFE...we do salty too!

That's right, the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, Deirdre and Caroline feature their specialty baked goods and treats right here at the Free School. From 8.30 - 11.30am, come sample our pumpkin bread, muffins, danish, croissants, eclairs and cream puffs, quiche, frittatas, pound cakes and of course or signature sweet buns.  We also offer Saturday Specials and egg sandwiches to order. Vegan and Gluten options are often available (and if this is a need, please feel free to contact us in advance so we can assure options).  Coffee, tea, and juice finish off what promises to be a friendly and scrumptious morning treat.

Proceeds benefit the Free School Kitchen Program and the Capital District Refugee Center, a local organization devoted to assisting individuals and families starting anew in our communities! 

Our Winter Schedule is as follows --

November 21st

December 5th & 19th

January 23rd

 Questions???? Contact Deirdre or Caroline 434-3072 

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY BREAK --

NO SCHOOL Wed. 11/25 - Fri. 11/27

School resumes Monday 11/30

Grafton Trips

We will not be in Session on Tuesday, November 3rd. Staff will be in conference for Staff Development.

On Friday, October 30th, we will go apple picking at Samascott Orchards for the morning. With all of the excitement about Halloween, we love to get out of the building and enjoy all that NY has to offer in the fall. Please send in your child with $2 gas money for this trip. We will be back at lunch.

Apples will be used inthe kitchen, for projects, and will also go towards the Parents' Construction Fund's Annual Pie Sale that will happen in November. Keep an eye out for the flyer announcing the dates of the sale!

That's right, the Annual Halloween Parade is this Friday, October 30th starting at 1.30pm. Students, Staff, and Friends will walk the neighborhood to Trick or Treat all decked out in our scariest or most creative costumes. Please consider coming after lunch (anytime after 12.45pm) to help kids put on costumes and, of course, apply face paint. Artists are encouraged as no child deserves the face paint that some of us teachers sadly apply, although there are a few shining stars among us :)

Following the 1.30 Parade, we will return to school for the Halloween Monster Mash, our dance party extravaganza with indulgences in recently acquired candy and of course some savory or healthful snacks. We love donations of pretzels, chips, or fruit to help buffer the sugar side effects and all donations can be delivered to the kitchen on Friday.

Remember Parents and Guardians, children must bring their costumes in a bag and may not put on their costumes before lunch ends. Also, Halloween is our exception for candy and snacks, but students may not bring in candy or snacks on Monday.

The Downstairs came back yesterday from our Annual (or not-so-annual) overnight to Rainbow Camp. We had an amazing time and chilly but good weather! We found salamanders, visited the Dinosaur Rock, too a no-flashlight Moonlight walk around Lake Elizabeth, played hours of Manhunt, ate smores by the campfire, and stayed up telling some of our favorite stories of all time. it was an amazing trip and we can't wait to go back!!!

There are some important events coming up. We will be distributing our first monthly Newsletter this week. be sure to grab a copy at school or access it as a pdf here on the website. Although we do not yet have a day set up for the Upstairs kids to swim, swimming is on Friday afternoons for Downstairs kids. Please be sure to send in your swimmer(s) with a quarter, a bathing suit, and a towel. We will swim until winter.

NO SCHOOL MONDAY, OCT. 12th: Indigenous People's Day

PARENTS' FORUM Wednesday, October 14th 6-8pm

Hoping that everyone is well and enjoying the sudden cool air drifting into Albay as autumn settles in.  It is the time of year that we start to explore and get out of Albany before the winter snow hits.

 Although notes will go home regarding these announcements, we are tying to encourage people to utilize this website for information, updates, and announcements.  New technology will allow us to more easily e-mail flyers home, regular blog posts will be updated, and newsletters will start to be distributed the first week of each month starting in October.

Yom Kippur -- No School

In observance of Yom Kippur, The Free School (and all Albany City Schools) will be closed on Monday, September 28th.

Grafton

Ok, so we manage to fill up every classroom we use to the brim and kids are getting used to sitting on tabletops! So what if we take up three lunch tables? Who's looking at the sign-up list after all 19 of our names take up the entire chalkboard anyway? This year's 1st-2nd-3rd Grade class is a big, boisterous, sweet group of kids who have taken the Downstairs by storm. Suprisingly, this adorable groups of kids is not all that loud and although energetic seems to navigate the Downstairs with grace considering their numbers. Just wait until we go bowling tromorrow!!!!