It’s been nearly a year since the Nest held an interview with Dr. David McCalla and Mr. Stan Harper regarding a 7.5 million dollar grant.  Now, Albany High School welcomes a new principal that was happy to spend a half hour answering questions for The Nest.

Ms. Wilson, a student from both Princeton and New York University has accomplished a lot in her life, including attending Albany High. Never in a million years did she expect to be the head of it. Ms. Wilson worked at Arbor Hill after attending NYU, then successfully became the head of Sheridan Preparatory Academy. Four years later, she advanced further and became the head of Albany High School’s Leadership Academy helping students assume on civil and social responsibilities.

By late spring Ms. Wilson was given the opportunity to become principal and of course, she happily accepted. Thanks to her and Mrs. Mathai, a meeting was arranged to discuss what’s new for Albany High.

Immediately upon stepping foot into Ms. Wilson’s office there was something that stuck out : the atmosphere. The office was both literally and figuratively dazzling. Sunlight was shining in, everything was well organized, and when welcomed with a bright smile from Ms. Wilson herself, there was no longer that feeling of high authority.

Having a friendly, commendable, and casual presence is what students look for when seeking help from any faculty member. Ms. Wilson said she’s very excited for this position. According to her, this wasn’t something she was aiming for. Ms. Wilson did in fact want to go to Albany High and become the head of the Leadership Academy. However, it wasn’t until late spring when she was offered the opportunity to become building principal.

When asked what message she would like Albany High to convey, she responded with, “Excellence. I want students to excel.” She wasn’t lying. In fact, Ms. Wilson has a clear blueprint for her strategy. Last year during the last few months of school, students who were failing a course were rushing to desperately grasp opportunities to regain a passing grade. Afterschool programs like APEX helped, but  weren’t entirely successful because of the late timing. Ms. Wilson is planning to focus on everyone’s grades.

Besides academic excellence, there should be timing excellence as well, according to Ms. Wilson it’s crucial to assure students make it to class on time. In other words, the RAC (random attendance check) system will still be in play this year. RACs work simply by keeping track of student attendance. If lateness becomes an issue, during one of the sweeps students are withdrawn randomly during anytime of the day. No questions asked. While students walk from class to class, it’s important to make sure everything is stable. To both contain safer hallways and avoid any sort of aggressive behavior between security and students, hats aren’t removed off of a student’s head. Instead, a detention slip is handed to them.

Ms. Wilson plans to flourish as principal with a positive outlook. She mentions that when she attended Albany High, it wasn’t as limited as it is now, and she believes that students deserve to have some freedom. This resulted in the “Falcon Pass.” According to Ms. Wilson, the Pass gives privileges to hard working students. This includes accessibility to go to any desired area in the building without the need of an agenda. To apply for a Falcon Pass, students would have to go to their Academy office and request an application.  The Pass lasts for five weeks and the process may be repeated. The idea for the Falcon Pass was inspired by a similar method Myers Middle School has used with the “Power Card.” In addition, Ms. Wilson is bringing back pep rallies this year. More pep rallies means more falcon pride!

Albany High was provided a grant just two years ago. The school was divided into four Academies: Innovation, Citizenship, Leadership, and Discovery. The school was given three years to renovate. As we entered the second year, there were additional improvements, including a newly designed library, a green screen, audio studio, and window replacements. When asked what students should expect in the future, Ms. Wilson discussed how she plans to focus further on theme courses, to get well known visitors to the school (take The Big Show’s recent visit for example), and to have more college visits to give students a look at what’s to come in the future.

Big thanks to Ms. Wilson for lending some of her time. If you’re interested in getting to know what’s new for Albany High or if you have any questions or concerns, visit Ms. Wilson in the main office or contact us at [email protected].