News

The GAPS School Board voted to make up one of the two inclement weather days lost earlier this year. We will be making up the day lost on February 27. The day lost on February 25 will not be made up. This will push the last day of school for students to June 13 (half day) and the last contract day for teachers to June 14.

This will impact the West Albany High School final exam schedule in June, as indicated below. You can find the entire spring calendar on our Monthly Activity Calendar page.

• Monday, June 3 = BLUE DAY
• Tuesday, June 4 = GOLD DAY
• Wednesday, June 5 = BLUE DAY
• Thursday, June 6 = BLUE STUDY DAY (also Graduation)
• Friday, June 7 = BLUE FINALS DAY
• Monday, June 10 = GOLD DAY
• Tuesday, June 11 = GOLD STUDY DAY
• Wednesday, June 12 = GOLD FINALS DAY
• Thursday, June 13 = 1/2 day, all meet – LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS

The Scholastic Art Awards Ceremony for the Willamette Valley Region was Saturday, March 16.  All Gold Key winning students were honored at the event, receiving their gold key pins and certificates at LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus.  There were also some special awards handed out, which some of our students received:

• All our 9th-11th grade Gold Key students are receiving a $250 or $400 scholarship to Pacific Northwest College of Art’s pre-college summer program.
• Our 3 seniors who received Gold Key Portfolios — Geneva Mellison, Jenna Thomas, and Ahni Washburn — received scholarships to attend PNCA for $5,000/yr for 4 years totaling $20,000.
• Also, the Creative Metal Arts Guild in Portland has given Ahni a one-year student membership to the guild for her Jewelry Portfolio, and has invited her to participate in their Spring Show this April at the Oregon Convention Center.
• Last week national medalists were also announced, and Leigh Heward received a National Silver Medal for her self-portrait drawing.

The winning work will be on display through Thursday of this week at the LaSells Stewart Center.  There are also photos posted on our art department Instagram at  https://www.instagram.com/westalbanyart/ 

We are so proud of these students!

West Albany’s groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday, March 14, 2019. Here we go!

Click here to view the video.

Due to the start of construction, it is necessary to make some changes to our student and staff parking, student drop-off and pick-up. These changes will be in effect until further notice. Please read carefully as this information is of utmost importance for the safety of our students, parents, staff and community members during this construction process.

The only areas for student drop-off and pick-up are the following:

1. In front of the school in the area currently used for pick-up and drop-off (not the bus lane) — please be mindful to pull as close to the center median as possible, so cars can pass by;
2. In the stadium parking lot;
3. Along Elm Street.

Do not use Liberty Street for this purpose as it will be a construction zone.

Also, there is no drop-off or pick-up between Memorial Middle School and WAHS; this has never been a safe drop-off / pick-up zone, and will now become even more congested.

All student parking will be relocated to the gravel parking lot on Elm Street near Memorial Stadium. Students will walk behind Memorial Middle School and enter the high school through the B-Hall doors.

We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your help with these changes.

These West Albany students were participating in the 73rd Annual Session of the Oregon YMCA Youth & Government.

The goal of the program is to create an environment in which students can increase their political awareness and understanding, while learning the meaning of social action through an actual experience in government.

More photos available here.

We are thrilled that WAHS has been awarded the Nike School Innovation Fund grant for the 2019-20 school year! This grant will allow us to expand AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and invest in other innovative efforts to improve student graduation and success.

We are proud to be among Oregon’s 100 public schools to receive an NSIF grant to help increase graduation rates, close the achievement gap and help students in Oregon prepare for future success!

West Albany High School ranked #1 in the state last year for graduation rates among low-income students, and #3 in the state for graduation rates overall! Congratulations, WAHS grads!

Read the full Oregonian article here.