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AMS Weekly Bulletin for Dec. 15 - Dec. 19

Posted Date: 12/13/25 (04:59 PM)
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December is Universal Human Rights Month
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Good evening AMS Community,

I want to apologize for not sending out the AMS Bulletin last afternoon. Please take a few minutes to review this week's bulletin. 5 days to go! 

Have a nice weekend, and as always...Go Cobras!

Mr. Mapes

AMS School Calendar for 12/15 – 12/19

Monday, December 15 — School Ends at 3:30 pm
Tuesday, December 16 — School Ends at 3:30 pm
Wednesday, December 17 — School Ends at 2:20 pm
Thursday, December 18 — School Ends at 3:05 pm
Friday, December 19 — School Ends at 2:20 pm
 

Date(s) and Time(s)

Events & Happenings

December 15 

2nd Quarter Progress Reports Available on Aeries 

December 16 

AMS School Site Council Meeting 

@ 4:00 pm - Agenda

December 22  - January 2

Winter Break


The Aeries app is not working. This is a Known Issue - Aeries is investigating. Parents can still access the portal from Chrome or Safari, or another browser. https://albanyusd.asp.aeries.net/student/LoginParent.aspx

Restroom Vandalism

Unfortunately, there was further vandalism to the downstairs boys’ restroom in the AMS Annex. Our custodial team works extremely hard to keep our restrooms clean and in good working order, and it is disappointing that someone would damage the urinals. This damage will take time to repair and requires our Maintenance & Facilities team to be pulled from other important work. We ask for your support in reminding students to treat our campus facilities with care and respect.

E-Scooters

Earlier this week, I learned of an important legal clarification regarding e-scooters:

Students under 16 who do not have a learner’s permit or driver’s license are not legally allowed to operate an e-scooter on public roads or paths. In light of this, e-scooters will no longer be permitted at Albany Middle School. We began notifying students on Wednesday, and we will continue reinforcing this policy.

Additionally, a reminder that all students riding bikes, scooters, or skateboards on campus must wear a helmet. This is a non-negotiable safety expectation, and we truly appreciate your help ensuring students follow it.

Cell Phones & Social Media

As we enter the holiday season, many students begin asking for their first cell phone, or for permission to download their first social media app. I encourage every family to think carefully about the responsibility that comes with these decisions.

For many students ages 11 to 14, managing a smartphone or social media account is challenging. We frequently see students struggle with overuse, distraction, and reliance on phones as their primary form of communication.

There is a growing “Wait Until 8th” movement that encourages families to hold off on giving their child a smartphone until 8th grade. If this is feasible for your family, I strongly recommend considering it. The same idea applies to social media: if possible, try to wait until 8th grade or age 14 before allowing students to join any platform.

Every family’s situation is different, and there is no one right answer—but thoughtful timing can have a meaningful impact on a student’s social-emotional health.


PTA CORNER


Resolve to Join the PTA for the New Year! Make and achieve your first new year's resolution early by finally signing up to join the PTA. Joining takes just a few minutes, costs $37, and supports AMS. Members can vote on our budget & administrative decisions and get insider emails on our activities. JOIN NOW


Thank you! Our AMS PTA is incredibly grateful for everything YOU do in our community to support our kids and our school staff. Thanks for your volunteering, your donations, and your participation. You rock!


AMS ATHLETICS

Winter Sports Registration for Boys Basketball and Girls Soccer deadline is coming up! You can register at FamilyID with the link below. Registration will close on Friday December 19th at noon. 

https://students.arbitersports.com/organizations/albany-middle-school





                  
AUSD Athletics relies on family contributions and other fundraising for school athletics. These contributions are necessary to pay for game officials, uniforms, and equipment and other team expenses.  AMS fall sports needs to raise $30,000 to pay for our share of these costs.  As of the beginning of September, we had only raised less than $10,000.

Please help us exceed the fundraising goal by:
  • Making your $160+ contribution to Albany Athletic Boosters - be sure to write "AMS [team name]" in the “add special instructions for seller” field. Don't delay - make your tax deductible contribution today. 
  • You can also drop off a check in the AMS office. Make sure to write "AMS [team name]" in the memo line.
If you are not able to make a $160 contribution, please contribute whatever you can.

As a reminder, these resources help pay for necessary team expenses. If your team surpasses its fundraising goal, the team can use remaining funding to support a team party or other celebration at the end of the season!"

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR HELPING AMS SPORTS SUCCEED BY EXCEEDING OUR FUNDRAISING GOALS!

AUSD NEWS







First Ever AUSD Winter Wonderland Potluck!

Everyone is welcome to a community-wide celebration of winter holidays on Sunday, December 14, 4:30–6:30pm in Ocean View’s MPR. Ocean View’s PTA is working alongside all of AUSD's parent engagement groups to deliver a festive end-of-the-year celebration with activities for kids! Through this event we hope to highlight the diversity in our community and learn more about how various groups in our community celebrate holidays during winter break. Sign up for the potluck here!




AEF First Mondays at Little Star Pizza

Little Star Pizza will donate 10% of all sales -- take-out and dine-in -- to Albany Education Foundation on Monday, Jan. 5th, and every first Monday of the month. Celebrate the first day back to school with some delicious food from Little Star! AEF funds grants for teachers. Thank you for supporting Little Star Pizza and Albany Education Foundation!