Naming of School 18

The naming of school 18 will be something of far reaching impact for our neighborhood. For that reason I think it is something that the neighborhood should be broadly involved in. The potential names that have been surfaced out of a committee meeting on this subject.

The School 18 Renaming Committee met on Monday, June 26th and narrowed the suggested names list to the few names below. The committee meets again Thursday, July 6 at 6pm at the temporary location for School 18 (at the former Montessori Magnet School next to the Governor's Mansion on Eagle St.). Personally I find it unfortunate that decision is being hashed out in a location that is not in the neighborhood but this is an inevitable consequence of the school having been re-located for construction.

I think it is very important that people consider attending the next meeting. Cathy Fahey, our Council person, has encouraged attendance and suggested other members of the Delaware Avenue community be part of this process as well.

The list has been reduced to seven names but it is not too late to add other names. The goal of the committee is to submit three names for the School Board to consider at their August Board meeting.

1. Amistad Academy (Elementary)
Amistad means friendship in Spanish and conveys a sense of community. Amistad is also the name of a slave ship that is significant in African American history. The voyage fo the lave ship "Amistad and the court proceedings and diplomatic maneuverings that resulted from that voyage helped to bolster the abolitionist movement. The Spanish Dual Language Program is joining the School 18 community in January. Including a Spanish word is viewed as a way to reflect the merger of the two school programs as well as reflect the growing Hispanic community in Albany.
2. Young Achievers Academy
3. Delaware Amistad Academy
This name has the spanish word Amistad meaning "friendship" as well as the word "Delaware" which reflects the school's geographic location in the city.
4. Delaware Cultural Elementary
The word "cultural" is desirable to some because the school community includes families from many different cultures.
5. Garden Grove Elementary
The word "garden" reflects the ideas of growing, cultivating and tending, all of which help describe the mindful process of educating our youth. "Garden" also reflects the community garden that is a successful mainstay at the school. There is also a "Garden Street" adjacent to the school.
The word "grove" is taken from the historic name for the area, "Culling's Grove".
6. Bertha Street Elementary
Bertha Street is the official street address for School 18.
7. Delaware (Avenue) Elementary
This name describes the geographic location of the school within the city

Personally I would recommend naming the school the Arthut Mitchell Academy. Art Mitchell was an African American journalist and radio news commentator in the area for many years. He was the editor of the South End Scene, a commentator on WABY and worked for many years prior to his retirement at Allegeny Ludlum Steel. He died perhaps 10 years ago. He was a strong supporter of the Police Athletic League and a scholarship was named after him. While I think some of the other names - such as Culling's Grove - would be nice, I think some of the other names - such as Amistad Academy - would not be best for the school. While the name may translate in Spanish as "Friendship" it would translate in the minds of average people as "slave ship". That would not be a positive name for the school and it would be one that we would always have to explain to justify.

South End Quality of Life Info

Please note the following upcoming events which are coming out of the South End Quality of Life Committee:

Monday, June 26, 6-7 pm at AHA: APD Crime Prevention 101: personal safety, protecting your vehicle, etc.

Thursday, June 29, 6 pm at Elizabeth St Park by Weed n Seed (or at SEIC office, 38 Catherine St if it's raining): Planning for National Night Out Event on 8/1 (Please let Valerie Scott know if you'd like to participate so she can add you to the list. Her e-mail is: vscott@albany-ny.org)

Friday, June 30, 6-8 pm at Trinity Institute, 15 Trinity Place: TI Open House and Ice Cream Social
(Purpose: Raise awareness of this community resource.)

National Night Out is August 1st

National Night Out is the national anti-crime effort where people are encouraged to sit on their porches with the lights on and talk to each other and those passing by. Some communities celebrate this in other ways. In the Delaware Avenue area the Neighborhood Association has frequently sponsored an ice cream social. Some times it has been at Holy Spirit Church's parking lot and some times I believe it has been at St. James Church's parking lot. The ice cream social included a visit from mounted police, and a bouncity bounce. I have heard that planning for this year's program has not been done yet.

The date was also mentioned at the Neighborhood Association meeting though no plans were outlined at that time.

South End Quality of Life Committee

South End Quality
of Life Committee
Meeting
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
6:00pm—7:30pm
Schuyler Mansion

Agenda will include:

• Planning for National Night Out
• Announcements of upcoming events
• Update on South End Revitalization Plan
• Neighborhood Comments/Concerns

Everyone is Welcome!

Workshop On Crime Prevention

The Albany Police Department will be holding a Workshop on Monday, June 26th from 6-7 pm at the Albany Housing Authority, 200 S Pearl St. It will be on Crime Prevention 101 - home safety, safe design, personal safety, vehicle safety, etc. The subject of the workshop was derived from participants of the South End Quality of Life Committee.

Please help us get the word out to South End residents and any others you think would be interested.

Sorry for any double posting. It occured to me as an after thought that this should appear on the web-blog.

Good Neighborhood Association Meeting

This evening (June 8, 2006) was a very good neighborhood association meeting. There was an awful lot discussed and I would like to post some of that to this blog. Unfortunately, to post what I would like would take a great deal of space. So I won't. But over the next couple of days I will post some of the things that were discussed at the meeting. Just to mention a few: The new proposed library location at 455 Delaware (Chicorelli's Funeral Home), the Delaware Avenue Business Business Association, various upcoming events, and a very fine explanation from officer Montesano regarding neighborhood watch, safety, and police response to neighborhood problems. I will post in bits and pieces. I really think that positives should be stressed and constructive solutions to some of the issues raised should be the focus. So I will try to raise some of those things in my comments over the coming days.

NW Strategic Plan

Let's postpone having a meeting for a couple of weeks, until I get more feedback on the strategic plan concept.

So, nothing on June 8.

Please, feel free to e-mail me directly or through posting in the comment area about what this organization could do. Officer Montesano has identified the core responsibilities of the NW (eyes and ears), with which obviously we need to do to comply, but we need to consider how we want to move from there, or if that is the route we should take.