ALTAMONT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Altamont Elementary School is one of five elementary schools in the Guilderland Central School District. Located on Grand Street in Altamont, New York, the elementary school sits behind the old site of the Altamont High School. Students who attend AES eventually go to Farnsworth Middle School, and then on to Guilderland High School.

Contents

Alma Mater

History

Enrollment

The Fifth Grade Play

The Whale Watch

External links

Alma Mater

Altamont Elementary School

Is really quite an awesome place.

Everyone who goes there says that

Altamont is really great.

Reading writing, math, science, spelling,

Music, gym, and art class too.

Students, parents, and the teachers,

All say, “Altamont, we love you!.”

History

The Altamont Elementary School building was officially dedicated on April 26, 1954. The building consisted of only the eight classrooms that currently make up the current intermediate wing, the Main Office area, the cafeteria, and the three rooms which now serve as the Book Nook and library.
Since its inception, the school became a special part of the Altamont community. Due to rapid increase in enrollment, two more classrooms were added in 1957. Continued growth then created the need for major expansion in 1961. This addition created the new gym, five new classrooms, a teacher's lounge, and an art room in the wing extending to the back field.
The playground was built several years later after years of fundraising activities organized by the PTA. A true community-wide effort, the creative playground was designed and built with the help of hundreds of adult volunteers and student helpers. The official dedication of the playground took place with great ceremony in May 1988.
In 1989, the final addition was completed to accommodate increasing student enrollment and the need for the school to be handicapped accessible. The current primary wing was then added with ramped corridors and seven classrooms.

Enrollment

Despite previous boosts in enrollment, today, Altamont Elementary School is the smallest of the five primary schools in the district. With enrollment in 2007 around 316, Altamont has about 135 less students than Lynnwood Elementary and at least 200 less students less than Pinebush Elementary, Guilderland Elementary, and Westmere Elementary. Future enrollment looks grim as well, with the 2007-2008 school year’s incoming kindergarten class less than 25. Presently, AES has 21 full-time teachers, two part-time teachers, and a total staff of 73.

The Fifth Grade Play

Altamont Elementary School is the only primary school in the school district that provides a drama program for its students. Each spring since 1991, every fifth grader participates in the production of a Shakespearean play, whether it is in acting, stage and costume design, or lighting and tech support. Students prepare for their performance for about two months, staying after school until 4:30 several days a week and usually seeing a Shakespeare play at the New York State Theater Institute. The school remains one of the only ones in the entire nation that encourages such young students to interpret the text of the plays in their original Shakespearean language.

The Whale Watch

Fifth Graders at AES also used to participate in an annual whale watch. After a full year of studying whales through the book and video The Voyage of the Mimi, the fifth grade class would go on a day trip to the Boston Aquarium and then into the Boston Harbor for a whale watch. The trip was usually entirely funded by a parent-student-organized Whale Watch Carnival held at the school. Although the field trip was long-seen as a great team-building, educational, and fun experience, continuation of the trip halted in 2003 as a result to increased insecurity that developed after September 11, 2001 attacks.

External links

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