Arbor Hill principal highlights attendance gains, enrichment programs and staffing needs

Arbor Hill Elementary Principal Rosalind Gaines Harrell told the Albany City School District Board of Education on the school’s presentation night that Arbor Hill’s enrollment has increased this year and the school has expanded in-school enrichment and family supports, while also facing staffing pressures.

Harrell said the school’s current enrollment is 350 students (she noted two additional enrolled students had not yet started) and that Arbor Hill runs multiple autism-specific kindergarten classrooms. Assistant Principal Janet Escoda Lavoie and Harrell described targeted academic interventions, daily social-emotional learning time and small-group interventions for students in grades 3–5.

Why it matters: The presentation laid out both immediate supports (attendance incentives, in-school enrichment and a food pantry) and capacity limits, including that some autistic classrooms will require four teaching assistants next year but the…