Aggie Band turns old uniforms into teddy bears for kids

The Albertville High School Aggie Band will be taking a piece of Aggie Band history to Pasadena, Calif., over the holidays. 

The band is creating teddy bears out of 150 retired uniforms to present to patients of the Children's Hospital of the Greater Los Angeles area as part of their community impact activity that is required by participants in the 2024 Rose Parade.

Albertville Board of Education members approved the decision at Tuesday night’s monthly board meeting.

At the meeting, Dr. Reeves reminded the board that the Alabama State Department of Education would release its state report card for the 2022-2023 school year on Dec. 14.  

State Report Cards contain letter grades for individual schools plus an overall district score for last school year. Scores are based on six key areas that include academic achievement, academic growth, graduation rate, college and career readiness, chronic absenteeism, and progress in English language proficiency.

Albertville City Schools received an overall district score of 83 for the 2022-2023 school year. Scores increased from last year for each school and for the district.

  • Albertville City Schools - 83 B (+3)
  • Albertville Kindergarten and Pre-K - 79 C (+2)
  • Albertville Primary School - 82 B (+3)
  • Albertville Elementary School - 82 B (+3)
  • Albertville Intermediate School - 79 C (+7)
  • Albertville Middle School - 76 C (+2)
  • Albertville High School - 74 C (+2)

“We want to thank the faculty, staff, and administration for their hard work and dedication in driving school improvement over the last year,” said Dr. Reeves. 

“As we continue to strive for annual improvement, it’s important we work together. To do this, we ask that our parents and families partner with us to ensure their child is at school every day and to engage in their child’s education.”  

Albertville will be on winter break starting Monday, Dec. 18. Teachers will return on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Students will return on Thursday, Jan. 4. 

During the meeting, the board also:

  • Approved the November financials. The beginning fund balance was $54,472,269.49. The ending fund balance is $52,832,671.31. The general fund balance is $19,118,849.05. November revenue totaled $7,224,960.29. Expenditures totaled $7,793,895.22.
  • Approved an out-of-state field trip for VocalEase, who will be traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 9-10, 2024, to compete in the International Competition of High School A Cappella hosted by the University of Tennessee
  • Approved a bid renewal for lawn care with Coltin Vaughn from Southeastern Turf Management at the same terms as before. 
  • Approved a virtual speech contract with Sunbelt Staffing, LLC.
  • Approved the application for the Clean School Bus Rebate program asking for nine additional electric buses. 
  • Approved the 2023-2024 SRO Agreement between the City of Albertville and ACS. 
  • At the special called meeting held Dec. 5, the board also approved two Memorandums of Understanding with Wallace State Community College and Jacksonville State University. 

The following personnel actions were also approved:

  • Tammy Patterson, resigning as inventory designee at AKPK, effective Dec. 29, 2023.
  • Rickey Gable, transferring from utility bus driver to route bus driver (replacing Jody Sellers), effective Jan. 4, 2024. 
  • Dana Williams, transferring from utility bus driver to route bus driver (replacing Walter Van Sims), effective Jan. 4, 2024.
  • Baneli Garcia, 12-month bookkeeper at APS (replacing Natasha Calhoun), effective Jan. 3, 2024.
  • Morgan Cruz, elementary teacher at AES (replacing Brianna Phillips and pending certification), effective Jan. 3, 2024.
  • Ashlee Mahan, inventory designee at AKPK (replacing Tammy Patterson), effective Jan. 3, 2024.
  • Britney Phillips, to be paid a supplement of $1,350 (IDEA) to provide support per an AHS student's IEP during extracurricular activities outside of the regular school day, effective Nov. 1, 2023 - Dec. 27, 2023.
  • Victor Alfonso Zavala Luna, to provide services as a soccer assistant at AHS, to be paid and not to exceed $2,000 by soccer boosters, effective Dec. 13, 2023 - May 31, 2024. 
  • Justin Lee, to provide services for show choir as an instrumentalist at performances and competitions, to be paid and not to exceed $2,500 by AHS, effective Dec. 13, 2023 - May 31, 2024.

In a special called board meeting held Dec. 5, the board approved their intent to consider approval of the Albertville Magnet Academy at the Jan. 16 board meeting. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the ACS Boardroom, located at 105 West Main Street in Albertville. 

Baneli Garcia, center, was named the bookkeeper at Albertville Primary School during Tuesday night’s Albertville school board meeting. She is pictured with Albertville Primary School Principal Dr. Miranda Battles and Albertville Superintendent Dr. Bart Reeves.