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Albany Free School

1969 establishments in New York (state)Alternative schools in the United StatesDemocratic free schoolsEducation in Albany, New YorkEducational institutions established in 1969
Organizations based in Albany, New YorkPrivate schools in Capital District (New York)Use American English from May 2015Use mdy dates from May 2015

The Free School is the oldest independent, inner-city alternative school in the United States. Founded by Mary Leue in 1969 based on the English Summerhill School philosophy, the free school lets students learn at their own pace. It has no grades, tests, or firm schedule: students design their own daily plans for learning. The school is self-governed through a weekly, democratic all-school meeting run by students in Robert's Rules. Students and staff alike receive one equal vote apiece. Unlike Summerhill-style schools, the Free School is a day school that serves predominantly working-class children. Nearly 80 percent of the school is eligible for reduced-price meals in the public schools. About 60 students between the ages of three and fourteen attend, and are staffed by six full-time teachers and a number of volunteers. The school runs on a shoestring budget as a tradeoff for its financial independence and accessibility to low-income students. Tuition is billed on a sliding scale based on what parents can afford. Revenue from rental properties and fundraising supplements tuition income. The Free School started a high school program in 2006 that later spun off as the Harriet Tubman Democratic High School before closing in 2017. Journalists have likened the school's approach to unschooling and homeschooling, and its work to that of prefigurative politics. The Albany Free School is one of the few schools remaining from the 1960s and 1970s free school movement. It inspired the program of the Brooklyn Free School.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Albany Free School (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Albany Free School
Elm Street, City of Albany

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N 42.645775 ° E -73.757521 °
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Elm Street 8
12202 City of Albany
New York, United States
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Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Albany, New York)
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Albany, New York)

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic church near the Mansion District in Albany, New York, United States. Built in the period of the 1848-1852, it is the mother church of the Diocese of Albany. In 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has several claims to architectural and ecclesiastical history. Designed by Irish American architect Patrick Keely to accommodate Albany's growing population of Catholic immigrants, it is the second-oldest cathedral in the state, after St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. It is also the third oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States, and the first American Catholic cathedral in the Neo-Gothic architectural style.The interior features the original stained glass windows, imported from England, and award-winning Stations of the Cross statuary. When completed, it was the tallest building in Albany. It has hosted visits by cardinals and leaders of other faiths, including one Archbishop of Canterbury, and the weddings of two Catholic governors' daughters. In 1986 it hosted the first-ever service of forgiveness between Catholics and Jews on Palm Sunday, an event commemorated by a sculpture outside the building. Construction of the cathedral, at the behest of the diocese's first bishop, John McCloskey, took four years. Its south tower took 40, and it was not consecrated until its 50th anniversary in 1902. The construction of Empire State Plaza, the nearby New York state government complex, threatened the cathedral in the 1960s when it required the demolition of most of the surrounding neighborhood. It has been through several renovations in its history, including a $30 million restoration early in the 21st century.