Albany High School (AHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in Albany, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. The school educates approximately 1,300 students from grades 9 through 12. Achievements In 2001, Albany was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for the maximum term of six years. Albany High School was #756 nationally ranked in 2016, and #119 among California high schools. The school is known for its athletic, science, math, and music programs. Music programs The music program at the school serves approximately 250 students and supports choral, orchestral, concert band, and jazz programs. Craig Bryant is the Director of Instrumental Music, a position he has held since the fall of 2007. Students participate in the Jazz School Studio bands, the Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco Youth Orchestras, and the CMEA and CBDA All-State Bands, as well as with other area honor groups. The instrumental music program is made up of two concert bands, two jazz bands, and a string orchestra. There are approximately 140 students involved in the program, with about half the jazz students also participating in one of the concert bands. Each group at the school meets three times per week to rehearse (for 50 minutes on Mondays, and 90 on Tuesdays/Thursdays or Wednesdays/Fridays). The ensembles at AHS perform four main concerts a year in addition to participating in festivals and recording competitions. The groups have garnered positive attention through performances at Yoshi's Oakland, Ashkenaz, the Freight and Salvage, and other Bay Area venues. The Albany High School Jazz Band has received top ratings and awards at the Folsom, Reno, and Santa Cruz Jazz Festivals. The 2010 group performed as a featured ensemble at the 2010 California Music Education Association State Conference in Sacramento. The band was also selected as a finalist for the 2010 Next Generation Festival, presented by the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the 2010 Essentially Ellington festival, presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, New York. STEM programs Albany High School has many competing STEM teams, most notably Science Bowl, National Ocean Science Bowl, and Science Olympiad. Since it was founded at Albany Middle School (Division B) in 2013, Albany's Science Olympiad has qualified for state 4 times. In 2017 and 2018, the Albany High School Science Olympiad (Division C) team won first place in the Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad, and placed 5th and 3rd