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Almendra (; Spanish for "almond") is the self-titled debut studio album by Argentine rock band Almendra which was released in 1969 on Vik, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. To distinguish it from the band's next release, Almendra II, it is also known as Almendra I. The album represented the first full-length musical endeavour of nineteen-year-old Luis Alberto Spinetta, having formed the band in the mid 1960s along with Emilio del Guercio, Edelmiro Molinari and Rodolfo García. The famous artwork, showing a crying man with a toy arrow stuck on his head, was designed by Spinetta to embody the different lyrical themes of the album.

By the late 1960s, the nueva ola phenomenon was losing popularity and Los Gatos' debut single, "La balsa", had catapulted the emergence of Argentine rock. The success of Los Gatos paved the way for Manal and Almendra; the three groups are considered the foundational trilogy of Argentine rock, singing serious and artistic songs in Spanish at a time when this was discouraged. Spinetta's lyricism has been celebrated for its poetry, surrealism and idiosyncratic use of grammar and accent. Almendra incorporated musical influences from the Beatles, jazz, and Argentine music such as tango and folk music.

Upon release, the album achieved critical and commercial success, aided by the popularity of the single "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", which remains one of Spinetta's most celebrated compositions. Almendra is often listed as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of Argentine rock music, serving as a foundation of what is locally known as rock nacional and, by extension, rock en español in general. The album remains a paradigm of Argentine 1960s youth culture, signaling the growing influence of the counterculture of that decade in the country.

Background and development

Almendra was formed in the barrio of Núñez in Buenos Aires. Luis Alberto Spinetta and Emilio del Guercio became friends while attending the San Román high school in Belgrano. They published a magazine, La costra degenerada, with their own articles and drawings and shared common interests and points of view about music, sex, power and religion. Spinetta was a fan of the Beatles, but del Guercio was more interested in folk music. They were inspired by surrealism and the psychedelic experience, although they had not used drugs at that point. Edelmiro Molinari and del Guercio were in a band called Los Sbirros – making cover versions of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Shadows and Los Teen Tops – along with Ángel del Guercio, Ricardo Miró, Santiago "Chago" Novoa and Eduardo Miró (later replaced by del Guercio). Spinetta had joined Los Larkins, where Rodolfo García was the drummer. Spinetta and García then joined Los Masters, a band led by Guido Meda; the group had a succession of names, including Los Beadniks, Los Beatniks and Los Mods. The groups merged, although Meda disliked the idea and stepped aside. Almendra was ready to start playing, but García had to serve in the military and they waited a year until he returned. At this embryonic stage Spinetta had composed "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "Zamba", a song he would record in 1982 as "Barro tal vez".
During the second half of the 1960s, Argentina and the world were experiencing political, social and cultural changes. The Argentine Revolution overthrew the government of Arturo Umberto Illia in June 1966, establishing Juan Carlos Onganía as a military dictator. Leonid Brezhnev was appointed General Secretary of the USSR, LSD advocate Timothy Leary was sentenced to 30 years in prison and the Vietnam War escalated. The Beatles released Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, influential examples of the emerging countercultural genre of psychedelic music. Tango opera María de Buenos Aires by Ástor Piazzolla and Horacio Ferrer premiered, the literary Latin American Boom (including Pablo Neruda and Julio Cortázar) flourished, Mercedes Sosa made bold political statements as a preeminent exponent of nueva canción and the French New Wave was rewriting the language of cinema. The group absorbed these local and international cultural influences. Spinetta became interested in Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly Thus Spoke Zarathustra (which inspired the Almendra song, "Hermano perro"). Lalo Schifrin, Thelonious Monk, Tom Jobim, the Rolling Stones and Les Double Six were also cited as influences.

In 1967, Los Gatos released their first single, "La balsa", backed with "Ayer nomás". The song catapulted the burgeoning "rock nacional" scene in Buenos Aires, establishing the commercial viability of rock music sung in Spanish, and turning what originally was an underground scene into a widespread youth culture phenomenon. "La balsa" sold over 250,000 copies, an impressive number for that time, especially for a song with Spanish lyrics that differed from the cheerful and shallow efforts of the contemporary nueva ola movement. Spinetta told Juan Carlos Diez in 2006: "It was a very good thing because it was the example that [rock in Spanish] could be done. I believe that "La balsa" was a great inspiration for everyone. And also other tracks of Los Gatos. Each track contained a mystery that, at the same time, was a poetic motivation, a great incentive for us." After a Los Gatos concert, Spinetta met producer Ricardo Kleiman and invited him to the band's rehearsals. When Kleiman heard the band play he signed them to RCA Victor, and in November 1968 Almendra released their first single: "Tema de Pototo", backed with "El mundo entre las manos". Almendra began playing live, with performances during the summer of 1969 in Mar del Plata and an appearance at the Ancón Festival in Peru. Their Buenos Aires debut was at the Di Tella Institute as part of Three Beat Shows, where they introduced "Fermín", "Ana no duerme" and "Que el viento borró tus manos", songs which would appear on their first studio album. Almendra released a second single, "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad" backed with "Campos verdes"; it was also released in Peru, where it was more successful than it was in Argentina. Between April and September 1969, the band recorded their first LP at TNT Studios, Buenos Aires, while a third single ("Tema de Pototo", backed with "Final") was released. At the time of Almendras release, the influence of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had overshadowed the success of the nueva ola, exemplified by the popular teen pop music TV show, El Club del Clan.

Composition

Almendra, considered one of Argentina's first rock albums, is characterized by stylistic diversity; it fuses elements of contemporary pop music, jazz, tango and Argentine folk music. A major influence was the Beatles, particularly their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For instance, in "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", lyrics such as "ojos de papel" ("paper eyes") and "pechos de miel" ("honey breasts") are reminiscent of those in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" ("newspaper taxis" and "marmalade skies"), and "Laura va" was inspired by "She's Leaving Home". Tango influences may be heard in "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "A estos hombres tristes". Andrés Torrón of Uruguayan newspaper El Observador noted a similarity between Almendra and Pink Floyd's 1967 album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn; feeling that "although reminiscences of Syd Barret can be found in the melodies and prose of the Spinetta of those years, there were already a number of personal traits that would make him one of the most influential rock musicians on this side of the world." Music journalist Diego Fischerman described the album as a "heterogeneous world, where, like the Beatles, each song was a surprise and where the best traditions of rock (pursuit, nonconformity, curiosity, eagerness to conquer new musical territories) came together with a Buenos Aires of conflicting cosmopolitanism." According to Carlos Polimeni of newspaper Página/12, "In Almendra's first record are the Beatles, Cortázar, the French May, free jazz, the experimentation of the Di Tella, the avant-garde tango, the folklore of projection, the French Nouvelle Vague, Borges, and the new trends in national plastic arts, among other influences, but none markedly mentioned or honored axiomatically."

Spinetta's lyrics have been widely studied for their lyricism, poetic quality, precise use of language, and rich visual imagery; as well as the innovation of singing them in Spanish. They are characterized by an abundance of metaphors and a surrealism deeply influenced by songs such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Strawberry Fields Forever". Writing for Noisey in 2016, Eduardo Santos argued that "although it does not have any song with protest lyrics or hymns against the establishment, Almendra is an album very influenced by the hippie culture with its ideals of peace, coexistence and love." He also felt that the lyrics "[frolic] between poetry and the experiences of the group members."

The album opens with "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", one of the most celebrated songs in Argentine rock history. Spinetta dedicated the song to Cristina Bustamante, his girlfriend at the time, and has compared the romantic ballad to songs like "Tu nombre me sabe a hierba" by Joan Manuel Serrat and "Julia" by the Beatles. Musician Alejandro del Prado described its lyrics as "almost pornographic at the time", citing phrases such as "pechos de miel" and "quédate hasta el alba" ("stay until dawn"). The length of the nine-plus-minute "Color humano", written by Edelmiro Molinari, concerned the record label since it precluded radio play. The jazz-inspired jam session is composed of two relatively short vocal segments surrounding a five-minute guitar solo by Molinari. The ballad "Figuración" is characterized by its use of the recorder, played by Del Guercio. Rolling Stone Argentina considered that the track, "anticipates certain ways of Sui Generis although in the final chorus the deep voice of Pappo and other boys of the environment known as 'Circus' are noticed." The lyrics of "Figuración" have been described as metaphysical, with Spinetta urging the listener to disfigure themselves. In "Ana no duerme", a sleepless girl is restlessly waiting; its lyrics refer to the need of many teenage girls to repress their sexuality. Spinetta described the title character as "that being that is always waiting. That girl who hopes to be loved, who expects a little bit of friendship, of understanding, who wants to leave her vulgar world of womanhood, who wants to occupy another place. [...] At that time, a girl of 16 or 17 was not the woman she can be today." The strongly paced track, with a rhythmic shift representing the "interrupted dreams" of the title character, has been compared to Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" and is considered "the most rocker moment" of the album.
Although the "Ana" in the song was long thought to be Ana María Spinetta (Luis Alberto's sister), he denied it on more than one occasion. Film producer Ana Aizenberg claims to be the inspiration after an affair she had with Spinetta.

"Fermín" describes a mentally ill character in an institution. The song changes a line from the French folk song, "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre", from "Mambrú se fue a la guerra, no sé cuándo vendrá" ("Mambrú left for the war; I do not know when he will return") to "Fermín se fue a la vida, no sé cuándo vendrá" ("Fermín left for life; I do not know when he will return"). According to Spinetta, "life for the insane is like war for the sane."  Reflecting on the track, Spinetta said: "In front of my house lived an incredible character called Carlitos, a retarded boy, who is in part the personification of Fermín for me. With Carlitos we shared moments of joy when we were kids. Although he could not play ball with everyone, he felt accompanied in his tremendous problem when we were with him. It is also an apology, because I remember that his mother punished him a lot, even in front of the other boys. I do not know if the degree of illness of the song's Fermín is as actue as that of Carlitos, but serves to define the situation of the alienated as a propitious cell to receive the most aberrant injustices. "Plegaria para un niño dormido" urges not to wake a poor child up, letting him be happy in his dreams. The criticism of society's injustice is, in Spinetta's words, "a complaint made with tenderness." He called it "the symbol of a Christian ideology: neighborliness, solidarity." "A estos hombres tristes" has been described as "[outlining] a kind of compressed suite", with "airs of jam-session and urban song". It was inspired by the melancholy of Sundays in Argentina, with Spinetta saying: "Sunday was always a sad day, I do not know why. At the same time it was happy because there was football, the family gathered, there was good food. The importance that was given to the weekend in our country in those years was tremendous. But the personal solitude at that time was very clear." The album ends with "Laura va", a baroque pop song which took Spinetta a year and a half to write. An attempt to emulate the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home", it features an "evocative counterpoint" played with the bandoneón. Rolling Stone Argentina considered that Spinetta's vocals in the track "[timidly insinuate]" a crooner facet that he would further explore later in his career.

Release and commercial reception

Almendra was released on November 29, 1969, on Vik, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. Some sources, however, place the release of the album in early 1970, time in which the band released a typewritten, photocopied flyer that said: "Over the course of six months of intense work, we have learned that what is transcendent is no longer owned by the author and belongs to everyone. That is why January 15 is an important date for us and for you: it is the release of our first long play to you." The band produced a 35mm black-and-white promotional short film featuring "Campos verdes" and "El mundo entre las manos", which was shown in cinemas as part of the newsreel Sucesos Argentinos. On June 6, 1969, Almendra presented the album in Teatro Coliseo with Vox Dei, Leonardo Favio and Los Abuelos de la Nada. They made television appearances on Tropicana, Sábados circulares, Sótano beat, and "an unhappy appearance" on Bernardo Neustadt's show. Regarding the songs' concert presentation, particularly of "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", Spinetta stated in 1984: "... when we premiered ["Muchacha"] in Coliseo, the success of the song was so resounding that I cried myself, I could not believe it. [...] The emotion that I felt was tremendous. Indelible. I cried on stage, because I felt that all the people were shocked with that. Instantly. Success came later. I felt that the song pierced through the people, just as when I premiered "Plegaria" or "Figuración", "Muchacha" pierced through the people. With Almendra I repeatedly saw boys and girls crying, of emotion or of happiness." In early 1970, Spinetta published a series of drawings in the second number of the short-lived magazine Alquitrán, in which he illustrated each of the songs of Almendra.

Ricardo Alejandro Kleinman had signed Almendra with RCA Victor as part of his project of promoting new and "distinguished" music such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who and Traffic, which he featured in his radio show Modart en la noche alternating with more commercial acts. Part of this project was the inclusion of Spanish-language music that acted as "an Argentine equivalent of the aesthetic searches of post-Revolver rock, which is what was consumed by young people with purchasing power, mostly university students, in Europe and the United States." However, Almendra found its audience outside of the demographic target that had been expected, becoming popular among the common porteño youth. Wide commercial success arrived when "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", was used in a television commercial for fabrics aimed at the youth. The song, with "Ana no duerme" as its B-side, was released as the album's only single on January 20, 1970. In 1996, Spinetta stated that he was unhappy with that advertisement, but did not have enough money to hire a lawyer at that time. On March 5, 1970 Gente stated that, 20 days since its release, the album had sold 10,000 copies. Cristina de Irala of the magazine reported on their successful presentation in the touristic city of Mar del Plata, writing: "At that hour of the early morning, in a city in full summer season, one became aware that the 'beat music' movement really is a phenomenon. Which one of our musical monsters could go on a stage and fill a room in those conditions?" The same year, journalist Margot de Kumec noted the "religious attention" and identification that the band generated among its young audience.

Tracks off Almendra appear in various compilation albums of the band released by RCA Records, including a self-titled one of 1972, Muchacha ojos de papel of 1980, Serie 20 éxitos of 1995, and Inolvidables – 20 grandes éxitos of 2003. In 1979, Almendra reunited and performed a series of concerts that attracted massive audiences, something that had been rarely seen in the country because of the so-called National Reorganization Process. A double live album recorded at Estadio Obras Sanitarias in December 1979 was self-released on May 3, 1980, featuring several renditions of songs from the band's 1969 studio debut. In 1992, BMG Argentina released the first CD reissue of the album. Titled Almendra (Cronología), its tracklist is organized in chronological order and subdivided into three sections. The first one, titled "The first singles", contains songs released before the album, which are "Tema de Pototo", "El mundo entre las manos", "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad", "Campos verdes", "Gabinetes espaciales" and "Final". The CD's middle section consists of the Almendra album, followed by some of the band's subsequent songs, under the title: "The singles that were and were not". It includes "Hermano perro", "Mestizo", "Toma el tren hacia el sur", "Jingle" and "Rutas argentinas". The album was included in the 1999 box set Almendra 68/70, released by BMG Argentina for subscribers of the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone. Sony BMG released the first European edition of the album in 2005, as a digipak CD. In 2015, Sony Music reissued fifteen classic albums of Argentine rock—including Almendra—in vinyl, respecting every detail of their original editions' packaging.

Cover art

The album cover, designed by Spinetta, shows a distressed man with his hair covered by a scarf and a tear running down his cheek; a toy arrow is stuck on his head, and he is wearing a pink shirt with the name of the band. Spinetta used tempera and pencils on mat paper. RCA considered the artwork incomprehensible and noncommercial, and shelved its first version. Spinetta said, "We were not going to allow the record to be released without it. I had the picture in my head very clearly, and I went home and did it again. We did not want to leave things in the hands of mediocre company dudes that make album covers like [sausages]." Emilio García said in 2008 that the label thought most record buyers were women, and artwork should depict men as handsomely as possible: "They could not believe it, because the cover of an LP (at the time) featured artists' faces or holding electric guitars; we came out with a cover like that, which I still consider absolutely great."

On the album's track listing, each song is identified with a symbol from the cover: a teardrop, an eye, or a toy arrow. The teardrop identifies "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", "Figuración", "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "Que el viento borró tus manos", the most rock-oriented songs; the eye, "Color humano" and "A estos hombres tristes", the most melancholic songs; and the toy arrow "Ana no duerme", "Fermín" and "Laura va", songs with proper names. The inner sleeve describes each icon:
 Eye: Songs sung by the Man of the Cover while he is unconscious in the void
 Teardrop: Songs as bright as the thousand-year-old teardrop shed by the Man of the Cover
 Toy arrow: Songs sung to the tear shed by the Man of the Cover by men tied to their destinies

Emilio del Guercio said that the toy arrow represents absurdity and the teardrop sentimentality and melancholy. According to Argentine graphic artist Rep, the artwork conveys a grotesque, dramatic flavor and the feeling that the album should be taken seriously but not too seriously.

Critical reception

According to Eduardo Berti, the album received generally positive reviews, with Rodolfo Alchourrón's orchestral arrangement of "Laura va" universally acclaimed. However, journalist Diego Fischerman of Página/12 disagreed, writing in 2009:

In 1968, what was later called rock was not in the newspapers. What's more, there was no criticism of popular music there. The pioneer, in that matter, was Jorge Andrés, in his articles for the magazine Análisis and, a little later, in the newspaper La Opinión.  That is why when it is said, as in the brochure of the box that gathers all the production of Almendra, that "the critics approved them and the public adored them", it is a lie. The public was scarce and there was no criticism, if you discard what was published in [Pinap], which rather responded to modest press operations of the recording labels to impose that new product, the "beat music", which between 1968 and 1970 flooded the market.

The rock magazine Pelo stated that "this album may be the synthesis of a new music emerging. A La Prensa review described it as "a thin melancholy," and it "[faces] its manifestation with the seriousness and depth of who wants to give a testimony of their world, a concern usually oblivious to young authors and performers." The magazine Gente was enthusiastic: "Did you already listen to the first LP by the group Almendra? Do not waste time, fool, because I assure you it is the best album of the beat genre produced in our country." Also from Gente, Cristina de Irala wrote in early 1970 that Almendra was "an authentic demonstration of talent, music and beauty." Journalist Margot de Kumec wrote in 1970 that "they proclaim in their creations a deepening in the essence of men", and praised their "poetry, melody and rhythm". A Clarín review of the album was harsh: "The lyrics of each track do not have an equal level, with the aggravation of being poorly fused with musical metrics." Spinetta said that much of his resentment of the press was born at that time, when he "realized that large magazines like Gente or Siete Días fabricated articles. They put what they wanted." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Iván Adaime gave the album a five-star rating, calling it a masterpiece and writing that it "is great from the beginning till the end" and "not only one of the first Argentinean rock albums, but one of its best."

Legacy

Almendra is considered one of the most important records in the history of Latin American rock. It has been voted the most important record in Argentine rock history on various occasions. A July 1985 survey by journalist Carlos Polimeni for Clarín ranked Almendra as by far the greatest album in the history of Argentine rock music; respondents included local musicians Charly García, Gustavo Cerati of Soda Stereo, Celeste Carballo, Miguel Mateos, Alejandro Lerner and Raúl Porchetto, among others. In 2007, the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone ranked it sixth on its list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of National Rock". In 2006, the Latin alternative music magazine Al Borde ranked Almendra 10th on its list of the 250 Best Albums of Ibero-American rock. Spanish online newspaper Diariocrítico.com included the album in its 2016 feature of "The 20 Best Records of Argentina", with journalist Sergio Ariza Lázaro describing it as a masterpiece. Chilean newspaper La Tercera ranked Almendra thirteenth in its 2017 list of "The 20 Best Albums of Argentine Rock".

"Muchacha (ojos de papel)" remains a symbol of the band and "an emblem of the social and individual conquests of the 1960s." It is now considered "the quintessential love song of rock nacional." The track was second on MTV and Rolling Stone Argentinas Top 100 Songs of Argentine Rock and Rock.com.ar's Top 100 Argentinean Songs of the Last 40 Years. Al Borde ranked the song 45th on its list of 500 Most Important Songs of Ibero-American Rock.

The album had a seminal influence on Argentine rock. During the 1960s, a generation of musicians from the La Cueva bar on Avenida Pueyrredón was trying to reflect an everyday reality absent from popular music since the tango era. Called "progressive music" by journalists, the movement was catapulted by the commercial success of Los Gatos, the house band of La Cueva. The recognition of Los Gatos in 1967 paved the way for Almendra and Manal, "progressive music" bands that divided the musical panorama by synthesizing two sides of Buenos Aires, one sophisticated and one more linked to the tango. Audiences created a rivalry around the two, inspired by the Beatles and Rolling Stones rivalry, identifying Almendra as the former and Manal as the latter. These three bands are considered the pillars of what is known in Argentina as rock nacional ("national rock"), and rock en español in general. Serious, artistic Spanish-language songs were unprecedented in the country. According to Rolling Stone, Almendra reached "one of the highest levels of quality, innovation and precocity" in Argentine music; "if not pioneers (because there is no Almendra without Los Gatos), they put into 3D a variety of sounds, accents and adjectives which are still the textbook of the new generation."

While Los Gatos were mainly influenced by beat music, and Manal by the blues, Almendra made an impact with a uniqueness reflected in surreal lyrics and album art, as well as the lack of an article preceding their name (as did Manal). On this matter, Mariano Del Pozo of Página/12 wrote: "It is remarkable a third position that seems inherent in the essence of Almendra. Whether aesthetically—listening to [their] two albums, it is not wrong to locate the band between the beat of Los Gatos and the blues of Manal—as well as Del Guercio's sympathy for Peronism or for Spinetta's always singular poetic and spiritual pursuits, Almendra stood out in a peculiar originality." In 1996, Spinetta reflected: "If I had to rescue something from that period it would precisely be an outpouring of lyricism, something Almendra kind of is." He used Spanish idiosyncratically, writing "y el ave aquel" instead of the correct "y el ave aquella" in "Fermín" and changing the accent of some words (a poetic device criticized by some members of the press, evident in the pronunciation of "figúrate" in "Figuración" and "plegaria" in "Plegaria para un niño dormido"). This use of the accent characterized Argentine rock's second generation—whose most notable representative was Sui Generis—until bands like Virus continued to use the language ingeniously in the 1980s. Writer Eduardo Berti felt in 2012 that the album, "endures as an effective testimony of the first steps of an exceptional composer." According to Emilio del Guercio,
Today those songs are classics but, at that time, they were considered cutting edge. Eventually I realized that most of them are threaded by the songwriting tradition of our country. They are Argentine songs. The real avant-garde revolutionizes what it inherits. Almendra was heir to the best Argentine music, and combined its elements without prejudice.

Almendra is considered a paradigm of the growing influence of the youth-led counterculture of the 1960s on Argentina at that time, as well as a representative of that generation. After Spinetta's death, President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said: "That record of the teardrop, when we would call albums long plays, and "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", I will never forget them." Charly García, also on the occasion of Spinetta's death, stated: "I can not describe the shock that Almendra's first album caused me. For me, "La balsa" was the originator of Argentine rock, but without a doubt, Luis Alberto and company were its architects."

Track listing

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Almendra.

Almendra
 Luis Alberto Spinetta – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, rhythm guitar, harmonica
 Emilio del Guercio – bass guitar, flute, vocals, backing vocals
 Edelmiro Molinari – electric and acoustic guitars, lead guitar, bass guitar, organ, piano, backing vocals
 Rodolfo García – drums, tambourine, jingle bell, whistling, backing vocals, percussive addition

Guests
 Pappo , Sam and "other Circus people" – backing vocals in "Figuración"
 Santiago Giacobbe – organ in "Ana no duerme"
 Rodolfo Alchourron – guitar, arrangements and conducting in "Laura va"

Acknowledgements
 Alicia Varadi – harp
 Simón Zlotnik – viola
 Bernardo Stalman – violin
 Tito Mariano – glockenspiel
 Walter Cironi – bassoon
 Gustavo Bergalli – flugelhorn
 Mario Tenreyro – French horn
 Carlos Pompeyo – flute
 Alberto Misrahi – bass clarinet
 José Bragato – cello
 Rodolfo Mederos – bandoneón
 Óscar Figueroa – coordination

See also

 Origins of Argentine rock
 Cultural impact of the Beatles
 Garage rock
 Uruguayan Invasion
 Pescado Rabioso
 Aquelarre
 Color Humano

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

  statistics, tagging and previews at Last.fm
 Almendra at Rate Your Music

1969 debut albums
Almendra (band) albums
RCA Records albums
Spanish-language albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Insolvencies and impairments are at such a low rate in P&C that most agents do not pay much attention to the possibility one of their companies may fail. (This is not necessarily true in health benefits and LTC, an issue of societal importance that has been ignored because so many of the companies that have had issues were set up specifically under the ACA). I now meet people in the insurance industry who have never, ever had to deal with rolling a book because the carrier went insolvent or even pulled out of the market overnight. Not long ago, who would have thought that possible?
Old School Loss Control...Same Old Results- The cliche is that you "get what you inspect, not what you expect". This is particularly pertinent to underwriting P&C insurance.
Of growing value to the "expect" side of the equation is utilizing data analytics and trying to crack the code on what informational element will be predictive of loss or quality of the risk.
First, my heart is with small agencies and their owners. They have a tough time wearing so many hats. Delegation only works when other people are around to wear the hats. Agencies everywhere are pressured by carriers to write more business but small agencies have limited resources when the owner is the key producer, the HR expert, the IT expert, the accounting expert, and the chief bottle washer.
Most owners of small businesses, many executives/owners of medium businesses, and even quite a few executives/shareholders of large businesses think the most important aspect of a business appraisal is the final number. The business is worth $X dollars.
Chris Burand shares his "must-read" annual state of the property/casualty insurance industry report with his forecast for the industry and independent agents. Burand looks at insurers' recent profitability, if it is sustainable, and what it means for agents, brokers and smaller carriers.
Read Chris Burand's insights into the financial condition of the industry and what he predicts for the future in his latest edition of the State of the P&C Insurance Industry.
A Great Read: "When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes"
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Sometimes these reorganizations result in new underwriting, new pricing, less service and other issues that make doing business with the new company quite painful.
Worse, on average, about 22 companies annually are dissolved, liquidated, surrender their license, go into liquidation (different from being liquidated), go into runoff, or no longer make their filings. Twenty-two out of around 900 companies is peanuts unless it involves you.
Another really interesting aspect is that one form of company is not inherently more stable than another. The rate of difficult situations on a percentage of companies with those formations is materially the same for stock companies versus mutual versus even risk retention groups. One point that is missed when analyzing frequency is the potential severity of an agent's E&O if particular forms of companies go insolvent. For example, when an agent has the option of placing an insured in a standard, admitted company but instead places the insured in an RRG or captive, a strong argument can be made the agency must adhere to a far higher standard of care.
These kinds of companies may not be covered under the state guaranty funds. One of the results of low insolvencies is that the agency community has lost some collective intelligence regarding what to do if a company goes insolvent. I find many agency people have no idea a guaranty fund even exists, much less the parameters involved. Agents largely have a duty to advise clients whether the entity with whom they are placing that client's policy is covered under the state guaranty fund. This includes surplus lines too.
Risk retention groups and captives have quite different funding in many cases than traditional carriers. Often, insureds are potentially responsible for "assessments." Different companies and different types of these alternative carriers use different technical legal terms regarding whether these items are technically "assessments" but to most people, when an insurance company tells an insured it needs to pay more money because the company is out of surplus, it feels like an assessment. For this purpose, I'm going to therefore use assessment.
I find that a large percentage of agency people selling these policies have completely and absolutely failed to read the key details in the policy language. Even when the policy requires that a Power of Attorney be signed, somehow the agents have not noticed the vast majority of insurance policies do not require POA's be signed. A halfway curious agent might just wonder why a particular company wants the insured to sign a POA rather than just thinking it is just another piece of paper. When an agent tells an insured to sign a POA and something goes wrong with that carrier, especially involving an assessment, impairment, or insolvency, the insured may have strong cause for coming back against the agent.
Bluntly, I do not understand how agents, and I've interviewed dozens and dozens, do not notice these POA's. A word of advice to agents: If you have an insurance company that requires the insured to sign a POA, pay attention! Think about it! POWER OF ATTORNEY! Why would an insurance company want the insured to give them power of attorney over their insurance policy? Isn't this just a little different than normal?
The pain of a wobbly company to the agent is not considered in these statistics either. When a company has to sell a division to raise capital, the company may be saved from impairment. The agent though may have to do a whole lot of extra work. Just an FYI, companies sell divisions primarily to raise capital and/or because they are incompetent in managing those divisions which may indicate issues in and of themselves. Such sales can be dressed up, but be sure the reality is that someone has put lipstick on a pig.
Another example is actually smart, if it was not nefarious. This is where a wobbly company raises rates far more than other carriers. They say things like the other carriers will follow or that they need to make money in this line or that line or all lines. They have to say things like this. In reality, they are raising rates in hopes that agents will move the business because they may not have the surplus to support their writings. Their number one goal is to get agents to move as much premium as possible. If they make some more profit with what sticks, then so much the better. That is gravy though. The goal is to increase their surplus ratio or reduce their premiums.
While the frequency of impairments might not be different from one kind of insuring of facility to another and while impairment of frequency is not a major issue, don't become complacent. Impairments are severity issues and it pays to remain diligent, knowledgeable and protect yourself from E&O claims.
However, when a loss does occur, and the reality of the risk does not jibe with what was the expected scenario, we are often left with the question, what could we do differently?
In a perfect world, perhaps inspecting every commercial and residential risk would reduce losses. Typically, though, new business gets an inspection and there may not be another look-see for 5+ years. What is the value of a one-off inspection?
Traditional inspections are too expensive and take too long to be a viable option for anything "real time" regarding information collection. What if we took a different approach? Self-service inspections. Engage your policyholder!
Self-service inspections, where the policyholder is doing the property tour, will reduce costs by 75% and will average 3 days turn around time If you get 60-70% completion rate with your invitations, you can double the number of inspections without spending any more than was done on traditional inspections.
What about taking it beyond just self-service inspections? What about if we discard the notion of inspections as a whole? What if we took the approach of an ongoing engagement with our policyholders?
Engage vs. Inspect. Loss control could be an ongoing engagement, every 3-6 months, where a particular theme or focus, like the commercial cook line, or home solid fuel burner. With a thematic approach, you would request just 4-6 photos and 2-3 questions be responded to with an app or a bot.
Inspections become engagements and morph from "looking" for a problem to co-working to improve the risk profile. The irony here is that typical self-service approaches often focus on reducing interactions with the customer. Self-service inspections however, are created to up the level of engagement. This results in better retention.
This FastCompany article, "Why The Future Of Customer Service Is Self-Service", articularly speaks to expectations our clients have around self-service.
Self-service inspections can make your policyholders and their staff more self aware.
Awareness can be the point of entry for making a proactive decision like ordering a hood cleaning service or moving the stored boxes away from the furnace.
Of course, not every policyholder will be enthralled with the idea of engaging with their carrier or agent on a quarterly basis. But how many would? Is avoiding contact with the insured a viable approach in today's connected world? The more relevant "touches" we have with our clients, the better relationship and the better retention. I know that is how I want to be treated!
So, what are the 5 things you really need to know about a particular line of business? How can you boil them down to some images and questions?
What is the cooking equipment?
Is there a hood and duct?
Is the duct work clean?
Is there an extinguishing system?
Is there a current inspection tag on the extinguisher?
What are the floors like?
If you wonder whether the policyholder will be transparent with sharing information about their property, even if it could be considered a negative, watch this video of actual self-service inspection results and look for the defects!
To retain customers, most would agree that you must engage with them. Why not take a legacy process (inspections) and shift it to a channel of engagement?
I appreciate how personal they are with clients. That is important to clients and often it is a key reason the owners are even in the industry. This reason, among others, creates an interesting and often rewarding life for agency owners.
I appreciate small agencies so much, I even made a promise to a mentor twenty-five years ago that as I succeeded, I would not forget my roots by leaving behind small agencies as my practice grew.
Like all small businesses and small accounts, they usually need more help, but will not pay for it. They will not even ask for assistance and often if they are willing to ask and are willing to pay, they do not know for what to ask.
When these small agencies need help due to an E&O claim or another kind of legal situation or they need a valuation of their agency for a sale, merger or estate purposes, their data, their accounting methods, and their contracts are so often missing or so disorganized that simply making sense of their situation is a huge challenge in and of itself. Quite often the situation borders on a fiasco trying to find a time to occur.
Their accountant does not know anything about insurance agency accounting. Their ignorance has made a hash of the agency's records by trying to fit the square peg of agency accounting methods and systems into regular accounting methods.
The accountant not knowing agency accounting has encouraged the agency owners to withdraw too much cash causing a working capital shortage or worse, a trust account shortage.
i. The owner is about to spend a lot of money to fix them.
ii. The owner will look like a fool.
When the data is a mess but the agency owner tells the appraiser, the attorney, the IRS, or the judge: "Just trust me when I tell you what the numbers really are," the silence will be deafening. To many readers, this reads like a ludicrous statement and it is, but this is verbatim what I have heard agency owners say numerous times. Another version is, "Don't pay attention to my financials. They are wrong. Here, I'll tell you what the right numbers are." I cannot begin to write how many times I have heard agency owners speak some version of these lines. What is even more incredulous is they actually think, firmly believe, the other party is going to trust them! They actually get upset if the other party does not just take their word. They have no idea how bad they appear when they make these statements.
The agency has been creative in how they pay people including ex-owners. This appears when they buy the agency and want to deduct the price by paying the owner to do nothing. That is not exactly acceptable. The same usually goes for making producers independent contractors because your buddy advised it was a good way to save money.
"If I license everyone, it will cost me more and my staff will migrate to bigger agencies paying more." That does not go well in a deposition.
"If I do not have procedures, then the plaintiff cannot accuse me of not following procedures! I win." The agency does not really win because the result is the agency is painted as incompetent.
"We do not input data because it takes too much time." Really?
"We do not check policies because it takes too much time." Seriously?
The solution is to do the work. The reality is that doing the accounting and operating procedures correctly actually saves time in the long run. My estimate, based on the improvements I've seen with my clients, is that approximately a 20% time savings is achieved.
Hire an accountant that knows insurance agency accounting or hire someone to educate your accountant on insurance agency accounting. I have done this successfully many times and for constructive people, it is a blessing. Everyone sleeps better knowing they are doing the job right.
Do not dig your grave deeper. When you learn that you and/or your accountant has been doing the agency's accounting ineptly or fraudulently and someone points this out, do not try to explain the problem away. Absolutely do not attack the messenger. Be constructive.
Spend the time and money to purchase a better agency management system and then learn to use it. Some system's trainers are not worth $2 and you may have to find third-party trainers. My most successful agencies, in this aspect, almost always use third-party trainers.
a. Productivity increases capacity with fewer people.
Complete a real audit. Fear seems epidemic with small agencies that an audit will put them out of business, not because of the cost, but what the audit will discover. Personally, I think it makes for more sense for the auditor to discover the issues than a plaintiff attorney.
Small agencies usually work with small attorneys and many small attorneys are jacks of all trades and masters of none. They generally are not masters of insurance agency contract law.
I have trained many attorneys on insurance agency legal needs.
I can refer you to attorneys that specialize in agencies but they likely will be in a different state and you do have to pay.
It is so important to use true legal experts. I have seen generalist attorneys write contracts so the agency did not own their own book of business, the buy/sell agreement valued the agency about 2,000% higher than it should have, the agency violated their own by-laws, the owners had to sell their shares for half of their worth, obvious IRS compliance problems were created, and this is the first paragraph in a 100 page book specific to attorney incompetence.
Go to conferences with more sophisticated agencies. When you go to conventions, hang out with more sophisticated (not just larger because larger does not always mean sophisticated) agencies rather than commiserating with other small agencies. Don't believe everything you hear but dig for details from the best.
Make a mark with insurance companies. Be professional in your submissions. Tell a story. Do not just submit junk or a pile and cause the company to wade through a mess. Some companies open doors for small but professional agencies.
At the time of writing this article, my confession is that small agencies have worn me out. I am tired of fighting with agencies regarding what needs to be done with their accounting, their E&O, their carrier relations, and so forth. Almost always, they do not know what they are doing and many refuse to understand they are in a corner and do not have a choice. This is not fun.
What is fun is working with agencies of any size that are constructive and proactive. Most bigger and better agencies got bigger and better by being more constructive, listening better, and not refusing to act just because the action was difficult emotionally. They surpassed the emotion and their emotional barriers. Doing so greatly advanced their fortunes, both their monetary fortunes and the quality of their lives.
I know that for small agencies, time and money are always short. I do not know how to fix that in the short run but I know how to fix it for the long run and that is take the time to do your accounting, your data, and your procedures correctly now. Bite the bullet. The ROI is high and like the old FRAM oil filter commercial, you can pay now or pay later, but you will pay and if you wait, the cost is likely triple or more what you'll pay now. Is it time to change that filter?
"Insurtech is the 'superpower' for assessing, managing and transferring risks...All the players in the insurance arena will be InsurTech..."
One component of this "movement" is something referred to as "big data," more specifically, the miracle cure for perceived stagnant industry profits known as data analytics and predictive modeling.
There is nothing new about the importance and value of data and its wiser big brother, information. Predictability, in the aggregate, is the cornerstone of industry stability and profitability. It's the foundation of actuarial science. But, to be of value, the data must be credible and the models that use it must be predictive by more than mere correlation. And, to be usable, the data and models must meet legal requirements by being risk-based and nondiscriminatory. That's where one of my concerns lies. Just how valid and relevant is the data and how is it being used?
"Certain domain names are associated with more accidents than others. We use a variety of pieces of information to accurately produce a competitive price for our customers." -- Admiral Group in response to research by The Sun that found the insurer could charge users...extra on their car insurance, simply for using a Hotmail email account instead of a Gmail one."
This revelation came just days after The Sun ran an article accusing the UK insurer of charging drivers with non-English-sounding names up to £900 extra for their insurance. I don't know enough about insurance in the UK to opine about the potential discriminatory nature of jacking premiums on people whose names don't sound "English," but my guess is that U.S. state insurance departments likely would not look favorably on this as a rating factor.
Historically in the U.S., P&C insurance rates have been largely based on factors that are easily ascertained and confirmed. For example, the "COPE" acronym (Construction, Occupancy, Protection, and Exposure) incorporates most of the factors used in determining a property insurance rate. From the standpoint of the fire peril, frame construction is riskier than fire resistive construction. A woodworker is riskier than an office. Having a fire hydrant 2,000 ft. away from a building is riskier than one 200 ft. away. It makes sense. It's understandable. It's provable.
The risk inherent in these factors is demonstrable. The factors are understandable by consumers and business owners. It's easy to identify what insureds can do to improve their risk profile and reduce their premiums. Advice can be given on how to construct a building, install protective systems, etc., in order to reduce risk and insurance costs. Traditional actuarial models are proven commodities and state insurance regulators have the expertise and ability to evaluate the efficacy of rate changes.
This is where Insurtech and technology in general can play a valuable role. Using reliabledata on construction and size of buildings, building code inspection reports, satellite mapping for hydrant location, and so forth can have an almost immediate impact on the carrier expense side and potentially the loss component. To large extent, this is actually being done, but the search for something more (or less, if we're talking about expenses) continues.
Enter "big data" and predictive modeling, along with a horde of people who know absolutely nothing about the insurance industry but a lot about deluding gullible people with hip press releases. They tout the salvation of phone apps, AI bots, and "black box" rating algorithms with 600 variables and factors. Factors such as whether someone, according to their Facebook page or other online source, bowls in a Wednesday night mixed league where (speaking from personal experience) the focus is more on beer consumption than bowling and how that might impact the risk of an auto accident.
"Most organizations base their business decision-making on some form of data warehouse that contains carefully curated data. But big data systems typically involve raw, unprocessed data in some form of a data lake, where different data reduction, scrubbing, and processing techniques are then applied as needed."
"Just because something is now feasible doesn't mean that it's a good idea. If your customers would find it creepy to discover just how much you know about their activities, it's probably a good indication that you shouldn't be doing it."
Going back to The Sun's Admiral reports, what impression would it make on Admiral's customers if the insurer advertised, "Pay less if you have an English-sounding name!" Would any insurer proudly and publicly advertise something they're allegedly doing behind closed doors? It's like the ethical decision criteria of, what would your mother think if she knew what you were about to do? The right to do something doesn't mean that doing it is right. Does black-box algorithmic rating enable and potentially protect this practice?
Our son moved out of the house three years ago and we removed him from our insurance program, including his vehicle. He still uses the same agency (different insurer) I've used since 1973 to insure his auto, condo, and personal umbrella. Our insurer learned that his vehicle registration notice is still mailed to our address. With that information, they (i.e., their underwriting model) unilaterally concluded that he still must live here, so they added him back to our insurance program and made him the primary driver of one of our three autos (the most expensive one, of course). I'm not sure what they thought happened to his vehicle. But, of course, no one "thought" about anything. An algorithmic decision tree spit out a boiler-plated invoice.
I've been with this carrier now for four years, loss free, and paid them somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 in premiums, yet they could not invest 10 minutes of a clerical person's time to make a phone call and confirm my son's residency. Neither we nor our agent received any notice or inquiry prior to the invoice, but my agency CSR (who, thankfully, is still an empathetic human) was able to quickly fix the problem.
I have written about my personal experiences with a prior insurer involving credit scores. My homeowners premium was increased by $1,000 and, by law, I was advised that it was due to credit scoring. As it turned out, the credit reports of a Wilson couple in Colorado were used. Two years later, my homeowners premium was bumped $700 based on three "reason codes" which I was able to prove were bogus and the carrier rescinded the invoice. Now I'm being told that my current insurer's information source tells them that my son has moved back home. I realize that these tales are anecdotal, but three instances in five years? How pervasive is this misinformation?
Is this what "big data" brings to the table? Big, BAD data and voodoo presumptive (not predictive) modeling? Who really benefits from this? Anyone? One of the InsurTech buzz words going around is "transparency." What's transparent about "black box" underwriting and rating?
At a convention last year, I spoke at length to a data scientist who was formerly with IBM and is now an insurance industry consultant. Without naming names, he characterized some of the predictive models he has examined as "Rube Goldberg" constructs, with the worst ones resembling "a bunch of monkeys heading up the Manhattan Project."
Among the many problems with "black box" rating is the fact that no one may be able to explain how a particular premium was derived. No one may be able to tell someone how to reduce their premium. Perhaps most important, regulators may be unable to determine if the methodology results in rates that are unfairly discriminatory or otherwise violate state laws that require that rates be risk-based. Presumably, future rate filings will simply be a giant electronic file stamped "Trust Me."
"Big data" might be beneficial to insurers from a cost, profitability, and competitive standpoint, but it's not clear how or even if it will impact consumers in a positive way. All the benefits being touted by the data vendors and consultants accrue to insurers, not their customers. In at least one case, if you have a "non-English sounding" name, the impact is adverse. The counter argument from the apostles of big data is that the majority of people will benefit. Of course, that was arguably the logic used when schools were segregated but that doesn't justify the practice.
In the book "Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech," the author points to an investigation of a correctional facility system that used proprietary algorithms to help decide bail terms, prison sentences, and parole eligibility using various factors, some alleged to be discriminatory (e.g., arrest records of neighbors where the person lived). A Wall Street Journal article, "Google Has Chosen an Answer For You -- It's Often Wrong," demonstrated how searches often indicated a bias or manipulation by whomever constructed the algorithms being used or by how the search parameters were entered by users. Errors in building replacement cost valuations are often blamed on incompetent and/or untrained data harvesters and users...even when the data is presumed to be accurate, it can be used incorrectly.
In 2016, I wrote an article for Independent Agent magazine entitled, "The Six Worst Things To Happen To Insurance In The Past 50 Years." Number 3 on my list was the growing obsession with data vs. people. When I write about these things, I know I run the risk of being characterized as the old man on his front porch yelling at the "disrupter" kids to get out of his yard, but I don't think I'm a Luddite. I love and embrace technology.
What's next, a SnapChat invitation from an AI bot that says, "Welcome to the Insurance Matrix, Mr. Anderson"? Not yet, I hope.
One of the premier insurance educators in America on form, coverage, and technical issues; Founder and director of the Big "I" Virtual University; Retired Assoc. VP of Education and Research from Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.
Obviously, the dollar amount is important. Getting the right dollar amount is even more important (I make this distinction because in my experience, some business owners/executives and even quite a few bankers do not understand or sometimes even care about the difference between A Number and the Right Number). However, the number is arguably, especially if contested, only half of the requirement.
Depending on the reason for the business being appraised, the actual valuation report MUST meet specific parameters. If the report does not meet these parameters, the value arrived upon by the appraiser may be found meaningless or an opportunity to litigate by tax authorities or plaintiff attorneys. Just arriving at a reasonable number is completely inadequate if the report parameters are missing. It is kind of like buying the wrong insurance policy. The coverage amount might be right but coverage may not exist because the policy is wrong.
Matching the correct report with the need is vital. Not knowing or understanding the difference makes business owners vulnerable to con jobs. And many business owners are conned each and every year.
First, I advise hiring an accredited business appraiser. All accredited business appraisers must sign a code of ethics and most believe in their code. Some though do not quite believe in ethics as much as others. Some run the same con, but with accreditation. To be fair, I think some complete their reports mistakenly because they do not know any better. They are like insurance people with credentials that can barely spell insurance, much less business income coverage.
The better path is to understand the three basic types of Fair Market Value reports and to also understand the huge difference between Fair Market Value (FMV) and Fair Value (FV). FMV and FV are not synonymous. I have seen agency owners, and even accountants and attorneys treat these critical terms as if their meaning was the same. However, many courts treat the values calculated using these two terms quite differently.
Summary reports which are often referred to as letter reports (the entire valuation is in the form of a letter) or short-form reports. These reports contain little detail.
Informal or Calculation Reports. The report writing standard, the analysis, the degree of confidence that applies to these reports are all relatively low. The margin of error is relatively high. The cost of these reports should therefore be relatively low. These reports rarely discuss the applicability of different valuation methods.
Detailed, Written Reports. As the name implies, these are highly detailed reports usually combined with considerable analysis and a thorough discussion of the applicable valuation standards. These should cost the most, all else being equal.
Do not confuse a low price with high quality. Some appraisers charge a stiff penny for lower quality reports because the customer does not understand the relatively low quality. Customers tend to think the appraiser just charges less. They think they are getting a Cadillac for the price of a Chevy. They are really just getting a Chevy that might not even be new.
The con occurs when appraisers fail to offer clients options, especially the most rigorous option and clients do not know they are comparing apples to oranges when one proposal is for a lightweight appraisal and the other proposal is for a high quality, heavy weight appraisal. One cannot always tell by the price either because the con is to charge as if the lightweight appraisal will be of high quality but just enough less money to get the job.
Courts have recognized this problem to some extent. For specific purposes, especially estate taxes, the courts can actually penalize the appraiser. For most purposes though, once the valuation contract is signed, the damages will fall upon the client and not the appraiser.
I am not suggesting all reports need to meet the highest standard because they do not. When someone truly needs a decent, back of the envelop valuation that has a large margin of error that is acceptable to all parties, a low standard report should suffice. If litigation, a sale, taxes, or compensation is directly tied to the value, then usually the best option is to spend the money and obtain a high quality valuation right from the get go. Having a low quality report in the hopes that everyone will agree can only complicate the situation if a high quality report is eventually required. Then one may find they have to explain all the factors the low quality appraisal inadequately addressed.
My key point though is it pays to understand some basic valuation differences. It pays to understand that a low quality report has severely limited acceptable uses including the fact that one cannot easily dispute the resulting value because the margin of error is so acceptably high. If the calculated value is $1,000,000 plus or minus 50%, then any value between $500,000 and $1,500,000 is okay.
These are not easy differences for the uninitiated to understand either. My short summary is a summary of thousands of pages of text book differentiation. Sometimes, especially when the attorneys and accountants involved do not understand the differences, I think clients should consider hiring someone to just explain their valuation report options. The complexity goes far beyond getting a home appraised and choosing the wrong standards rarely is beneficial to any party other than the attorneys involved.


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Education/Charter Schools/Testing
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Author Topic: Education/Charter Schools/Testing (Read 72117 times)
Homer Jones
Long-time poster
Re: Education/Charter Schools/Testing
They're lucky if they get 44 kids from all of Prospect Avenue.
just watching
Homer is absolutely right, I doubt there is 44 kids from all of the HIGH-RISES on Prospect Ave. I'm guessing that what he meant, the high-rises.
If you want to find kids on Prospect Ave, they are easy to find --- just look at the old apartments on next to the hospital (#2, #8, #64), and the garden apartments across the street. I bet there is way more than 44 kids in those buildings.
Avalon Hackensack will be a great ratable, it will pay a ton of taxes to the city and create almost no burden on schools, police, and city services. This is the future of Hackensack, especially Main Street and vicinity. And I understand that Edgewater mega-developer Fred Daibes is interested in The Record campus. By all accounts, his Linden Street building is a great asset to Hackensack. He's proved himself. Daibes will sure propose something similar to Avalon Hackensack, but much bigger, and perhaps with office and retail components. Bring it on, we need it.
I certainly hope that the new administration in Hackensack is will not curtain upscale construction due to the school overcrowding issue. Without the ratables provided by new construction in urban areas, the city will be strained financially to provide the necessary city services, including schools, police, fire, etc. Hackensack is a city, it is not a suburban town. If anyone wants to know what happens to a city that fails to redevelop its downtown and its older areas, just look at all the other cities in New Jersey.
You guessed right. I was referring to the area of Prospect Avenue from Atlantic Street north to Passaic. And since I am in the neighborhood, might as well throw in Overlook also.
Yep. I agree. All the highrises on Prospect AND Overlook are putting less than 44 kids in the Hackensack school system, combined.
And Avalon Hackensack will be almost entirely empty-nesters and young couples with no kids (or maybe a baby).
I bet there will be a lot of retired couples (esp. Jewish) downsizing out of houses in Teaneck and northern Bergen County, and lots of Asians (esp. Koreans) who want to live near their favorite mall and still be not too far from Palisades Park. Add about 10% or 15% for upscale Latino's, and maybe a handful of African-Americans, and that'll be the composition of Avalon Hackensack.
Newsweek ranks Hackensack HS among top high schools in the nation
Friday June 7, 2013, 7:45 AM
BY JENNIFER VAZQUEZ
Hackensack Chronicle
Hackensack – Hackensack High School was ranked among the top high schools in the nation by Newsweek.
The process at Newsweek by which rankings were determined, involved a look at set criteria such as Advanced Placement programs, graduation rates, and college acceptance.
"It is always nice to be recognized," Hackensack High School Principal James Montesano said. "It is nice to be honored."
According to Montesano, credit must be given to all the students, staff, and faculty for all their hard work and dedication to education.
"We have a mature group of students who rise to the occasion," he said.
While Montesano is pleased with the school's latest honor, he noted that this is not the first time that Hackensack High School received such a ranking — in fact, it is the second time. HHS was previously ranked in 2009, although, Montesano pointed out, the criteria has changed.
According to Newsweek's website, the publication invited over 5,000 high schools to take part in the survey. While close to 2,500 institutions responded, Newsweek picked the top 2,000 of which Hackensack placed No. 1,374.
It is ranked among the top 1,500 high schools in the country, recognized on set criteria such as Advanced Placement programs, graduation rate, and college acceptance.
The list is based on six components: graduation rate (25 percent), college acceptance rates (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE score (10 percent), and the percentage of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/AICE course (5 percent).
Montesano further explained the process.
"We received an email [from Newsweek] saying we were preliminary screened to be a part of [the survey]," he said.
High schools that were screened, were then sent an application.
"To our surprise, we were selected [among the top]," Montesano said.
The latest honor has other district officials pleased as well.
"In terms of the announcement, it is great news for Hackensack," Interim Superintendent Joseph Abate said. "However, there is still much to be done."
Montesano agreed.
"I will not be satisfied until we are No. 1."
Email: vazquez@northjersey.com
« Last Edit: June 07, 2013, 10:08:02 AM by Editor »
hackensack_newbie
HackensackNow Regular
Here's the complete list:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html
Hackensack School District hosts community forum for superintendent search
HACKENSACK — The Hackensack School District hosted a community forum regarding the superintendent search that is currently underway.
Richard Marasco, right, and Jan Furman — both from the Leadership Advantage search firm — gathered suggestions, concerns, and questions residents had regarding the current search process for a new district leader at a community forum on June 12.
TOM HART/PHOTO
The forum, on June 12, was scheduled to give residents an opportunity to voice any questions or concerns they may have about the hiring of a new superintendent — as well as a chance to aid in the search process by providing insight as to what the community is looking for in a district leader. Two representatives from Leadership Advantage — the search firm that was hired to assist in narrowing down the pool of candidates — were present to gather information and speak to those present.
"We want to listen to your voices," Assistant Superintendent Rosemary Marks said. "We want to listen to your questions and concerns."
Richard Marasco, representative for Leadership Advantage, further added, "We are here today because we want to know Hackensack better."
He continued, "What do you like about the school system here? What don't you like? What do you want to see in the next superintendent?"
According to Marasco, the information gathered will be "part of a public document — a blue print for the board, district, school administrators, and [the firm] in order to go forward [with the search]."
Marasco also explained how the search and candidacy pool for the superintendent position changed throughout the years.
"Before we used to have about 100 people interested in a superintendent position," Marasco said. "That is not the case anymore. The pressure that comes with the position has decreased the candidacy pool. Salary caps imposed by the state have dramatically changed and play a part in less people applying [for a superintendent position]."
Resident Andrew Wright, who has two children in the Hackensack Public School system, was present during the forum. He voiced his desire for someone who will be at the helm of the district for the long-haul.
"We need someone who has staying power," Wright said. "Someone who won't feel the pressure and go right through the door….we need someone who is, probably, not close to retirement."
Marasco noted that Wright's point is a common concern throughout the community and among the district's educational staff. Over an approximate span of five years, the district has seen two superintendents — Edward Kliszus and Raymond Gonzalez — come and go before current interim Superintendent Joseph Abate was appointed on November 2011.
According to resident Ojetta Townes, an individual who understands the diversity within the student population is another matter of importance.
"We need someone who understands the diverse needs of our community," she said. "How can one implement the needs of our children while taking into consideration all the factors — cultural, racial, and economical — of our community."
Adding to the comment, resident Blanche Stuart said that an individual who focuses on all levels of the education spectrum is of significance as well.
"We have a great [Advanced Placement] curriculum, and we have special education, but what happens to the kids in the middle," she asked. "We need a leader who can focus on all the levels — not just AP and special education."
The need, and want, for someone with an "open-door" policy who is willing to address the concerns of parents was also brought up during the forum.
According to Wright, a keen focus on preparing students for the workforce should be a main goal of the next superintendent.
"One of the many challenges schools face is preparing children for the workforce," he said. "How can you prepare our children if you are preparing them for [New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge exam]? I think schools are lacking in up-to-date technology."
Stuart advised for the district to expand their search.
"We need to expand the pool of candidates," she said. "It is important to get someone committed."
Though Jan Furman, representative for Leadership Advantage, agreed with the notion of broadening the search, she did mention that there could be some slight conflicts when someone is brought in from out-of-state.
"There will be nuances with [New Jersey's] Department of Education if you get someone from out of state," Jan Furman, representative for Leadership Advantage said. "But sometimes you do have to expand the pool."
Once the search comes to an end and a candidate has been named the next superintendent, he or she will take the position come November.
Hackensack district approves building lease from Archdiocese of Newark
Friday June 28, 2013, 11:36 AM
HACKENSACK - The Hackensack School District has a lease agreement for the Padre Pio Academy building with the Archdiocese of Newark, officials said..
The Hackensack School District approved entering a five-year lease with the Archdiocese of Newark to use the now-vacant Padre Pio Academy building. The facility will now be known as the Hackensack Public Schools Early Childhood Developmental Center and will house pre-K, pre-K handicapped, and two or three special education kindergarten classes come fall.
For months district officials toyed with the idea of converting the now-vacant Catholic school into what will be known as the Hackensack Public Schools Early Childhood Developmental Center to hold the district's pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes in an attempt to alleviate student overcrowding. The board approved the five-year contract at its June 10 meeting.
The school building spans 42,069 square feet, interim Superintendent Joseph Abate said in an interview with The Chronicle.
Though the Early Childhood Developmental Center will house the entire pre-K, pre-K handicapped, and two or three special education kindergarten classes, plans could change within the year.
"A year from now, we hope to move as many kindergarten classes into the building as we can fit," Abate said.
As per the agreement between the two parties, the Hackensack district will provide a $46,667 security deposit and will pay "$54,677 a month for a total of $656,129 a year," according to Abate.
While school officials have visited the building on occasions and Abate, previously, mentioned that the school facility is in "great shape" - having been built in the 1960s and hosting a gym and auditorium - the contract gives the district the opportunity to make certain changes to bring it to code.
"Even though there is not one physically handicap student scheduled to attend the school in September," the district hopes to create handicap accessibility ramps and toilets, Abate said. Despite the fact that the district is "currently in bid" for the ramps, Abate said the project should be complete by the start of September.
The five-year lease will also allow the district time to gather additional information and come up with a more permanent solution to its growing student population. The district will look into either buying the property or constructing a new building, among other options, Abate said.
The agreement with the Archdiocese also states that the building will host CCD - or religious Catholic instruction classes, according to Abate.
Though the Archdiocese of Newark was initially disappointed in the closing of Padre Pio Academy, it takes comfort in playing a role in the education of the community it once served.
"Despite our best efforts to keep Padre Pio open, we just couldn't because of low enrollment," Kelly Marsicano, public relations specialist for the Archdiocese of Newark, said. "We are thankful the school building will still be used as a school. We are glad that we can continue, in a way, the tradition of education."
According to Marsicano, the lease will begin July 1.
Classes at the Center are set to begin September, according to Abate.
Hackensack school board removes one of its own, citing change of residence
Monday, July 15, 2013 Last updated: Monday July 15, 2013, 10:51 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
HACKENACK — The school board voted Monday to remove Trustee Kevon Larkins from office because he has moved out of the district — while Larkins protested that he had dual residences and was being targeted for political reasons.
School board members must live in the district where they serve, according to state statute, and if they move, their membership "shall immediately cease."
School officials said they had proof Larkins no longer lived at 140 Prospect Ave. — including returned packages, a police report and word from the doorman.
"Mr. Larkins no longer lives in Hackensack," said Board Attorney Richard Salkin, and, under law, "he has to resign his position."
Larkins, elected to the board last year, said he had residences in both Teaneck and Hackensack and it was his right to remain on the board. He did not say which was his primary residence.
He said he moved to Teaneck a month ago because he gained custody of his children and needed a home large enough to accommodate his family. But Larkins reported a Teaneck address on a police report as far back as January, Salkin said. The report, Larkins said, was a confidential one that he made involving his children and that it shouldn't have been released.
School officials said packages sent to Larkins' Prospect Avenue address had been returned three times in recent months and that the doorman said he no longer lived there.
Larkins countered that his name was not on the lease and that there were 300 or 400 residents in the building where he lived, so the doorman might not know him. He said he also told officials he'd pick up packages at school board offices.
Six board members voted for the resolution to remove him from office. Larkins and board member Carol Martinez voted against it. One person, Angel Carrion, was absent.
After the vote, Larkins was asked to leave the dais. He did and promptly sat in the rows of the high school auditorium where the meeting was held. He was the first person to get up to speak during public comment, where he defended himself and criticized the board.
He claimed he was targeted by the board for political reasons — because he didn't "rubber stamp" the matters that come before the board: "Because I won't play ball with their politics, they destroy me," he said.
Board member Frank Albolino said that wasn't the case: "He's not being targeted because he moved out of the district," he said. "He moved out of the district. It's that simple."
Larkins was part of divided school board marked by frequent disagreements and complaints over the past two years. Last year, he was part of a board faction that made a controversial decision not to renew contracts for three administrators, which sparked outcry from some parents and students.
He also was accused of verbally assaulting high school Principal James Montesano — one of the fired administrators — in earshot of several students during a walkout in support of the educators. The matters was made part of an ethics complaint, Salkin said.
In February, Larkins was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and terroristic threats in a domestic incident, but has denied the allegations.
School board President Veronica Bolcik McKenna said the board would soon advertise for candidates to fill the open trustee position and hoped to have a replacement before its August meeting. The board has 65 days to approve a new member. After that, the responsibility falls to the county schools superintendent.
- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Hackensack_school_board_removes_one_of_its_own_citing_change_of_residence_.html?page=all#sthash.t9XXnoD2.dpuf
I would say that Albolino nailed it. Can't get any more clear than his statement.
Hackensack Board of Education appoints new trustee
Wednesday August 14, 2013, 12:10 PM
HACKENSACK - The Hackensack Board of Education appointed a new trustee at the Aug. 12 meeting - filling the seat left vacant after the departure of Kevon Larkins.
Robin E. Coles, left, was appointed to the Board of Education on Aug. 12 - filling in the vacancy left after Kevon Larkins was ousted due to residency issues. Business Administrator and Board Secretary Mark Kramer, right, swears her in.
CHRISTOPHER TRENTO/PHOTO
According to board Attorney Richard Salkin, eight individuals came forward for the seat - including a lawyer, a retired teacher from the district, and former students.
Though the board reached out to all interested candidates to allow them the opportunity to address the public at the meeting, not all of them responded resulting in the five being present, and one candidate addressing the audience and board via telephone since she was on vacation.
Robin E. Coles was chosen for the position.
"Community service is my life," Coles, who is a pastor's wife, said when addressing the residents in attendance. "I know I can be an asset to the board. I bring a lot of compassion and look at both sides of an issue."
After the board came back from executive session and announced that Coles was chosen, she was immediately sworn in by Business Administrator and Mark Kramer, also the board's secretary.
Coles subsequently thanked all in attendance.
"I just want to say thank you," she said. "I'm committed...I'm thankful and I'm happy."
According to Coles, she has been a resident of the city for the past 21 years. She is the mother of a Hackensack High School graduate and an upcoming senior. She hopes her time with the board will bring a sense of teamwork and togetherness.
"I want to make sure we maintain cohesiveness," Coles said. "We have to work as a team...I hope to be an asset to this Board."
Board Vice President Dr. Angel Carrion, who oversaw the meeting since President Veronica Bolcik McKenna was absent, said Coles' interest in the community was a selling point in her appointment.
"What really stood out for us was her community involvement," he said. "That weighs very heavy with [the board]. She is very well spoken. She seems honest as an individual."
Fellow trustee Frank Albolino further explained why Coles was selected.
"Her community involvement was great," he said. "Plus, they always say go with your gut."
According to Salkin and Carrion, Coles will remain in the position until elections are held on April 2014.
The Hackensack Board of Education ousted trustee Larkins at the July 15 meeting, citing residency issues.
Rules dictate a member must live within the district in order to serve.
According to published article from The Record, Larkins proclaimed that he had dual residences in Teaneck and Hackensack - since he moved to Teaneck when he gained custody of his children and needed a larger home.
Six members voted to remove him, while Larkins and member Carol Martinez voted against the motion.
With the removal of Larkins there were nine members, which was still "enough board members to hold a quorum and operate" since the minimum number of members for voting matters in the elementary level is five and those pertaining to high school is six, according to a previous interview with Albolino.
- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/219582251_Hackensack_Board_of_Education_appoints_new_trustee.html?page=all#sthash.fHEVZv4K.dpuf
Hackensack Public Schools 2013 State of the Schools address by Interim Superintendent Joseph Abate.
Hackensack summer school program for preschoolers decreases performance gap
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday September 3, 2013, 6:45 AM
HACKENSACK — Summer school is traditionally for students who haven't completed coursework, failed tests, or just didn't meet marks in their classes.
In Hackensack, summer school now targets a student population that doesn't even do homework: preschoolers.
The school district this summer began a program for children entering kindergarten who lagged behind their peers, because they didn't go to preschool, their preschool's standards fell short, or they simply needed extra help.
"We do have a number of children who come to us in kindergarten who have not had the opportunity to be in preschool," Superintendent Joseph Abate said in his 2013 address on the state of the district. "These children find themselves behind right away."
The summer school program is rooted in the belief that early-childhood education is critical to students' success, can help close achievement gaps, and can put students on the right track.
Researchers also say high-quality early-childhood education is a long-term investment that pays off as students become adults and enter the workforce at a more stable starting place.
"If there's one thing we need to do, it's to invest in early-childhood years as much as possible and not cut back," said Rosemary Marks, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Hackensack school district.
President Obama has made universal pre-K a priority and this year unveiled a $75 billion plan over the next 10 years for high-quality, full-day preschool for income-eligible families. It would be funded with a new federal tax on tobacco products and cost-sharing with states.
The summer school program in Hackensack, which served about 70 students in half-day classes over four weeks in July, cost $30,000. Parents who registered their children for kindergarten in the district were invited to apply and their children were given assessment tests. Those most in need of help were placed in the program.
Some had gone though the district's public half-day preschool program during the school year, which serves 120 students, but needed reinforcement of skills they'd learned or had poor attendance. Others never went to preschool or went where the standards weren't the same as those in the district.
The early education helps students catch up with classmates and helps lower the performance gap among children of varying income levels and race, Marks said.
"We spend an inordinate amount of funds and time trying to help students later in the middle-school years and even high school to make up for gaps," she said. "This is really about creating more equity across the board so more students have access to opportunity."
While a summer school program can help, it won't address a lack of, or inadequate, education, said W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research.
"It's better than nothing," he said, "but it's too little, too late to impact the kind of things they're talking about – language and social and emotional development, and not just simple literacy skills."
But that speaks to a greater problem – the lack of public preschool education and the inadequate education at most preschools.
"States need to be playing a bigger role so districts aren't doing this by themselves," Barnett said. "That's why, of course, the president proposed federal support for preschool for all kids."
New Jersey has been a leader in providing free preschool to at-risk urban children since passing the School Funding Reform Act of 2008. But thousands of children outside the state's 31 poorest cities don't get the education they are entitled to under the law, according to a survey released earlier this year by Advocates for Children of New Jersey.
Email: adely@northjersey.com
- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/222120531_Hackensack_summer_school_program_for_preschoolers_decreases_performance_gap.html?page=all#sthash.Gcua8pgp.dpuf
Hackensack hires superintendent and middle school principal
HACKENSACK – The Board of Education has signed a five-year contract with the city's new school superintendent in a measure that officials and parents hope will bring continuity to the district.
Karen Lewis, an assistant superintendent in Highland Park, will start work as district superintendent on Dec. 1, earning $167,500 annually.
The board voted to hire Lewis and middle school Principal Corey Jones last week and finalized their contracts on Monday. Lewis' contract is longer than previous ones in order to address a key concern in the community about turnover in administration, said board member Veronica Bolcik McKenna.
"One of the strong messages we got from staff, administrators and the community was [they were] looking for stability and that's how we thought we could bring stability," she said.
Since Superintendent Edward Kliszus left in June 2011, the district has been served by two interim superintendents. The current one, Joseph Abate, leaves Nov. 30.
The board interviewed eight people for the superintendent job. Lewis' references and interviews showed her to be fair, personable, a good communicator, and someone who works well with teams, Bolcik McKenna said.
Eight trustees voted unanimously for her hire; two didn't vote because of conflicts of interest. Lewis has been assistant superintendent in Highland Park for the past five years and is a certified business administrator.
Lewis said she was impressed by Hackensack's programs.
"Hackensack interested me because it is a large, very diverse community, and I think it offers a great program and a quality academic program," she said. "I'd like to be part of moving that tradition forward."
Lewis said she will focus on getting the district accustomed to state changes in standardized tests and a new method for reporting test scores.
Corey Jones started as the principal of Hackensack Middle School last week. He was principal at Somerville High School in Somerset County for about two years until March, when he resigned because of "different visions of leadership," he said. He has also been an assistant principal in West Orange.
His contract runs though the end of June. Jones will earn $159,363 annually. He replaces David Petrella, who was chosen over the summer as the athletic director for Hackensack High School.
Jones was chosen from four finalists, Bolcik McKenna said. She said he came across "as a positive leader" who had strengths in curriculum, scheduling and programming.
Jones said he wants to transition students to the "reality of 21st century learning" by encouraging learning through inquiry and through subject connections.
"The world is changing quite rapidly and we need to prepare students for occupations that may not exist now," he said.
- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/223580111_Hackensack_hires_superintendent_and_middle_school_prinicpal.html?page=all#sthash.3mlWQs9A.dpuf
In Hackensack, Athetics Director is a higher career position than being a school principle. Pathetic. And what does that say to the kids, what are the priorities in life ? Education or sports.
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advances to 1st major final in Paris
Associated PressJun 10, 2021, 12:25 PM EDT
PARIS — Tour veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova endured long stretches where she didn't enjoy tennis, and because her consistency and confidence were so elusive she considered calling it a career.
Her persistence paid off Thursday, when the 29-year-old Russian advanced to her first Grand Slam final by beating unseeded Tamara Zidansek at the French Open, 7-5, 6-3.
Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 31st, is playing in her 52nd major tournament and her 14th French Open. She had been 0-6 in major quarterfinals before finally surmounting that hurdle on Tuesday, and she was steadier than the big-swinging Zidansek in their semifinal.
"I wanted this so much that right now I don't feel anything," Pavlyuchenkova told the crowd in French.
Pavlyuchenkova was a top 20 player as a teen, but only now will she play for a major title against the winner of Thursday's second match – between No. 17-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece and unseeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
It was only the second time in the professional era that there were four first-time Grand Slam women semifinalists at a major tournament and the first time since the 1978 Australian Open.
Even so, the quality of play in the first match was as enjoyable as the warm, cloudless weather. The 85th-ranked Zidansek, who this week became the first Slovenian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, was the better player for much of the first set, moving well and hitting the more aggressive groundstrokes.
But Pavlyuchenkova won the most important points, and Zidansek dumped consecutive shaky serves into the net to lose the set.
Pavlyuchenkova's groundstrokes carried more sting in the second set as she raced to a 4-1 lead. Her first sign of nerves came as she double-faulted twice, including on break point, to make it 4-3, but she broke back and easily served out the victory.
"Tennis is such a mental sport," she said. "That's what is really hard about tennis."
Pavlyuchenkova, who has won 12 tour titles, will climb back into Top 20 next week for first time since January 2018.