The Scoop

Chugach Families,

The third quarter has really flown by! It’s hard to believe that in a couple of weeks, we’ll be done with our extended school day, starting spring break, and looking forward to the longer days and warmth that come with this time of the year. March will be a busy time for Chugach as after Spring Break, we will be practicing for the new combined AK STAR/MAP test when we return to school and then beginning the testing the last week of March. The AK STAR/MAP testing replaces the old State of Alaska summative assessment and combines it with the MAP benchmark. In other words, instead of having 3rd-6th-grades do two separate rounds of testing in the spring, there will now only be one round of testing. This takes a lot of pressure off of students and schools to set aside the weeks of time we used to take just to accomplish the same goals.

I want to thank all of the staff, students, and parents who wrote letters and emails to support Chugach being able to retain our full eleven teachers staff for the next school year. I will know by the end of this week if we are able to retain all eleven teachers.

As always, please make sure your children come dressed for the weather. We’ve had a lot of middle and upper students coming out to recess without hats and gloves. We all know that springtime in Anchorage can mean anything from rain to snow to sunshine at any given time.

Have a great March, and I’ll see you around the building.

March 1 - School Assembly: Jump Rope Team (8:30am)

March 2 - Read Across America Day - Guest Readers (1:00pm)

March 3 - Upper Portfolio Share (10:45am); EARLY RELEASE DAY (11:45am); Art Night (6pm)

March 7 & 8 - UPPERS: Campbell Creekk Outdoor School

March 9 - Middle Portfolio Share (8:10am), Upper Hootenanny (10:30am in Gym), Kindy Bread Sale (3:15pm)

March 10 - In-service (NO SCHOOL)

March 13-17 - SPRING BREAK (NO SCHOOL)

March 20 - First day of 4th Quarter - return to regular school day schedule (pick-up @ 2:50pm)

March 24 - Science Share

March 27 - Community Assembly Meetings (5:30pm)

March 31 - EARLY RELEASE DAY (11:15am)

Wow!! Thank you for your support of the American Heart Association and our Kids Heart Challenge jump rope event!

We had over 70 students participate and with your help, they raised over $11,000.00! We have made a life-saving difference for people in our own community and across the Nation!

Our top earner this year was Rachel Retzinger who raised $1548.00! Amazing!

I am so impressed with all who raised money, whatever the amount! They helped others and jumped rope for almost an hour, being physically active as well as generating monetary support.

I love the generosity of our Chugach Community! Thank you so much!

Thursday, March 2nd is Read Across America Day as well as being the birthday of the loveable Dr. Seuss! We will be celebrating by having a spirit day. Dress up like anything related to Dr. Suess and/or characters in his stories.

Also, on Thursday afternoon, students will get to enjoy some stories read by guests from the newly founded Anchorage Wolverines. The Wolverines are associated with the North American Hockey League.

February was a busy month and we have so many people we would like to thank!

• To our Battle of the Books parent coaches and staff mentors - thank you for working with our students over the last 5 months to prepare for this event.
• Thank you to the parents and staff that came out to help at the Alternative School Expo to represent our school and share your Chugach experience with potential new families!
• To the many members of the community who assisted with the huge success of Mini-Course Day - thank you for sharing your time, talents, and knowledge with our students! We would especially like to thank the Mini-course Committee that pulled the whole day together!
• Thank you to all the parents that volunteered their time to host the Tuesday morning school tours for incoming families.
• Finally, a special thank you to Polly for training and chaperoning our students at the Junior Youth Native Olympics!

Our school supply of extra winter gear and clothing available for students to borrow when needed has gotten very low. Part of this is because students are not returning items back to Nurse Maya after being borrowed. Borrowed winter gear should be returned after lunch time recess. Other clothing borrowed should be returned to Nurse Maya after it has been laundered.

If you have any of the following items that your kids have outgrown and you would like to donate to the school, please reach out to Nurse Maya.

Items Needed:

Winter gloves or mittens - all sizes

Sweat pants - all sizes

Socks all sizes

Boy’s underwear

Winter boots - various sizes

The Chugach Science Share is our non-competitive Science Fair that challenges students to practice the scientific method with their own experiment and share their findings with our Chugach community. ALL students are invited to participate, completing a science project and meeting a Science Mentor on Science Share night, and 5th and 6th grade students are strongly encouraged. More information about Science Share - and how you can get involved - will be sent out in the next few days.

Wow!! There were over 600 1st through 6th grade students who participated this past weekend in the Native Youth Olympics. They came from all over Alaska – big cities, small towns and villages to compete in various events like the stick pull, 2 foot high kick, scissors broad jump and others. The games focus on healthy competition and encourage the athletes to help each other as they perform to the best of their ability. Chugach had over thirty-two students signed up to participate in the Games.

Congratulations to the following athletes they did an exceptional job representing our school!

Our First and Second Grade Team:

Kneel Jump: Arden Bressler, Briar Miller, Freya Bennie, Raiden Okamoto, Hamlin Harvey and Odin Tschida

Eskimo Stick Pull: Ava O’Brien, Charlotte Ward-Massey, Arden Bressler, Colton Bowen, John Roberson and Lucas Furin

Seal Hop: Sadira Alsdorf, Teia Barber, Arden Bressler, Odin Tschida, Austin Wells and Holden Selhay

Our Third and Fourth Grade Team:

Wrist Carry: Luka Rose, Ethan Shroyer

Two Foot High Kick: Zoe Witt, Ethan Shroyer, August Shroyer, Neri O’Malley-Boario

Arm Pull: Adalyn Okamoto, Elizabeth Bristol, Zoe Witt, Lucas Serrano Gaudet

Our Fifth and Sixth Grade Team:

Eskimo Stick Pull: Olga Grunwaldt, Ella O’Brien, Muse Doherty-Ballou, David Bristol, Simon Demarest

Alaskan High Kick: Samantha Sierks, Olga Grunwaldt

Scissors Broad Jump: Hana Varnell, Ella O’Brien, Linnea Wells, Simon Demarest, Liam Miller

One Foot High Kick: Hana Varnell, Ella O’Brien, Olga Grunwaldt, Simon Demarest, Liam Miller

Extra special recognition goes to Liam Miller who placed 5th in the Scissors Broad Jump, Ella O’Brien who placed 2nd in the Eskimo Stick Pull, Simon Demarest who placed 3rd in the Eskimo Stick Pull, Arden Bressler who placed 5th in the Kneel Jump and 3rd in the Eskimo Stick Pull, and Lucas Furin who placed 3rd in the Eskimo Stick Pull.

I enjoyed coaching all these athletes in their events! I am so proud of them in how they competed, helped others, and encouraged all!

Parking Etiquette

• Please refrain from parking in any of the "RESERVED" parking spots, the fire lane or the loading dock area. We know parking is tight and the weather is cold, but for safety and courtesy reasons these areas/spots must be respected. Chugach families are welcome to park at the New Hope Church across the street and in the Municipal EOC parking lot but please do not park in their reserved parking areas and be mindful of your speed at all times.

Attendance

• All students arriving after 8:15 am must sign-in at the office to avoid the truancy robocall
• If your child is going to be out of school for the day please contact the office before 9:30 am at 907-742-3730
• More details on Attendance can be found here

Parent/Visitor Sign-in

• All parents, visitors, and volunteers who are going to be in the school after 8:30 am need to sign in at the office.

Outer wear

• All students need to have proper winter gear when going outside for recess.
• For Kinder, Primary and Middle, this means boots, snow pants, jackets, hats, and gloves.
• For Uppers, they must have boots, jackets, hats, and gloves (although snow pants are recommended as well).
• Students who don’t have the proper gear with them and can’t find something that fits from Nurse Maya will be spending their recess sitting on the benches by the front office.

Please encourage your student(s) to be prepared.

Opportunities

• We are still in need of several Noon Duty attendants and a Cafe Manager at the school. Please go to the ASD website to apply if interested in these positions.

The Chugach Optional Office is open from 7:30am - 4:00pm every school day. We can be reached at 907-742-3730 or by email at ChugachOffice@asdk12.org

Email: chugachoffice@asdk12.org
Location: 1205 E Street, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-3730