🕗Daily Schedule: Mondays 9:00AM - 1:45PM (doors open at 8:30; Tues - Fri 8:00AM to 1:45PM (doors open at 7:30AM)

After-school hours: Mon - Thurs 1:50PM - 4:00PM (beg.Aug 26th)

• Pancakes for Breakfast: Tues, Sept. 10th
• Community Connect (for parents and students): Thurs, Sept 19th

• Family Engagement Night (Title 1): Thurs., Sept. 26th, 6:00PM - 7:30PM

Congratulations to these students for exemplifying Burchell's values and habits of success! ⭐

School values: Respect, Relationships, and Resilence

Whole Student Outcomes: Resilience, Agency, Self-direction, Curiosity, Purpose

Aidyn Cash - Focus and sense of purpose

Alexis Harvey - Helpful and sense of agency

Jason Pickering - Resilience and communication

Julia Steele - Going above and beyond

Kent Rhinehart - Resilience

Kenten Atwater - Self-direction

Preston Unin - Self-direction

Qatlu Rood - Resilience

Richard Franco - Relevence of school and ambition

Zoe Rivera - Self-direction

Burchell is a Title 1 school, and each year, districts and Title I schools are required to provide specific information to parents, as well as opportunities for them to be involved in the educational decisions that impact their children. For example, you have the right to inquire about the professional qualifications of your child’s teacher and/or paraprofessional. This information is explained in the letter in this link.

The results from the Spring 2024 AK STAR and Alaska Science administration are now available for you to view in ParentVUE if your child tested in Mat-Su in spring 2024. Directions on how to view these reports are attached as well as the Family Guide to Assessment Reports. If your child tested in another district in Alaska in spring 2024, you will need to contact the previous district for results.

• How to view AK STAR & Alaska Science Individual Student Reports in ParentVUE
• Family Guide: AK STAR Assessment Reports, Spring 2024
• Family Guide: Alaska Science Assessment Reports, Spring 2024

LEAD After-School is a free program funded by a federal grant that allows students to earn high school credit while learning, developing leadership, and having fun! Our classes this quarter are:

• Coding
• One Health
• Creative Writing
• Painting
• Construction
• MATH Tutoring
  
• General Tutoring
  

LEAD after-school is held MONDAY-THURSDAY from 1:45 PM - 4:00 PM at Burchell High. Busing is available! Quarter 1 classes will run from Monday, August 26 through Thursday, Oct. 17 at Burchell High. Some these classes have limited seating, so sign up today!

1:45 - 2:18 Supper (free) and Open Gym

2:20 - 4:00 Class Time

LEAD After-School is a project-based, hands-on program funded by the 21st CCLC Federal Grant that we were awarded three years ago. This program allows us to offer classes after school that we normally would not be able to offer because of our limited schedule and resources. These classes offer students the opportunity to earn high school credits while learning critical leadership and social skills. Students learn how to lead classroom activities, collaborate with their peers, and solve problems as they collectively work on projects that demonstrate a content skill. This is not lecture hour or time to sit and wait for the clock to tick by. These are engaging courses that get shy students out of their shell and give outgoing students a chance to use their social skills to create a memorable experience as they earn credits towards graduation.

Students enrolled in LEAD can also take advantage of tutoring four days of week--either general tutoring where they can work independently with a teacher available for support, or math tutoring, where a math teacher will work with each student and figure out a plan to overcome the challenges they are facing in class. Students can enroll in tutoring 2 to 4 days a week. Also, if students are taking hands-on classes, they are also allowed to spend some time in tutoring if they are struggling in a class.

LEAD Schedule: Student go to the gym right after school for another meal, to hang out, or participate in open-gym basketball. At 2:15, they head to class or tutoring. Classes go from 2:20 - 4:00 PM. From 4:00 - 4:05, students exit.

If a parent or student needs to report a behavior, threat, or suspicious activity, or really doesn't know where else to turn, the distict has a new tip/support app called STOPit. You can make an anonymous tip that our school's leadership team will receive. There is no need to type in a code; simply type in Burchell as the school. There is also an incident response center that is available 24/7 if a student in crisis needs to talk to someone. Anything that is reported regarding student safety will be discussed with a student's parent/guardian. Reach out if you have questions.

We are excited that school is starting! One of the main things that drives us at Burchell is providing students hope through education. Part of that job is focusing on what is important and eliminating unneeded stress, which is why we have fewer classes to juggle in both programs and why we require Chromebooks instead of textbooks and lockers. However, students need their Chromebooks every day. Please check with your student that they have their Chromebook and charger every day. Call the office if this is a problem.

As far as other supplies, all they need is some paper and something to write with, (though we can help with these if it is a problem).

And the best way that parents/guardians can support Burchell is making sure students show up. We have an incredible staff--all the same teachers as last year! They truly love what they do and want to help your student achieve their goals and dreams. We just need students to show up every day and we will do everything we can to make this their best year of school ever.

In our Gradient Learning program, formerly known as Summit Learning, we have updated our phone policy. Students will need to put their phones in a 'phone locker' in each class. Several schools in the Valley, and nationally, have moved to stricter phone policies as personal devices have continued to disrupt students' education. These phone 'lockers' are simple lock boxes to stow phones while students work in class. If a student needs to make an important phone call, they can put in a pass to the office. Or if there is a medical reason to access a phone, please call the school. Students will be able to take their phones from class to class and check their messages at that point, but if you need to get a hold of your student please call the front office at 907-864-2621.

One of the critical keys of success in one of our credit recovery program, ABLE, has been our phone policy. Students in ABLE put their phones in lock boxes all day long. Not only has this policy worked, but ABLE is the most efficient credit recovery program in the district and has expanded to multiple sites. While our Gradient Learning's policy isn't quite as strict, we are hoping to see less distractions and more learning in all of our classes this year. Please call if you have questions.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

In June, the School Board adopted a new dress code policy for the district that applies to all schools and students. BP 5144.1. The most notable adjustments are below:

• e. Clothing that is overly revealing is not allowed. This includes shirts/dresses that are low cut, sleeveless shirts that do not cover undergarments, or that are not long enough to cover the waistband. The midriff/stomach cannot be visible.

• f. Pants/shorts/skirts/dresses must cover the legs to mid-thigh. Holes in pants must be below mid-thigh. All undergarments must remain covered. No clothing may be see-through or transparent.

• g. Attire that resembles non-human characteristics is prohibited.
  

We understand that the clothing industry drives the current teen trends and this can create a headache, but the above adjustments to the policy are in line with most dress codes around the nation and we want to make sure that students who graduate from Burchell High School can navigate any professional environment they encounter in the future, including dress code standards.

Keep in mind, if a student shows up to Burchell in violation of our dress code and say they have no other options that morning, be assured that we will do everything we can to accommodate their needs with something from our supply of donated clothing. And if you have any questions about the above policy, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thanks,

Dan Hietala, Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am writing to provide you with an update on the ongoing process of the MSBSD Library Citizens Advisory Committee regarding the evaluation of challenged books in our school libraries.

Since August 2023, the Library Citizens Advisory Committee has diligently worked on reviewing challenged books to ensure their appropriateness for our school libraries. All of the committee's recommendations and subsequent board decisions regarding these books are available on the District’s website for your reference. (https://matsuk12us.finalsite.com/instructional-departments/teaching-and-learning/library-citizens-advisory-committee)

To date, the Library Citizens Advisory Committee has made a number of recommendations to the School Board. Relying upon those recommendations, the School Board has already instructed the District to remove specific titles from circulation and return specific titles to circulation. With respect to some of the titles, the School Board remanded the matter to the Administration to make a final decision regarding whether the title is obscene, and if not, which libraries should retain the title. The books that will be returning to circulation at Burchell High School include the following books:

Book Title and Author:

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruell

With respect to each of the remanded titles above, the School District conducted an internal review and has concluded that none of the works would meet the criminal obscenity standard set forth under Alaska Law. The School District instructed its library staff to return the remanded titles to circulation in both middle schools and high schools.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind parents of our commitment to Board Policy 6020, which recognizes that parents and guardians are key stakeholders in their children’s education—they are their children's first and most influential teachers. In congruence with this and other Board Policies, our District provides parents and guardians the option to become more involved in your student’s reading choices. In ParentVUE through online registration, parents have the option to restrict library book check-out.

The Library Citizens Advisory Committee’s work continues. By the end of this fiscal year, I anticipate the Committee will have delivered approximately forty book title recommendations to the School Board. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or the Office of Teaching and Learning.

Sincerely,

Dan Hietala, Principal

Gradient Learning is the new name of our alternative 9 - 12th grade program at Burchell. Summit Learning was an offshoot of Gradient Learning, a non-profit organization that provides our learning platform, curriculum, and training. The focus of Gradient Learning, like Summit, is to improve the instructional experience for students so that they achieve more and acquire learning habits that make them better students along the way. Even more so than Summit Learning, Gradient is committed to developing resilience, confidence, self-direction, curiosity, and purpose in an authentic way.

Besides a brand change, Gradient will be housed on Canvas, a much more robust learning management system and platform that will give you easier access to your students academic progress, along with a more common-sense understanding of it. We will provide you instructions to have your student's progress sent directly to your email in a future newsletter, so stay tuned!

We are a Title 1 school, and as part of our partnership to make this a successful school for your student, we would like you to review the state's report card to the public regarding Burchell's '22-'23 school data. Feel free to call or email if you have questions. Click on the link below to read our letter to you regarding the report card. Click this link to review our report card yourself.

Click here for the letter

DEED has recently released graduation rates for last year, though its report card to the public has not been updated yet. Click this link in order to view the full report from DEED from previous years. You can also review our school district's data in DEED's publication from this link. The good news is that for the second straight year our graduation rate has gone up!

2023 - 2024

Grad Rate - Unreported (expected in Oct)

2022 - 2023

Grad Rate -78.6%

Attendance - 85.58%

Dropout rate - 12.86%

2021 - 2022

Grad Rate - 73.49%

Attendance - 81.37%

Drop out rate - 13.14%

2020 - 2021

Grad Rate - 61.54%

Attendance - 80.60%

Drop out rate - 14.21%

As you can see, we improved as a school in every category, and significantly improved in our graduation rate, a 17% increase in two years. Even though we strive to help every student graduate, for an alternative school, these are good numbers, especially since as little as five years ago we had a 50% graduation rate.

While these numbers are going in the right direction, the Burchell staff is working collaboratively every day to improve student learning and success. Feel free to give us feedback on ways we can improve your student's learning experience because that is why we are here!

Regarding busing and busing delays or cancelation, Burchell is Region 3, though we have students from five regions who attend our school, so it can be very confusing! If your boundary school/bus zone is closed, there is no need to call the school to excuse your student. We will go ahead and mark them remote (but call us if your address is not up to date in our system or if we make a mistake).

Burchell will stay open unless Region 3 or all of the schools are closed, in which case I will always notify parents when we are closed or remote. Here is a link to all of the regions from the Matsu website. And below is a cheatsheet for all high school regions.

REGION #1: Palmer High, Valley Pathways

REGION #2: Colony High, Mat-Su Middle College

REGION #3: Burchell High, Mat-Su Career & Tech HS, Mat-Su Central, Mat-Su Day School, Wasilla High

REGION #4: Redington Jr/Sr High

REGION #5: Houston High

REGION #6: Su-Valley Jr/Sr High

REGION #7: Glacier View School

Burchell students have an advantage with remote days because all of their daily work is already on one of two platforms, Summit Learing or Google Classroom (for ABLE). The hope is that students have their chromebooks at home and can use them to either catch up if they are at all behind, or get a bit ahead. Teachers for both programs will be available on remote days for questions via their school email during regular school hours today, so they should not hesitate to reach out.

There will be no penalty, however, if the circumstances of a remote day prevents students from working at home. But remote days are not made up, so if students are not able to make progress, it decreases the amount of time in the quarter to complete their work.

Summit Students

On any remote day, Summit students should log into their classes and work on checkpoints or projects as much as they can, especially if they are behind or missed any recent days of school. If they are in math, they should log into ALEKS and either catch up in their weekly minutes and topics or move forward with their next lessons.

ABLE Students

ABLE students have all of their classwork at their disposal, including math on ALEKS. ABLE students should use a remote day as an opportunity to get closer to their ILP goals, especially since every day counts when catching up with credits or trying to graduate on time.

When and why do I get automatic attendance calls?

• If your student is tardy or absent, even if they are excused, the automated system from the district will call you.

When and why do I get texts and/or emails from Burchell?

• If your student has an unexcused absence, our secretary will send out a text and/or email. We need you to excuse your student if there is a legitimate reason for him/her being tardy or absent. Please do not excuse students who simply get up late or don’t leave the house on time.

How do I excuse my student through ParentVue?

• You must log into the system and excuse your student through ParentVue no later than 8AM, or before our first bell. If it is after this time, ParentVue will not allow you to enter an excused absence or tardy.

How do I excuse my student for an upcoming trip or activity?

• Have your student request paperwork from the counselor or front office. This paper must be signed by the teachers, counselor, and principal.

Why and what happens if I get a 5-day unexcused absence letter?

• That means your student has had five days where the parent or guardian did not call in or come into the school to excuse the student. This could lead to an intervention and team meeting to help resolve the attendance issue.

What happens if I receive a 10-day unexcused absence letter?

• This is a serious matter where the student’s academic success at Burchell is at risk. Set up a meeting with the principal and counselor immediately to discuss the situation and come up with a plan to keep Burchell a viable option.

Why do I get phone calls from the front office about tardies?

• If a student has had more than three unexcused tardies, you should expect a phone call from the front office. This normally results in lunch detention. If unexcused tardies continue, it will result in a meeting with the principal.

To join Burchell requires three steps. Please click the links below:

1. Most importantly, register in ParentVue as soon as possible. This will determine the space we have and reserve your student's spot. We are as small school and fill up fast.

2. Secondly, fill out our online agreement form for the program you want your student enrolled in. 9-12 alternative program: Link for Gradient Learning (formerly Summit). Credit Recovery: Link for ABLE.

3. If the student is new to the school, our counselors will schedule an intake, beginning July 31st.

If you have any questions, please call us at 907-864-2601, or stop by during our summer office hours of 8:30 - 2:00PM!

2023/2024 School Year Inhalers, EpiPens, Seizure medication, Regular Medication Procedure

Our district requires new Medication Authorizations, Anaphylaxis Plans, Asthma Action Plans, Diabetic Plans, and Seizure Action Plans signed and filled out by your provider after June 30th, 2023. Any medication that must be given at school must be delivered to school by a parent or guardian and must have a complete Medication Authorization form from the student's provider.

2023/2024 Religious Exemption forms:

Every year all Religious Exemption forms will expire on June 30th. If your child plans to return to the Mat-Su school district in the fall, you will need a new Religious Exemption form signed and notarized after July 1st for the coming school year.

State regulated Immunization requirements:

All students must be up to date with their immunizations or have a current Religious Exemption form to attend school. Please have your child up to date prior to the first day of school to prevent them from being excluded and missing any school days.

Student progress is viewable in the Gradient Learning Canvas Platform. In Gradient, we are on a quarter system. That means most semester classes are condensed to a quarter. For every class students pass with an A, B, or C, they will earn a half credit at the end of a quarter. All math classes, on the other hand, are full length semesters for each half credit. Gradient students spend twice as much time in math, and as a result they are enrolled in math strategies each semester. This is earned primarily by putting time into the ALEKS math program that fills in learning gaps. (Students must put in 100 minutes per week for math strat. and can make up time at home.)

• ParentVue: This is where you will find grades for the courses your student has completed. Each letter grade equals a half credit towards graduation. An incomplete means the student has not completed their work for the course, or needs to make corrections.

• Math classes: Math classes are on a regular semester schedule rather than quarter. As a result, they do not have an official progress grade. However, you can see whether your student is green (on track) or red (behind). In order to access your student’s Canvas view, click on the link below and follow the directions. If you need help, email our counselor Ms. Burke at lisa.burke@matsuk12.us.

Grades in ABLE will always show up as completed grades. ParentVue will show the grade of every class a student has completed in ABLE, but it will not show classes in progress. Nor will it tell you if your student is on track to either graduate or catch up in credits by the end of the year.

In order to know if your ABLE student is Green (on track), Yellow (off track), or Red (at risk), you can call or email your student's mentor teacher. If you would like to know everything about your student's progress, goals, and credit check, you can also request access to their ILP (Individualized Learning Plan). You will need to email your student's mentor teacher and provide a Gmail account because the ILP is a Google document. Below are the mentor teachers:

lisa.boswell@matsuk12.us

simon.nashold@matsuk12.us

deborah.magoon@matsuk12.us

If your student struggles to stay caught up, ther are multiple ways to catch up at Burchell.

• Sign up for after school tutoring through the LEAD program four days a week, 2 - 4PM - Sign up here.
• Tuesday through Friday, students can make progress in any class they are behind in during SDL or 4C's. SDL meets for 60 mintues, four days a week.
• For students who need even more help, counselors can sign up students for Success Highways. This is a tutoring study hall scheduled throughout the day. Students would also participate in a resiliency curriculum to earn credit for this class as well.

We will do whatever we can to help your student succeed! Just let us know how we can help!

• Every student has a unique Individualized Learning Plan, or ILP. Each ILP shows a student’s number of credits, what they have completed for the year, and what their goals and plan are for each week, month, and quarter. A student’s mentor can share the ILP with the parent, as long as the parent has a Gmail account and requests access. Once shared, you will receive an invite through your Gmail to open the ILP. It will be easier to do this if you also download the Google Drive and Google Sheets apps to your phone, if accessing by a phone.

• Here are the mentor teachers to email to request access: lisa.boswell@matsuk12.us; simon.nashold@matsuk12.us; deborah.magoon@matsuk12.us

Even with the best of intentions, conflicts arise in class and miscommunication can happen. These are the steps you can take when a student needs to resolve a conflict with a staff member:

• The student and/or parent should speak with their mentor teacher and discuss the issue.
• If the problem is with the mentor teacher, or the issue does not get resolved:
• The student and/or parent should meet with, call, or email the student’s counselor.
• The counselor will discuss the issue with the student and set up a restorative meeting with the staff member. The parent can choose to be involved in the meeting.
• If the problem persists, the student and/or parent should contact the appropriate principal and set up a meeting. For Summit, contact Mr. Hietala. For ABLE, contact Mr. Carte.

In Alaska, in accordance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, district Title I, Part A schools are required to provide timely notice to parents when students have been assigned or taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable state certification or licensure requirements at the grade level(s) and subject area(s) in which the teacher has been assigned. ESSA Sec. 1112 (e)(1)(B)(ii) Click HERE to find a list of teachers that are currently teaching in an area that they are working to get certified in on our District website

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your building Principal.

Whenever there is a remote day, here are the instructions:

For remote days, both Summit and ABLE will have different instructions. Summit will have the following Zoom schedule for classes:

1st period: 8:30 - 9:00

2nd period: 9:10 - 9:40

3rd period: 9:50 - 10:20

4th period: 10:30 - 11:00

ABLE students will need to log into their Academic Strategies class and set goals for the classes they are working on and then make progress. They will NOT have Zoom classes since each student is working on different classes.

In both programs, students should reach out by email if they get stuck. Students can make significant progress in both programs from home, and need to take advantage of the time to catch up.