September is upon us and we received some amazing news on Tuesday, September 19! Bear Valley Elementary School received the US Department of Education Blue Ribbon School Award. After a nomination in the spring of 2023, we worked to complete the necessary paperwork, unsure if we would be awarded the honor. We were so excited to find out on Tuesday that we are once again a Blue Ribbon School. Find out more information here: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html

Bear Valley will officially receive the Blue Ribbon School award at the ceremony in Washington DC in mid-November. We plan to have our own school and community celebration here at Bear Valley at the end of November. Thank you to all the staff, students, families and past and present administration who have and continue to make our school an amazing place to learn and grow. We were awarded the Blue Ribbon back in 2015 and I know we have continued to hold high expectations for educational excellence since then. This is an honor we can all continue to be proud of.

As September continues, you will hear more about the Alaska Reads Act and the process for helping ensure all students are successful including creating individual reading plans for students who are below proficient in reading. Please see below for more information regarding the AK Reads Act and an opportunity to learn more with me later in the month at a Coffee Chat about our interventions for students.

Thank you for partnering with us in education! We are a lucky school!

Go Cubs!

Mrs. Scherer

Principal

It is a goal of the Anchorage School District to create and maintain a safe and secure environment in our schools. To that end, each school has a set of procedures and practices in place designed to provide direction for staff and students. Students are instructed on what to do in the event of an emergency. Safety drills (earthquake, evacuation, lock down and/or stay put) are held on a regular basis to practice and review our procedures. An evacuation plan is posted in each classroom and at various locations throughout the building. When the alarm sounds, children leave the rooms in single file and proceed along the designated routes in a quiet, orderly fashion to safe areas where they will remain in class groups to facilitate accounting. During fire drills, all persons, including adults in the school, are to leave the building and participate in the activity.

Another type of drill we practice is ALICE. Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. Conversations about the procedures are age-appropriate for students. For example, younger elementary students may be told to look at their teacher for direction on what to do, such as evacuate or lockdown and all scenarios are practiced in an age-appropriate manner. Our first ALICE drill will take place on Friday, September 22 at 9:20. Learn more about ALICE here: https://www.asdk12.org/cms/lib/AK02207157/Centricity/Domain/1240/ALICE-flier.pdf

Learn more about different drills we practice here:

https://www.asdk12.org/cms/lib/AK02207157/Centricity/Domain/1240/2022%20Emergency%20Response.pdf

Weather Lab visited Bear Valley Third Graders on 9/13. Students got a chance to be up close with Mellisa Frey from Channel 2 News and learn some fun things about weather. Look for Weather Lab with Bear Valley Elementary in the next few weeks.

Attention all 4-6th graders interested in Student Council...

Students running for an office MUST have the permission slip signed and returned to Mrs. Campbell in room 110 NO LATER than Friday, September 22nd at 3:30 p.m. Posters can be turned in on Monday.

• Speech rehearsal is on Tuesday, September 26th at 8:00 a.m. so they must have their speech prepared and rehearsed. (Plan on handing in one copy of the speech and keeping one for themselves)

Election speeches will be held at an assembly on Wednesday, September 27th at 2:00 p.m. (Please note the NEW TIME!!) Parents are welcome to attend the assembly as long as they check in at the office first.

Monday, September 25 Schools Starts at 10am

PLC Monday

Scan the QR code and check out the PTA Facebook page to stay connected on events sponsored by the Bear Valley PTA.

Friends of Bear Valley Fundraiser will be 9/25-10/13. Information is coming home soon.
Sign Ups for classroom auction basket donations and Neon Party volunteers coming soon.

Check out the PTA store Bear Valley Store bit.ly/BVEStore

New Spirit Wear should be in next week! Look for updates on BV PTA Facebook Page.

Please remember to have Bear Valley PTA as your charity of choice for Fred Meyer!

If you have any questions about PTA feel free to reach out to:

President@bearvalleypta.com (Katie Rohrs)

Vpmembership@bearvalleypta.com (Chelsea Sternicki)

PTA is compiling a student directory for Bear Valley. Please fill out this link if you would like to be included in the ALL SCHOOL Directory:

https://forms.gle/reLcGY5W7Q6vvD9e9

Nurse Tyra could use some volunteers for vision screening. If you are able to help, please sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084FA9A92BA4F85-44369624-lyons

Please note: The 3-6 grades will have student council speeches happening this day, if you have a student running for student council, this might affect your volunteering.

The fall benchmark results for mClass and MAP Growth will be posted to ParentConnect on Friday, September 29.

• Guides to assessment interpretation, along with translated copies, are located on the main ASD Assessment website.

We have several positions open if you want to join our team! Please spread the word to others who might be interested as well.

Noon Duty (Any days of the week you can- 10:45-1:00)

2 Kindergarten Paraprofessionals

Cafeteria Manager

https://www.applitrack.com/asd/onlineapp/default.aspx?AppliTrackPostingSearch=location:%22BEAR+VALLEY+ELEMENTARY++++++++%22

Email: bvattendance@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/bearvalley
Location: 15001 Mountain Air Drive, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-5900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bearvalleyelementary