Dimond Newsletter
March 04, 2025
Dear Dimond Families:
Happy Spring Break! We wish your student and family a restful and fun week away from school. This Friday marks the end of the 3rd quarter and there is no school. We only have 65 days of school left and once we return from spring break, the time flies and before you know it, we will be preparing for graduation.
As we move into the fourth quarter and the daylight lengthens, it’s easy to get distracted from the work. It’s important that students sustain their focus and energy on their academics, as the end of this year sets them up for success next fall (including eligibility for sports and clubs). Support from their families with the challenge of perseverance has a big impact. Thank you for working with us in fostering these life skills!
Dimond Names Principal
ASD is thrilled to announce that Whitney D'Atri has been named Principal for A.J. Dimond High School.
While serving as Acting Principal for the 2024-25 school year, Ms. D'Atri consistently demonstrated superb leadership, showing a strong commitment and dedication to supporting both students and staff both in and outside the classroom.
She has worked tirelessly to build a dynamic, cohesive leadership team made up of new administrators, while drawing on the strength and experience of Dimond's exceptional teachers and staff.
Ms. D'Atri's communication and collaboration skills are noteworthy, as is her unwavering commitment to supporting students and improving learning outcomes for all.
ASD looks forward to Ms. D'Atri's continued work to honor the traditions of the Dimond community, while helping the school thrive, innovate, and grow toward the future.
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From the Teachers and Staff at Dimond High School:
The Dimond High staff is thrilled that Ms. Whitney D'Atri has been named the permanent head principal of Dimond. Ms. D'Atri took over the building last spring and the staff immediately felt the effect of her positive attitude and leadership skills. The staff looks forward to working alongside her to make Dimond High the best school in the district.
New News for This Week's Newsletter
AK Star Testing
This spring, students will be taking the AK Star (grade 9) and Alaska Science Assessment (grade 10) standardized assessments during the testing window of March 25 through March 27.
The assessments will take place during morning testing time blocks. AK Star and Alaska Science Assessment are important benchmark assessments that help measure student growth over the years and ensure proper placement in students' courses. The assessments are also great predictors of student success in classes as well as nationwide tests such as the PSAT and SAT. Please see the following link for further information - 2024 Dimond AK STAR & Science Assessment Newsletter.
Parents can locate resources for AK STAR and the Alaska Science Assessment, including directions for Student Readiness (Practice Tests and Tutorials), student testing times and general assessment information on the ASD website at https://www.asdk12.org/akstar.
SAT/ACT Testing
Frontier Tutoring is offering free practice tests for the SAT and ACT. Contact Frontier for more info, see the flier below.
A2025 School Climate and Connectedness Survey
The 2025 School Climate and Connectedness Survey for families is now open. We value your feedback to help us understand how to partner with you in the high school education of your child(ren), and create meaningful goals for Dimond students, staff and families. The survey is shorter than past years, and will only take a few moments of your time. Your responses are confidential. The survey will remain available until March 21st. We hope to reach 90% participation among all our stakeholders this year. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
Click here to to take the survey: School Climate and Connectedness Survey
Freshman Fair
We are extremely excited to welcome the newest Lynx class of 2029! Mears has sent out notices regarding field trips where students can get a quick glimpse of what life at Dimond is like. In the meantime we are hosting a freshman fair for all incoming students and families. Please see the flier below for more information, we can’t wait to see you there.
School Calendar
March 7th: No School- Student Released Grading Day
March 10th-March 14th: No School- Spring Break
*Monday March 17th: Only 63 Days of School Left!
March 19th: Freshmen Fair, 6pm at Dimond!
April 18th: No School- Spring Closure Day
DHS Sports
Upcoming Sports Dates and Signups
Each sport costs $225.00. There is now a student cap of $675.00 per year. Once you have reached this amount, all other sports will be free for the remainder of the current school year. If your family is seeking a financial waiver, you will need to apply and be approved for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. You can find this application process on the Student Nutrition website.
Please make sure to complete all forms on Planeths, before the start date of the sport you are interested in participating in. Each student must check in with Chelsea Hunt in the Activities office to receive a Golden Ticket before they are eligible to participate in their desired sport.
If you have additional questions, please contact Chelsea Hunt in the Activities office at 742-7005. Office hours are 8am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday with a closure of 30 mins for lunch.
With Sports starting during Spring Break please make sure to come and get your golden ticket before March 7th. If you do not have it you will not be able to participate until after spring break. The office will be open March 7th from 8am to 3pm so students can pick up their golden tickets then as well.
Sports Start Dates: March 10
Boys and Girls Soccer
Track & Field
Baseball
Softball
Grades Matter! Academic Eligibility for Sports and Activities:
Students participating in sports or all-state academic/ fine arts activities must remain academically eligible. Eligibility is checked at the beginning of the 1st and 2nd semesters, as well as the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
ASD VIRTUAL STUDENTS be aware that although virtual courses are self-paced, a quarter grade will be given based on your work completed during the grading period. This grade counts towards your academic eligibility. Students who are not eligible will not be able to participate in their sport or activity.
Important Information From Past Newsletters
Social Media Awareness
Please be aware that there are many “Dimond” social media accounts that are NOT official or sanctioned by Dimond High School. Some Dimond sports or clubs have their own social media pages that are directly managed by the coaches, please reach out to those sponsors if you have questions or concerns regarding those pages.
Other than the accounts described above, many accounts pertaining to “Dimond” on Facebook, Snapchat, X (Twitter), or TikTok are not created by Dimond. Please report falsehoods directly within the app itself. We have no authority to shut those pages down. By reporting falsehoods directly in each app you can help shut those pages/ sites down.
If your student is specifically being harassed by a specific student(s) at school please have your student report those instances to the front office or security and those incidents will be investigated. While social media harassment can be extremely disturbing it is impossible to police as a school because we have no authority over fraudulent Dimond accounts.
Please help monitor your student’s social media activity. If anything concerning comes up on social media, we rely on families to report it because we are not monitoring sites or accounts that aren’t officially ours. Thank you.
Doxsee's "PROM" Dress Closet
It's that time of the year again. 👏 😁. Doxsee's "PROM" Dress Closet doors are open for donations. It's a good time to clean the closets out before Spring Break. If you have any dresses you'd like to donate for students, please bring them to Room B-214. Students will be allowed to try the dresses and choose one to wear/keep. Shoes and accessories are also accepted.
Men slacks / tuxedos / dress shirts / jackets / ties / dress socks, and shoes are also being accepted.
PLEASE bring only PROM attire. I'm not currently set up for Doxsee's "Clothes" closet, unfortunately.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. Thank you.
~ Doxsee ~
NEW CLASSROOM B-214 (in corner room at the end of "even" B2 hallway)Career Resource Office
Our Dimond Career Resource Center is run by Mrs. Lauwers and is open on Tuesdays and Fridays or afterschool by appointment only. She is here to help you with anything related to college applications, scholarships or life after high school. If you would like to speak to her and she is not in her office her email is lauwers_kimberly@asdk12.org.
Seniors
If you are looking for information pertaining to seniors, please click this link! This a live link to a Google Doc that will be updated throughout the year. This link has graduation dates/times as well as other important dates for seniors to know.
If you haven’t purchased your cap and gown, there's still time, please click on the seniors link above for more details.
A.J. Dimond High School
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/dimond
Location: 2909 West 88th Avenue, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: (907) 742-7000