November is Alaska Native and American Indian Heritage Month!

Nov. 5 - ASD Remote Learning Day - NO IN-PERSON SCHOOL

Nov. 11 - Veteran's Day - NO SCHOOL

Nov. 15 - Rock your Mocs Day

Nov. 18 - Picture Day Retakes

Nov. 19 - APC Meeting, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Nov. 26 - ANCCS Fall Intensives Day

Nov. 28 & 29 - Thanksgiving Holiday - NO SCHOOL

December:

December 4 - SAEBRS Winter Screener

December 10 - MAP Math Winter Benchmark Testing, grades 3-8

December 11 - MAP English Language Arts Benchmark Testing, grades 3-8

December 12 - mClass Winter Benchmark, grades K-5

December 14 - Friends of ANCCS Holiday Market, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

December 16-19 - Spirit Week!

December 19 - Winter Celebration - 1:00 - 3:00 pm

December 19 - Last Day of School for Quarter 2

December 20 - Quarter 2 Grading Day - NO SCHOOL - Winter Break Begins!

December 21 - Santa's Workshop Holiday Event, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

As we head into the holiday season, we have lots to look forward to and celebrate here at ANCCS! November is Alaska Native and American Indian Heritage month. Students will celebrate on November 15, with Rock you Mocs day. Students are invited to wear their regalia, traditional shoes, and/or dress in turquoise or wear a turquoise ribbon in order to recognize the celebration.

November 26 will be ANCCS's fall intensive day. Our K-8 students will participate in a full-day of learning explorations and hands-on projects on a topic of their choosing. We look forward to seeing all of the learning our students engage on this exciting day!

Are you interested in starting an ANCCS Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)? It has been several years since ANCCS has had a PTO and we are hoping families this year can get one started again. A PTO can help with planning school and family events, fundraising, and enrichment activities that support all of our ANCCS eagles. Please contact our APC Board President, Manny Acuna, if you are interested in being involved in this effort, please contact: acuna_manny@asdk12.org.

Since 1990, November has been declared as Alaska Native and Native American Heritage Month. November is a time to celebrate the history, traditions, and rich and diverse cultures of Indigenous people in Alaska and North America. Please read the Alaska Native, Native American Heritage Month information from the ASD Indigenous Education department for more details on how we celebrate Indigenous heritage in schools.

Established in 2011, Rock Your Mocs is an annual Native American & Indigenous Peoples' movement held in conjunction with Native American Heritage Month. It is easy to participate by wearing moccasins or Indigenous footwear to school, work, or anywhere you go! If a person does not own moccasins, cannot wear moccasins, or perhaps their Tribe did not wear moccasins, they may wear the color turquoise or wear a turquoise awareness ribbon to show their support instead. Through social media, participants can post their photos for everyone to enjoy, share stories, and help create an “online photo album” by using the following hashtag: #ASDRockYourMocs2023.

Throughout Quarter 2, our students are learning about being prepared and sharing. This includes exploration of self, family, and school in regards to how families depend on each other and work together (cooperation), how families help others and contribute to the community, how families work together for the safety and betterment of their people; how individuals and families become prepared; and how individuals express well-being of self and others (empathy).

How can my child extend their reading practice outside of school?

BOOST READING! Every K-5th grade student at ANCCS has a Boost Reading account. This program provides personalized literacy instruction based on your child's benchmark testing. In Boost Reading, students enter a story world that grows as they do. Students encounter a series of quests and characters as they develop and reinforce their skills.

How can my child extend their math practice outside of school?

iReady Mathematics! iReady Mathematics creates a personalized learning path for every K-8th grade student at ANCCS. The program provides students math instruction and practice in the areas where they need the most support. Students can track their progress with a goal of completing 2 lessons a week to maximize their math growth.

Tuesday, November 26, is our first annual ANCCS fall intensives day! Our K-8 students will participate in a full-day of project-based learning on a topic of their choosing.

These "intensives" classes will blend reading, math, science, and social studies skills with cultural learning and hands-on projects.

Please explore the Intensives catalog with your student in order to help them select their top three choices. There are many exciting options for each grade level!

Our school day ends and dismissal begins at 3:30 pm. We appreciate your patience in making our car line run smoothly. With snow on the ground, please remember to drive with caution and keep your cell phone put away while driving on campus.

Please read below for ASD's winter recess protocols and procedures.

It is essential that our students have the proper winter gear--a warm coat, snow pants, boots, a hat, and mittens or gloves--every day. Please check that your student is prepared for recess and has the gear that they need. Many items look alike; don't forget to label everything! If your student is in need of winter gear, please contact the front office and ask for Nurse Frost.

Congratulations, ANCCS! ANCCS was recognized by the district as coming in (a super close) 2nd place for an increase in 90% attendance rate from October 2023 to October 2024!! Wendler Middle School came in first place, showing a 15.68% increase and ANCCS came in second place with a 15.61% increase in students who attend 90% or more days. This is an incredible achievement and a true testament to the dedication of our ANCCS families!

ANCCS Goal: Less than 8 is Great!

At ANCCS, we want our students to be present and share what they have with our community each and every day. We ask our students to strive to have less than 8 absences for the school year.

ASD Goal: Every student will attend school at least 90 percent of the time.

A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn. There is a direct correlation between students who attend school regularly and higher academic achievement levels. In order to reach the 90% attendance goal, students can miss no more than 17 days of school per year. This may sound like a lot of days, but it breaks down to less than two absences per month.

When your student is absent:

Please log on to ParentConnection to report your student's absence or call the front office. Absences will be excused for medical appointments, illness, family emergencies, or religious observation. If your child's absence is not excused by 9:30 am, you will receive an automated “robocall” phone message at 11:00 am.

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help with your student's attendance!

Our attendance rate this October was the highest it has been in the past 4 years! During the month of October 73.75% of students attended 90% or more days of school. Let's keep this momentum and continue to be maantua every day.

Founders’ Report by Martha Gould-Lehe

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Calling Parents to Action! ANCCS needs you!! As the school grows, it becomes crystal clear that a Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) is badly needed! The Academic Policy Committee (APC) is a made up of about 8 members and the Friends of ANCCS, the nonprofit board, is made up of 5 members. That’s thirteen people, most of which work, to plan, deliver, and setup/cleanup events that benefit the school’s effort in obtaining a permanent facility. A PTO would become the driver for many of these events like the Halloween and Christmas Carnivals – just to name two. If interested please contact Manny Acuna through the office or the principal.

FOANCCS & APC Efforts

The money raised through various donations and fundraisers for the year shows a balance of roughly $263,400. This is a huge increase from previous year of 2023 where the balance was roughly $123,000. Both boards are very grateful to all of you who have helped with the various events. A small amount came in from the Pick, Click, Give campaign and we know this will grow as more people become aware of the opportunity. Also, don’t forget the Fred Myer rewards – pick ANCCS when you shop! Most of this money, about 80% is placed in a building fund. The other is dispersed to operating costs and supporting ANCCS’s requests for various projects, events, etc.

Holidays Approaching

As always, with the business of the holidays, there is a need for us all to remember school is still going and attendance is crucial. This can be a hard time of year for many with icy roads and long, short days. Know, you are important to ANCCS, and we wish you one and all a safe and wonderful season of celebrations.

Join us for our annual Friends of ANCCS Holiday Market from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on December 14! Our ANCCS Yugtun Choir will perform at 1:00 pm. If you are interested in becoming a vendor, please visit friends-of-anccs.com or contact friendsofanccs@gmail.com

MAP Growth is the ASD and State of Alaska required benchmark/interim assessment for students in grades 3-9 in reading and mathematics.

MAP Growth is an online, adaptive assessment that provides each student a personalized testing experience with data that speaks to their individual progress and growth in mathematics and reading.

The MAP Growth reading and mathematics winter benchmark will be administered at ANCCS on December 10 & 11.

MAP Growth practice tests and tutorials allow students and families the opportunity to become familiar with the types of questions and tools available on the actual MAP Grow assessments such as the highlighter and calculator. An overview of these resources with links to the practice tests are compiled on the MAP Growth Practice Tests Quick Sheet.

mClass is one of the Anchorage School District’s benchmark assessments and is administered each Fall, Winter, and Spring to K-3 students. Students are assessed in several Early Literacy skill areas which produce an overall composite score.

The mClass reading winter benchmark will be administered at ANCCS on December 12.

Screening scores provide a data snapshot that is used to support identification of students who are at-risk and in need of interventions and/or enrichment or acceleration. The assessments measure early literacy skills in grades K-3. The results are used to measure learning status and growth within the school year.

ANCCS 4th graders and Ms. Riha’s 7th grade class have been treated with lots of goodies while getting some great information about Nutrition. Amounts of sugar in foods and drinks and learning how to read a food label are just a couple of the topics being taught by SNAP (Student Nutritional Assistance Program) instructor Patricia Kohart. Students are enjoying learning more about the foods we love to eat and trying some healthy alternatives that are quite tasty too!

On Saturday October 19, ANCCS in cooperation with the organizations of USA Badminton, Badminton Alberta (Canada) and the Badminton World Federation worked together to bring the Shuttle Time Teacher Training program to Alaska. Twenty teachers and students from Anchorage, Mat-Su and some Alaska villages participated. Top Canadian Coach, Beth Richardson from Calgary, Alberta Canada, was the instructor and additionally spent a day with some lucky students in Physical Education classes and the ANCCS Varsity Badminton team.

ANCCS was represented by Ms. Ward & Coach Paul along with current and former students: Drake Hoover, Esther Vargas, Madison Matthews, Jayden Moore