The Scoop

Dear Chugach Families,

I would like to thank all of you who have written emails and who have shown up to the school board to testify on behalf of Chugach Optional. There is truly power in your words.

As you may know, the school board voted last Tuesday to approve the budget that was submitted to them earlier this month. However, they approved the budget with an amendment allowing for all cut positions to be reinstated should the legislature approve a base student allocation (BSA) with a $1,000 increase.

I know families are wondering what this means for Chugach Optional as well as other elementary schools. Essentially, the school district is moving forward with an optimistic approach that there may be a full or partial increase to the BSA. Currently, elementary schools under 300 students are still slated to be reduced by two staff positions. If there is a partial increase to the BSA, then we could possibly gain back at least one or two of our staff positions. A full increase of $1,000 would mean gaining back both staff positions as well as keeping our nurse and library positions full-time.

As we move into March, I encourage you to keep emailing your state representatives and keep having your voice heard.

Sincerely,

Joel

Monday, March 3 - CEC Board Meeting (3:00pm-4:00pm, Conference Room), D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Art Room)

Wednesday, March 5 - Kindy Bread Sale Day (2:45pm, Learning Hallway)

Thursday, March 6 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Music Room)

Friday, March 7 - IN-SERVICE DAY (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS!)

Monday, March 8-Friday, March 14 - SPRING BREAK (NO SCHOOL)

Monday, March 17 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Art Room)

Wednesday, March 19 - School Tour for Prospective Families (9:00-10:00am)

Thursday, March 20 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Music Room), ASD Lottery Application deadline (5pm), Science Share (5:30pm-7:00pm, Learning Hallway)

Friday, March 21 - Chugach's Got Talent Tryouts (3:00pm-6:00pm, gym)

Monday, March 24 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Art Room)

Thursday. March 27 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Music Room)

Friday, March 28 - Early Release Day (Students dismissed @11:15am), ASD lottery results sent to parents (starting at 5pm)

Monday, March 31 - D&D (3:00pm-4:00pm, Art Room)

The Kindy Bread Sale is happening Wednesday, March 5th! Rolls will be $1.00 each and donations are welcome. Kindergartners will be in different locations throughout our hallway for the sale, which will not begin until 2:45pm. All proceeds will go to our sister school 'Mauni' in Malawi.

The ASD Online Lottery is now open until 5pm on Thursday, March 20, 2025. Please go to https://lotapp.asdk12.org/apply/ to submit your application. If you are already a Chugach Family with an incoming kindergarten student, you MUST still submit an application for your incoming kindergartner to attend Chugach Optional. Please be sure to complete the "Sibling" section of the application so that the sibling preference will be taken into account. Parent will be contacted with the results of the lottery on March 28th at starting at 5pm.

This week at Chugach we have seen an increase in students staying home or going home due to vomiting - norovirus. Norovirus is very contagious; it spreads very easily and quickly. You can get it from sick people and through contaminated food, water, or surfaces.

You are most contagious when you have symptoms of norovirus illness or during the few days after you feel better. At Chugach this week we have been putting extra attention on disinfecting surfaces and handles to help mitigate the spread.

When to Keep Your Child Home from School

• Temperature of 100.4 F

• Vomiting more than 2 times in 24 hours

• A constant runny nose and/or a cough that is frequent and wet

• Experiencing nausea or is too tired and uncomfortable to function at school

For a more detailed list on When to Keep Your Child Home, please click HERE

Keep us informed

Please get in touch with Nurse Maya if your child has a new medical/health condition that the school should be aware of, starts a new daily medication or has an injury that affects their ability to participate in recess and/or gym class. Having up to date health information on our students helps us support student needs and ensure their safety during the school day.

Science Share is coming up in three weeks! It’s time to get serious about your projects!

*Make sure to register by March 1

*If you registered already but need to make changes to your project, partner, or availability, just go ahead and fill out the registration form again. If I see your name twice, I will use the more recent version.

*THANK YOU to everyone who signed up to be a community scientist!

*Sign up HERE if you can help in another way. We need help with setting up tables, monitoring the scavenger hunt table, picking up pizza, taking down tables, etc.

Follow these links to find out more:

VOLUNTEER SIGN UP

SCIENCE SHARE Q&A

SCIENCE SHARE INTRODUCTION

SCIENCE SHARE REGISTERATION

COMMUNITY SCIENTIST SIGN UP

Contact Rebecca Emerson at rebecca_bailey@yahoo.com or 907-590-0648 if anything isn’t working or you have questions or ideas!

Think of March Madness with a book twist!

In February students nominated their favorite novel and favorite picture book. The top 64 choices of each are put in a ‘radomizer’ to sort them into brackets. I am thankful that I used a ‘randomizer’ to seed the brackets. It takes the pressure off of me when the students have to vote between two of their favorite titles! We begin voting next week and will continue after Spring Break. It has been a fantastic venue for book conversations within our community.

Two favorite comments from Chugach March Book Madness from past years:

From a third grader commenting about a picture book “This is one of my favorites from my childhood.”

A fourth grader saying, “Dog Man is a classic!”

A big thank you to Ann Severin, Charlie & Henry’s mom for creating our CMBM brackets!

Got library books?

Thank you for keeping an eye out for library books at home behind the couch, under the bed, mixed in on your book shelves or in your car. We have many books checked out with quite a few that are overdue. One of the side effects of having students check out books independently is having students walk out without checking books out properly. We all make mistakes, but there have been lots of books returned that are not checked out to students. I am working with students on my end. If you could keep an eye out for library books on your end, it would be much appreciated!

Wondering what library books your student has checked out? Please go to our Chugach Optional website and click on ‘Student’. When you log into Clever and click on ‘Amy @ Chugach Optional’, you have access to our library catalog. There are video directions as well.

Please contact me if I can support in any way!

The School Connectedness and Climate survey is a statewide survey taken by students, staff, and families. This survey measures their perceptions of each school’s climate including the engagement of students, staff, and families.

Family Survey: You are an important partner as we work to continually improve each school’s environment. Each parent/guardian is asked to complete one survey. If you have more than one child attending this school, you only need to fill out one survey.

If you have not already done so, please complete the School Connectedness and Climate Survey by clicking on this link: 2025 SCCS Family Link to Share

All surveys are voluntary, anonymous, and confidential.

Thank you for your participation!

Friends - please help our community to ensure a safe and efficient parking lot for arrival and dismissal.

We know parking is limited but please refrain from parking in any of the "RESERVED" parking spots, the fire lane or the loading dock area.

Also, please do not park in the handicapped parking spaces unless you are permitted to do so. We need to have these spots accessible to those who need them. We would also appreciate it if you could park in such a way as to not block others from getting out of their parking spots or that blocks the flow of traffic.

Chugach families are welcome to park at the New Hope Church across the street and in the Municipal EOC parking lot but please be good neighbors and do not park in their reserved parking areas and be mindful of your speed at all times.

After 2 weeks of training we had our competition of the Junior Native Youth Olympics on February 1. There were a lot of 1st through 6th grade students who participated in the events from Eagle River and Anchorage! Wow!! They came 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 thirty-four students participate in the Games! Congratulations to the following athletes as they did an exceptional job representing our school!

At our First/Second grade level:

• Grayson Prokosch-Herndandez, Sawyer Prokosch-Hernandez, Easton Bowen, Sophia Anderson, Beatrix Feighery, and Shea Bressler in the Kneel Jump and the Eskimo Stick Pull.
• Luna Largus, Malcolm Roberson, Soren Dronenburg, Oliver Ward-Massey and Lennox Billman in the Eskimo Stick Pull

At our Third/Fourth Grade level:

• Penny Kastens, Colton Bowen, Odin Tscheida, and Elle Sotelo in the Arm Pull,
• Teia Barber, Lucas Furin, Austin Wells, and Charlotte Ward-Massey in the Two Foot High Kick,
• Otto Anderson and Phoebe Saari competed in both the Arm Pull and the Two Foot High Kick

At our Fifth/Sixth grade level:

• Luka Rose, Serena Dronenburg and Robin Beesley in the Alaskan High Kick,
• Uri Schulgasser, Luka Rose, Robin Beesley, Serena Dronenburg and Talia Tuttle in the Scissors Broad Jump
• Silvia Demarest, Ethan Shroyer, Lucas Gaudet, Sylvie Robinson and Serena Dronenburg in the Eskimo Stick Pull
• Uri Schulgasser, Neri O’Malley-Boario, August Shroyer, Robin Beesley and Serena Dronenburg in the One Foot High Kick

Extra special recognition goes to:

Sophia Anderson for Silver medal in the Kneel Jump

Lennox Billman Bronze medal in the Eskimo Stick Pull

Lucas Furin Silver Medal in the Two Foot High Kick

Penny Kastens Bronze Medal in the Arm Pull

Colton Bowen Bronze Medal in the Arm Pull

Charlotte Ward-Massey Gold Medal in the Two Foot High Kick

Silvia Demarest Silver Medal in the Eskimo Stick Pull

Uri Schulgasser Silver Medal in the One Foot High Kick

Luka Rose Silver Medal in the Scissor Broad Jump and Bronze Medal in the Alaskan High Kick

Robin Beesley Gold Medal in the Alaskan High Kick and Gold Medal in the One Foot High Kick

Sylvie Robinson Gold Medal 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!

The opening reception Anchorage Museum Friday, March 7th, from 6:00-9:00

Admission is free to the public

March is the Youth Art Month! Anchorage School District will have the 53rd Annual Student Exhibition. This show will include creations from students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The exhibition is presented with National Youth Art Month, designed to highlight the importance of the visual arts programs in American schools. Students' artwork will be on display at multiple public locations, such as the Anchorage Museum, Loussac Library, 5th Avenue Mall, ASD Education Center, and Muldoon Library.

Six students' artworks from Chugach Optional School are included in the exhibition. Congratulation! Harlow Bennett ( 5th, Kris’s group)

Daniel Kim ( 5th, Angie’s group)

Arden Bressier (4th, Genie’s group)

Thomas Rigg ( 2nd, Celeste’s group)

Carol DeGraffenried ( 2nd, Celeste’s gruop)

Daisy Kastens (K, Jihee’s group)

The Chugach’s Got Talent is an opportunity for Chugach students to perform and showcase their talents to the Chugach community on Friday, April 4th from 5:30-7:30pm in the gym.

There are many things you can do in the showcase: sing, dance, play instruments, do a skit, tell a joke, recite a poem, do Magic...No lip-syncing! If you are singing with a backing track, the song must be a Karaoke version. Performances will be limited to 3 minutes or less. Group acts and ensembles are encouraged! Students may perform in one solo act and be a member of another group.

Acts need to be age-appropriate. There may be younger siblings in attendance. Our music teacher, Lauralee, will have the final say on what will and will not be allowed on stage. Lyrics for songs used must be printed out and shared with Lauralee prior to the audition. Backing tracks must be shared with Lauralee prior to auditions. Acts will need to be clearly thought-out, rehearsed and performance ready on AUDITION DAY, Friday March 21st at 3pm in the gym.

Parents/Guardians need to fill out a permission slip and return it or E-mail it to Lauralee by March 17th: honkola_laura@asdk12.org

We are still looking for two additional volunteers to lead/organize this event. We’d love to include someone with an interest in talent shows, music and/or performance and planning/decorating/organizing.

If you have any questions, please contact Lauralee.

honkola_laura@asdk12.org

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

We had 178 students participate and with your help, they raised over $15, 000.00!

Also, with having over 75% of our school register we far surpassed Joel’s challenge of 50% and earned $500.00 for our PE program! The students will help me decide how to spend our money!

We have made a life-saving difference for people in our own community and across the Nation!

Special Recognition go to our two Top Earners this year: Margot Chirichilla who raised $1362.00 and Calvin Stein who raised $1008.00!! 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!

This is a special day where Chugach parents, family members and friends can share their passions, interests and skills with a group of kids. Classes can be full day or half day, at school or off site! Can limit age group and class size. Can be inside or outside.

Past offerings included: bike mechanics, painting, chess, fly fishing, cooking, language and culture, slime making, basketball, dancing, animal rescue, D&D …

We will need many volunteers to lead courses and to support! Pair up with a friend, offer to be an assistant or a driver. If you need ideas or help with curriculum, we are here!

Please contact Sara Falkoff sara1alaska@ gmail.com / text (907)444-9291 or Anne Severin anne-w@callbluesky.com / text (907) 727-3197