Alaska Native Cultural Charter
September 2024
Important Dates
September 3 & 4 - Professional Development Days - No School (ANCCS Only)
September 5-10 - MAP Benchmark Testing - Grades 3-8
September 12 - Family Connections 5:30 - 7:30 pm (RSVP only)
September 12 & 13 - 4th-Grade Seward Field Trip: Exit Glacier & Sealife Center
September 13 - mClass Benchmark Testing - Grades K-3
September 30 - Orange Shirt Day
October 7 - Picture Day
October 14 - Indigenous People's Day - No School
October 15 - Indigenous People's Day Family Night, 5:30 - 7:00 pm
October 17 - End of Quarter 1 for Students
October 18 - Quarter 1 Grading Day - No School
October 24 - Parent/Teacher Conference Day - No School
October 25 - State-Released Professional Development Day - No School
October 25 - Halloween Carnival
Waqaa!
The first few weeks of school have flown by and it is already September! We have enjoyed seeing each of our returning students as well as welcoming many new faces to our ANCCS family.
Please enjoy this newsletter to learn more about upcoming events and new from school.
Yuuyaraq Teachings
Each week, our students focus on and discuss a Yup'ik Word of the Week and Elder Wisdom. These teachings are infused into our Yuuyaraq Gathering, our classroom community circles, and the academic day. For the first two weeks of September, students are learning about calirpayaraq and pingnatugyaraq.
Reflect: Ask your student what they have learned about calirpagyaq and working hard.
Connect: Share with your student an example of how you have had to work hard in life. What did you learn from your family and elders about the value of working hard?
Explore: With your student, brainstorm the ways in which you each work hard to support your family and house. Who are some other workers in your community? How do they work hard to support the community?
Meet our Teachers & Staff
Kindergarten - Tina Sweet & Ashlee Olson (TA) and Lizzie Acuña & Carol Jerue (TA)
First Grade - Megan Freeman & Crystal Akagi
Second Grade - Elizabeth Phillips & Arika Pavadore
Third Grade - Denise Ray & Claudia Lane
Fourth Grade - Georgianna Starr & Daniel Greenwood
Fifth Grade - Sylvia Joseph
Middle School - Joseph Kottre, Clara Amidon, Danielle Riha, Elizabeth Hancock
Yup'ik (Pre-K - 4) - Veronica Kaganak
Yup'ik (4 - 8) - Seralee Kairaiuak
Art - Sarah Hamacher
PE & Health - Lisa Ward
Instructional Coach - Christine Harrington
ELL Teacher - Pam Dupras
Reading Support - Lorlie Shield
Reading Support - Alma Kocsis
Reading Support - Now hiring!
Special Ed (K-5) - Monica Stockburger
Special Ed (6-8) - Liz Tracy
Special Ed TA - Grace Doerr
Ignite Teacher - Kristina Randazzo
Speech Language Pathologist - Katelyn Tullius
Recess & Security - Bosco Olson
Recess Noon Duty - Betty Martin
Recess Noon Duty - Chris Foster
Recess Noon Duty - Now hiring!
Alaska Strong - Diana Boggess
Migrant Ed Success Coach - Now hiring!
21st Century Coordinator - Now hiring!
BPO - James Stoll
Lead Custodian - Maisee Yang
Cafeteria Manager - Hyun Lee
Cafeteria Assistant - Elizabeth Rastopsoff
Principal - Sheila Sweetsir
Assistant Principal - Sarah Osborne
School Nurse - Tracy Frost
Administrative Assistant - Shirley Kowchee
School Secretary - Ruby Egrass
Attendance
Daily Attendance Schedule:
8:15 am - Doors Open - Students may enter the building through the MPR door at 8:15 am for breakfast. Students must remain in their vehicle and under the supervision of their parent/adult until 8:15 am. The school does not provide student supervision prior to 8:15 am unless by specific appointment.
8:30 am - Preschool Drop Off - Preschool students and their parent/adult enter through the main entrance, check in at the office, and proceed to the preschool classroom.
8:45 am - Yuuyaraq Gathering - Students in grades K-8 gather in the gym for this daily all-school gathering in which we discuss the Yup'ik Word of the Week and Elder Wisdom, share announcements, sing, dance, and celebrate our community.
9:00 am - Academic Day begins / Tardy Time - Students in grades K-8 arriving after 9:00 am are considered tardy.
10:00 am - Attendance Reported - Parents or guardians must excuse a student's absence prior to 10:00 am. After 10:00 am, an automated phone call will be made to the parent or guardian to report any unexcused absences.
3:30 pm - School Day Ends - Student dismissal occurs between 3:30 - 3:45 pm.
No Late-Start Mondays
ANCCS does not participate in ASD's late start Mondays. ANCCS opens at 8:15 am and the academic day begins at 9:00 am every school day, Monday through Friday.
78% of ANCCS students had 90% attendance or higher for August. This up from 60% in 2023!
13% of ANCCS students attended 80 - 90% in August, meaning they missed more than 2 days.
5% of ANCCS students attended 60 - 80% of school in August.
4% of ANCCS students attended fewer than 60% of school in August.
Students who miss more than 10% of school are considered chronically absent. Let's work together to ensure your student is at school and ready to learn every day!
ANCCS Attendance Goal
Less than 8 is Great!
It is very important that your child is here on time, every day, when school is in session. A missed school day is a lost opportunity for your student to learn. There is a direct correlation between students who attend school regularly and higher academic and social emotional achievement levels. Here at ANCCS, our motto is: Less than 8 is Great! This means that we want students to strive to have fewer than 8 absences in the school year.
How Sick is Too Sick?
We know that some absences are unavoidable. If your child is sick, it is best if they stay home. Please refer to the "how sick is too sick" guidance from ASD to determine if your child is well enough to be at school. If your child is going to be absent for the day for any reason, please let us know by 10:00 am.
Excused Absences
You can excuse your child's absence by calling the front office (907-742-1370) or by using Parent Attendance in Q/ParentConnect. According to ASD policy, students may be marked excused if their absences is due to illness or medical appointments, a family emergency, or religious observation.
Extended or Planned Absences
Please contact your student's teacher about any planned or extended absences. Additionally, it is the parent or guardian's responsibility to notify the front office or submit the absence in Q/ParentConnect.
Please let us know how we can partner to support your student's attendance!
Early Dismissal
Please plan ahead! We cannot accommodate early dismissals between 3:00 - 3:30 as all of our staff are on duty preparing for the end of the day and dismissal. If you will need to pick your student up early, please do so by 3:00 pm.
Recess and Weather Gear
September 12, 5:30 - 7:30 PM: Early Year School Attendance
Join us for dinner and a discussion on the importance of school attendance during the primary years of Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Please RSVP so that we can plan childcare and dinner needs. This topic will be offered again on January 9, 2025.
Stock up on ANCCS gear!
Friends of ANCCS is now selling ANCCS t-shirts and hoodies! Click this link to order your ANCCS gear today! Students and staff wear ANCCS shirts and logowear every Friday to show their ANCCS spirit.
Gardening Club
ANCCS is starting an after-school gardening club for responsible 2nd-8th grade students who are interested in learning about plants, horticulture, and working in the outdoor school garden. Students must be willing to work hard, get a little dirty, and safely use gardening tools. We will be working outside into the early winter, so students should also be prepared for the weather conditions. Once the garden is prepared for winter, plant studies will continue indoors using indoor grow towers. Throughout the school year, we will be using a 4-H curriculum that focuses on plants and horticulture.
Gardening club will meet on Thursday’s after school from 3:45-5:00 pm starting August 29th. For our first meeting we will be harvesting vegetables from the ANCCS garden and enjoying a salad. Students must have a signed permission slip. For more information, please contact Mr. Greenwood.
Looking for Animal Hides
Attention all hunters, please consider donating your animal skins to ANCCS. Students will be learning how to stretch and scrape hides for use in Native crafts such as drum making. Whole hides are ideal, but even if the hide is cut into smaller pieces for haul out they could still be usable. If you have hides to donate, please contact Mr. Greenwood.
Fall Benchmark Assessments
Benchmark assessments including mClass (K-3) and MAP (3-8) are in important way in which we measure the learning and growth of our students in order to plan for adjust our instruction. We want our students to give their best effort and show us what they know. Please talk with your student about working hard on their assessment. Please also ensure that your student has a good night's rest before the assessment and that they eat breakfast so that their body and brain is fueled for testing. Breakfast opens at ANCCS at 8:15 am. Quyana!
mClass Assessment
As part of The Alaska Reads Act, the State of Alaska requires that districts administer an early literacy screening tool three times a year to students in grades K-3 to identify potential reading difficulties in order to improve reading outcomes for students. Families can read more about this comprehensive K-3 reading policy at The Alaska Reads Act website: education.alaska.gov/akreads
mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition Assessments is the State of Alaska Department of Education’s and ASD’s Early Literacy benchmark screening and progress monitoring tool for students in grades K-3 in reading. mClass utilizes curriculum-based measures and is used by schools as part of the ASD Comprehensive Assessment System to support informed instructional decisions.
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development explains the decision to adopt mClass as the statewide literacy screener here:
https://education.alaska.gov/Alaska-Reading-Resources/Statewide-Early-Literacy-Screener
mClass screening assessments will only be administered in-person during the benchmark window.
ANCCS will be testing on Friday, September 13.
Results for K-3 students that were assessed during a benchmark window, will be available in Parent Connect by September 27, 2024 ParentConnection Login Information and Reference Guide: parentconnect.asdk12.org
MAP Growth Assessment
MAP Growth is the ASD and State of Alaska required benchmark/interim assessment for students in grades 3-9 in reading and mathematics. Grades 10-12 students identified as needing Tier II and Tier III reading and mathematics support also take MAP Growth as part of the Anchorage School District's MTSS framework.
Alaska's Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) has partnered with NWEA to implement a creative approach to a balanced statewide assessment that connects fall and winter MAP Growth benchmark/interim assessments and the Alaska spring AK STAR summative assessment. AK STAR eliminates the spring benchmark/interim assessment window for grades 3-9 by combining the summative and benchmark assessment into one test that produces a spring benchmark score, which includes a growth measure. More information is available at the State of Alaska AK STAR website, education.alaska.gov/assessments/akstar.
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 benchmark will be administered in person during the 2024-2025 fall and winter benchmark windows. The spring benchmark will be embedded in the AK STAR summative assessment as outlined above.
Fall Benchmark 1: September 3 - September 13 (make-ups through September 20)
Winter Benchmark 2: December 2 - December 13 (make-ups through December 19)
Spring Benchmark 3: embedded in AK STAR: March 24 - April 4 (make-ups through April 25)
ANCCS will hold Fall MAP Testing on September 5&6 for Language Arts and September 9-10 for Math!
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.
Free Swim Lessons for ANCCS Students!
APU is offering our ANCCS Eagles free swimming lessons! Please see the two posters above for information regarding registration for the Wednesday & Friday sessions as well as the Saturday option. Registration is based on a first come first served basis. Contact Moseley Sports Center for more information at 907-564-8314.
Alaska Strong: Atauchikun
Hello ANCCS! I am the new Alaska Strong Coordinator, Diana Boggess. I have been with ASD since 2009 in different capacities. I am happy to be here at ANCCS and look forward to meeting you and your students. The Alaska Strong program is designed for parents to learn about different cultural activities along with some strengthening family ideas embedded into the curriculum. This cohort runs through September with its 1st class on the 29th of August.
The program includes dinner or lunch for the whole family at each session. This session is 5 nights and two Saturdays. At the end of the competition of the 24 hours of curriculum, you are eligible for up to $250 in gift cards. Please, if interested, fill out the parent interest form and I will get back to you.
-- Diana Boggess
Note from the Nurse's Office
Thank you so much to all of our parents for getting immunizations done for school and for getting Care Plans and medication forms needed to our Nurse. All medications at school go through the nurse's office. This includes cough drops. Nurse Frost has an Over-the-Counter medication form for kids that may need Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or other medications at school. Simply contact Nurse Frost and she can send that form home. Medication can be brought to the nurse's office, labeled with student's name, to be kept here in case it is needed during the school year. Sometimes kids take antibiotics for a short period, those can also be given in school. Please contact Nurse Frost when short-term medications are needed at school.
We are starting our school screening for vision, hearing, height, and weight. Parents will hear from Nurse Frost about any screenings that do not come back within normal limits. Hearing and vision screening occurs for Pre-K, K, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th grade as well as any students new to district or referred by their teacher. These occur as time allows during the school day. ASD's goal is for all screenings to be completed by the end of first semester.
Snacks and Birthday Treats
Health Curriculum Notifications
Dear ANCCS Parent(s)/Guardian(s),
This letter is to let you know that your child will be receiving age-appropriate lessons on child sexual abuse and assault prevention education as required under the state’s Alaska Safe Children’s Act during Health class. The focus of the lessons will be to empower students with the information and skills to protect themselves and seek help from the physical, psychological and emotional harm that can occur from abusive situations and is part of the Anchorage School District’s plan to enact the Alaska Safe Children’s Act and will be handled in a sensitive, respectful manner.
K-6 students will receive instruction during two lessons (one lesson each semester).
Information about the Elementary lessons can be viewed HERE.
7-8 students will receive instruction over 5 lessons during this school year.
The five lessons/modules for each grade are organized around the following topics:
● Module 1: Defining Healthy Relationships
● Module 2: Building Healthy Relationships
● Module 3: Defining Unhealthy Relationships
● Module 4: Warning Signs
● Module 5: Help and Support
Module information and scripts can be viewed HERE.
If you do NOT want your child to receive the instruction under the Alaska Safe Children’s Act, you must write a letter to the school Principal requesting that your child be excused from these specific lessons by September 29, 2024.
Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to provide learning opportunities to improve the safety and well-being of our students.
Sincerely,
Lisa Ward, ANCCS Physical Education & Health
SAEBRS Screening
Safety Drills
Students will participate in practicing evacuation, stay put, lock down, earthquake and A.L.I.C.E intruder drills throughout the year, following state and district requirements.
If you have any questions or concerns about these drills or our safety procedures, please contact the front office at (907) 742-1370.