Aquarian is built on three foundational pillars: academic rigor, relationships, and engagement.

January

1/13- 3rd Quarter ASAs Start

1/13- 5:45 APC Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 945 3161 5121

Passcode: 871491

1/16- Spelling Bee 10:00

1/16- 3/4 School Battle of the Books

1/20- MLK Jr. Day (No School)

1/23- Pizza Day

February

2/1- House Ball 7-9

2/3- PTO Meeting 5:30 in the Library

2/5-2/6 Science Fair

2/10- 5:45 APC Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 945 3161 5121

Passcode: 871491

2/14- Pizza Fundraiser

2/17- Presidents' Day- No School

2/21- 3rd Quarter ASAs End

2/25- Day of Play

2/26- Parent Teacher Conferences- No School for Students

2/27- Professional Development- No School for Students

2/28- Parent Teacher Conferences- No School for Students

We are thrilled to announce this year's House Ball, happening on February 1st from 7:00-9:00 PM at West High. This exciting event is always a highlight of the year, and we can’t wait to see everyone there!

To make the evening truly magical, we need a few volunteers to lend a helping hand. If you’d like to contribute to the success of this special night, please check out the available opportunities and sign up here: Volunteer Sign-Up.

Thank you for helping us create an unforgettable evening!

Friday Aquarian 5th and 6th graders had their school Battle of the Books competition to see who would represent our school at the district meet. Everyone did well and the 2 teams that will go to district will be The Spice Girls - Marion Nesbett, Paisley Cook, Haddie Smith and Daisy Spinelli and Nothing Less Than Awesome - Olive Brenock-Leduc, Pip D'Atri, Jack Torres and Kaino Brenock-Leduc. Congratulations to everyone for all your hard work!

Aquarian is excited to announce that we will have Artists in Residence during the week of February 10th! Casey Silver and Dimi Macheras of 80% Studios are the creators of Chickaloonies, a graphic novel series that combines contemporary culture, traditional Alaskan legends, and storytelling. Casey and Dimi will meet with all fourth—through sixth-grade classes during their art time (with a little schedule finagling) during the week of February 10th. Students will participate in a storytelling workshop that combines art, writing, and oral storytelling with a focus on character development.

For more information, check out their website https://eightypercentstudios.com/

Exciting news—our Spirit Wear Store is open again! We only open the store twice a year, so don’t miss this chance to stock up on your favorite spirit wear. The store will be open for two weeks only, so be sure to place your orders before it closes.

Shop Here: Spirit Wear Store

Please note: After the store closes, items will take 4-6 weeks to arrive. The store will not open again until August of the 2025-2026 school year, so now’s the time to gear up and show your school pride!

For the safety of all our students, please ensure that children are only dropped off on the passenger side of the car in the drop-off lane.

We’ve noticed that some children are being let out on the driver’s side, which puts them at risk as cars continue to pass in the lane. Let’s work together to keep everyone safe during morning drop-off.

Thank you for your cooperation and attention to this important safety reminder!

The Amazing Shake is a competition designed to teach students manners, poise under pressure, and how to engage respectfully in a professional environment. At Aquarian, we want to prepare our students to present themselves well for opportunities today and in the future. This competition is a fun, engaging opportunity presenting a series of challenges replicating real-world scenarios, giving students a chance to hone their social skills and professionalism.

It’s our second year hosting the Amazing Shake event, and it’s time for more fun and some exciting changes. In 2025, K-3 students will again have a “shake-out” to find our K-3 champion.

New for 2025, all 4th-6th grade students will compete in Round 1, The Gauntlet on March 21st. The Gauntlet consists of ten fun and challenging stations that evaluate students’ professionalism, collegiality, and ability to interact with people. The top 25-30 gauntlet winners will participate in Round 2, a "work the room" scenario with local business leaders on March 27th. The top 5 finalists will sit down for a professional lunch for Round 3 with local VIPs who will select our 2025 Amazing Shake Champion! Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities! We need your help as we challenge our students to be Amazing!

Questions? Want to help? Contact fineman_sarah@asdk12.org and chelmo_lisa@asdk12.org

I’m excited to share that we will implement a new visitor management software system soon.

The Raptor Technologies safety software will add an extra layer of campus security. Upon entry, visitors, volunteers, and ASD staff whose primary location is outside of our campus must sign in using the self-serve kiosk.

The software has been piloted at ASD schools and is now being rolled out District-wide. The District is implementing the visitor management system to aid in the standardization of visitor check-in procedures in all schools, which supports Board Policy 3515.5.

Soon, all adult visitors to Aquarian will be required to present and scan a current government-issued photo ID upon entering the school. This adjustment to our visitor management policy is a significant step forward in strengthening our school’s safety protocols.

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety and security of our students, staff, and school community, we are excited for this important enhancement to our ASD visitor management policy.

This new requirement will enable us to:

● Quickly and accurately verify the identity of all visitors.

● Enhance our ability to maintain a secure environment for our students and staff.

● Ensure that we have accurate records of who is in our buildings at all times, further enhancing our ability to respond in the event of an emergency.

What is Raptor?

The visitor management system records the visitor’s name, date of birth, and last four digits of the ID, and checks against a national database of registered sex offenders. Schools will follow School Board policy regarding registered sex offenders in the building (see: Restrictions on Sex Offenders on Campus BP 3515.5). The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the system. No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded and the information is not shared with any outside agency.

We understand that changes in protocol may require adjustments from our community, and we appreciate your cooperation and support in making our school a safer place for everyone. Please rest assured that all information collected will be treated with the utmost respect for privacy and confidentiality, used solely for the purpose of enhancing the security of our school premises.

Thank you for your understanding and your continued partnership in keeping our school community safe.

Check out all the cool things happening in Enrichment this quarter!

Kindergarten: In this module, students read a story where a character, Angelina, falls off the monkey bars and breaks her arm. Students follow Angelina’s case as they progress through the module, learning about both the diagnosis and treatment of her injury. As students follow Angelina’s story, they explore the basic relationship between structure and function in the human body. They look at major structures, or organs, within the body and investigate how the structure of each organ is related to its function. Once students establish an understanding of basic structure and function in the body, they then take a deeper look at the functions of bone. They assemble a skeleton and create a model X-ray of a hand. Then, they act as scientists to perform an inquiry investigation to explore how the structure of the fingers impacts their function. Finally, students work through an engineering design process to design and build a cast for Angelina.

First Grade: In this module, students are presented with the problem of preparing an ideal traveler for a visit to an extreme environment and designing the ideal shoe for this traveler to wear in this environment. Students look to plant and animal adaptations to guide them as they make choices about how to prepare their traveler. Students learn what it means for an organism to be adapted to its environment and how different adaptations can be categorized. Through various investigations, students explore an example of adaptations for protection, camouflage, food, and locomotion. They complete an inquiry investigation to explore how different beak shapes are best adapted for gathering different foods. They then investigate organisms that live in an extreme environment and document the variety of adaptations that each of these organisms display. Students combine all of their knowledge of plant and animal adaptations with their understanding of the extreme environment to prepare their traveler and design their shoe.

Second Grade: In this module students explore how the surface of the Earth is always changing. They are introduced to different kind of maps and explore how these maps convey different kinds of information about the world we live in, including where water is found on Earth. Students investigate the different forces that shape the surface of the Earth and design solutions to limit the impact of erosion on a fictional community.

Third Grade: In this module, students investigate the differences between genetic traits that are inherited and traits that are influenced by the environment. Students learn about dominant and recessive alleles, as they explore the phenomenon that offspring may express different traits than parents. Students apply this knowledge as they use a Punnett square to document possible genotypes and phenotypes of offspring.

In the problem, students select four inherited traits for two fictitious parent animals. Students follow the design process to explore, sketch, build, and evaluate an offspring of the parent animals that’s able to survive in a specific environment. Students use data to support their explanation of the inherited traits passed from the parents to the offspring.

Fourth Grade: In this module, students become computer scientists as they explore computing systems. Students learn that a computing system includes the computer hardware, software, and user. This system works together to process input and produce output. Students apply their understanding of computing systems as they compare them to human body systems.

Then, students explore how data are represented in computing systems. They learn that computers can only store 0s and 1s. To do this, computers use the binary system. Students learn that what they see on the screen is very different from what is stored inside a computer.

After building an understanding of computing systems, students create programs using a block-based coding language. Students follow the Use-Modify-Create Framework to write programs with sequences, events, loops, and variables. Applying skills and knowledge learned from the activities and project, students work together to design and program a digital game that keeps children busy while they are waiting.

Fifth Grade: In this module students are presented with a problem where a large number of students at a school are sick. Students learn about transmission of disease through a simulation and compare communicable and non-communicable diseases. Students design, run, and analyze data from an experiment related to preventing the spread of germs. Student groups present ways to prevent the spread of infection using evidence from their experiments. Students investigate how the body protects us from these germs to keep us healthy. Bacteria and viruses are introduced as agents of disease, and students use information learned and patient symptoms to identify the disease agent causing a simulated disease outbreak. Using epidemiology practices, students deduce a likely source of an infection that is spreading through a fictional school.

Sixth Grade: Students will research renewable and nonrenewable energy resources and the consequences of using various energy resources. Students will then share their learning by designing and building an educational game based on an energy resource or resources of their choosing to share with family and friends.

The annual Ski 4 Kids event will be held February 15th at Kincaid Park from 2pm-5pm. This event is a festive winter day full of fun events for children 14 and under! It includes ski races, obstacle courses, biathlon, fat tire biking and more! Schools can also apply for a grant for ski equipment. For more information about Ski 4 Kids, please visit the event page at http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/events/ski-4-kids/

Drop Off/ Pick Up

General Guidance
Drop Off is from 8:00-8:15. Students and parents are welcome to enter the building through the gym doors at 8:15. Until then they will wait outside on the blacktop. Students are not allowed on the playground or in the woods without a parent. This is because we do not have enough staff outside to supervise students in those areas, and we want to make sure everyone stays safe.

Pickup is from 3:15-3:30. Classes have specials until 3:15. Please do not plan on picking up earlier than 3:15. You will just be waiting in line. We do a staggered dismissal. Students in 3rd-6th will be dismissed at 3:15. Students in kindergarten through the 2/3 multiage will be released at 3:25. If you have a student in the upper grades and another in the lower grades, come at the 3:25 pickup time.

• No Cell Phone Usage in the Pickup/ Drop Off-Line (This includes texting!)
• Parents and students must cross at a crosswalk.
• Please be kind and patient. Our kids are watching.

Drop Off

• All students will enter through the gym doors.
• Please pull all the way forward. Do not leave space between you and the car in front of you.
• If your child needs assistance getting in and out of the vehicle, please park and walk them across the crosswalk.
• Please do not drop students off in the parking lot.

Pickup

• You have two options for pickup:
  Go through the pickup line. OR Park and meet your child at their line spot on the fence. (Do not meet your child at their classroom. Our halls get crowded during dismissal. We need to safely be able to exit.)

Using the Pickup Line

• Have your yellow card (These will be sent home on the first day and handed out during pick up the first week.) displayed on the right-hand side of your windshield. Staff will be looking for this to call your child to the pickup line.
• When you enter the pickup line, pull all the way forward. Do not leave space between you and the next vehicle.
• A staff member will call your child on the radio. They will be waiting for you in front of the fence, where their class is lined up.
• Students must enter the vehicle from the sidewalk. They may not walk around the vehicle, as cars pass on that side.
• You may not get out of your car in the pickup line.
• As soon as your child is safely inside, please exit the pickup line.
• When exiting the school grounds whether from the parking lot or pickup line, you must turn right. (This is new this year!)

Parking

• Park
• Cross at a crosswalk.
• Meet your child at their line spot on the fence.
• Check-in with the teacher before leaving with your child.
• Do NOT park on the side street. Our neighbors get very frustrated.
• If you want to park, you must use the Lois to 32nd route. All vehicles coming from Minnesota, will need to use the pickup/ drop off line. (This is new this year.)
• When exiting the school grounds whether from the parking lot or pickup line, you must turn right. (This is new this year!)

Remember:

You can use the pickup/ drop off line coming from Minnesota or 32nd. However, you can only use the parking lot if you’re coming from 32nd. This is to keep the flow of traffic going on Minnesota.

Also, when leaving school property, you MUST turn right.

We try to have staff members outside to help remind everyone, but sometimes we simply do not have enough folks. So, thank you again for doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.