The Scoop

Dear Chugach Families,

Winter is certainly upon us! As we go into the snow season in Anchorage, please allow extra time to get to and from school, and be careful crossing E street if you have to park in the New Hope parking lot or along 12th or 13th avenues.

As many of you know, Chugach Optional is in the top three elementary schools in ASD in reading proficiency. This is great news and developing reading skills in our students will continue to be a priority. As a staff, when we met back in August we decided that Chugach Optional would have a math growth goal for this year, and that we would begin to place an equal amount of effort into math skills as we do with our reading skills. At the CAM meeting on November 12th, myself and some staff will be there to talk about math at Chugach. This would be a great opportunity to come find out and ask questions about the math that is being taught to your children.

As always, if you’re around the building feel free to stop by and say hello.

Joe

Friday, November 1 - Parent Coordinator Meeting (8:30am-9:30am in SEED Lab)

Monday, November 4 - School Picture Retake Day; CEC Board Meeting (3:00pm-4:00pm in Conference Room); Lego League (3:00pm-4:30pm in ART/HEALTH Room)

Tuesday, November 5 - REMOTE LEARNING DAY (Students work from home!)

Thursday, November 7 - Primary Walking Field Trip (11:45am-1:45pm); Basketball Practice (Uppers& Middles, 3:00pm-4:00pm)

Friday, November 8 - EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @ 11:15am); Chugach Auction (6pm-10pm @ 49th State Brewing Co.)

Monday, November 11 - Student Release Day (NO SCHOOL!!!)

Tuesday, November 12 - Community Assembly Meeting (6:00pm-7:00pm)

Thursday, November 14 - Basketball Practice (Uppers& Middles, 3:00pm-4:00pm)

Monday, November 18 - Lego League (3:00pm-4:30pm in ART/HEALTH Room)

Thursday, November 21 - Basketball Practice (Uppers& Middles, 3:00pm-4:00pm)

Friday, November 22 - EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @11:15am)

Monday, November 25 - Lego League (3:00pm-4:30pm in ART/HEALTH Room)

Tuesday, November 26 - Upper Drum & Fife Corps Parade (9:50am in Hallway)

Thursday, November 28 & Friday, November 29 - Thanksgiving Holiday (NO SCHOOL!!)

The future is in OUR hands and Chugach's annual auction fundraiser is about to hit 88 miles per hour! This year’s Give Back for the Future auction is an ode to the 80s. But before you decide whether you’re going in glam rock or dare to wear your acid-wash denim, make sure you take care of the business below.

Do you have your auction tickets yet? Get ‘em here and donate a staff ticket while you’re at it: https://bit.ly/24coatix

Looking for front-row parking? You can buy your tickets for the drawing to win that prime spot for the rest of the school year here: https://bit.ly/24coaparkingraffle

Questions? Want to help? Email chugachauction907@gmail.com

We can’t wait to see you Friday, Nov. 8, 6-10 p.m. at 49th State Brewing Co. The auction is the primary fundraiser for our operating budget (everything Big Simple doesn’t cover), so we need you (and your leg warmers and shoulder pads) there to make it a success!

Our school lunch is changing! Starting Tuesday, November 12th, our school lunch will switch to a traditional service. That means we will no longer have packaged meals and students will take a tray through a hot food line. Kids have to choose at least 3 items including vegetable and/or fruits. Milk will still be available for separate purchase.

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 more details on when to Keep Your Child Home, please click HERE

November 4th is picture re-take day in the MPR from 8:30am - 10:00am.

If any students have already bought pictures that they would like to have re-taken, please bring those packages back during re-takes so that the photographer can see what adjustments may need to be made. This is not a requirement, just a request from Lifetouch. Any parents who need new order forms can pick them up in the front office.

For those that will be having re-takes done, a parent volunteer will go to each classroom to collect students and bring them to the MPR.

Lego League Explore will be starting up Monday November 4th in the Art Room after school. Please fill out the form by this Friday (11/1) if your child is interested in participating. The program has limited space and priority will be given to families who can help support the program as a volunteer coach or mentor. No experience is necessary! Participation fee includes an engineering workbook, the end of season EXPO, and a finished lego project to take home at the end of the season. Further questions please reach out to Nina Anderson ( nwoods@mac.com) or Josh Tempel )(joshtempel@gmail.com).

Basketball is back! Starting this month, we will begin having basketball practices in preparation for this years basketball season! The team is open to our Middle and Upper groups. Expect the season to go into the 3rd quarter, with a tournament at the end of the season. Keep your eyes peeled for permission slips in the office. We will aim to start practices November 7th after school from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. We will continue to have practices every Thursday following until the end of the season. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Andy! Hope to see you there!

Chugach voted in our Primary Election last week. The three top candy-dates are Feastables, Jolly Ranchers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Next Monday, Chugach will have our General Election and Chugach’s Candy-date will be announced on Wednesday, Nov 6th. It has been a great experience working with our students about the voting process and how important voting is in our democracy.

Are you interested in helping care for the Chugach Chickens? We are always looking for families who are interested in after-school and weekend chicken chores! Please reach out to Angie if you would like to learn more: riley_angie@asdk12.org

You can also connect with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/share/g/JGr6r5Pu2eEEtGYe/

Would you like to learn more about math at Chugach? Mark your calendar for Tuesday, Nov. 12 from 6- 7:30 p.m. Please RSVP here https://forms.gle/N2QnfQZgHZDbyBWH8 to let us know if you plan to attend and how many children will require childcare. In addition, we are collecting questions from parents via the RSVP form to help our presenters focus the information and discussion. We hope to see you there!

If families are wanting to unload some loot from Halloween, Student Council will be collecting candy beginning November 1st. We will weigh it, sort it, and bring it to the shelter with the sock donations gathered during our SOCKTOBER Fest event.

As our first quarter ends and we are getting ready for a busy winter holiday season, thank you for pausing and connecting with your child(ren) about library books, especially overdue library books. During library time, we talk about how we are thinking about others when we remember to return our library books because other friends may want to check out the books that we are forgetting at home.

FYI: In an effort to say money and trees, I don’t send home paper copies of overdue books.

So how can you support them at home?

CLEVER and Chugach Library Catalog links!!!

We now have a direct link to Clever and our Chugach library catalog on our Chugach website under ‘Student Resources’. Clever is ASD’s ‘portal’ to our online links. Each teacher has a Clever page. On my Clever page (Amy @Chugach Library), I have videos that show how to use the library catalog if needed.

If you need support with your student’s ASD credentials, please connect with me - I can help!

If library books are lost and need replacing, please connect with me so we can make a family plan.

Any questions or thoughts, please feel free to connect with me in the library or send me a Remind or email me: brabec_amy@asdk12.org

Many thanks!

Amy

‘Clever’ is a single portal for students to have access to ASD-approved programs with a single ASD sign-in. ASD sign-in is used for many applications as well as teacher homepages and links.

Clever is used during the school day as well as during Remote Learning Days depending on your family group plan. During Remote Learning Days, Chugach’s specialists will share activities through their Clever page.

How to get to Clever? Go to Chugach’s website.

Under the ‘Student Tab’, you will find a direct link to Clever, a Clever Guide and a direct link to our Library Catalog.

Clever Tip!

If more than one person is using the ASD Portal, try using Chrome as your browser and add a new profile for each user or use a ‘New Incognito Window’. If you are adding a new profile for an ASD student, you will need to use the @asdk12.net at the end of your student’s user name.

Please use the following, depending on which screen pops up.

We wrapped up Big Simple, Our Community Fundraiser, on Friday, Oct. 11 with egg-ceptional results! Our Big Simple stats include:

● $38,324 raised in direct community donations, including two anonymous donations totaling $8000! Thank you anonymous donors!

● $589 in employee-matched donations from the following companies: ConocoPhillips, Hilcorp Alaska, and Delta Airlines

● 85% participation from our community

● A total of $38,913 raised!

● 100% funded Big Simple budget that directly benefits our teachers and students this year!

Way to go, Chugach! Your participation and efforts were nothing short of egg-straordinary!

Parents/Guardians must call the Attendance Line by 9:15 a.m. when their child will not be at school for the day. Please provide the following information on the attendance line:

Student name

Parent/Guardian Name

Reason for Absence

If your child’s absence is not called in by 9:15am or if a reason for the absence is not provided, parents/guardians will receive an automated ASD phone call regarding their unexcused absence.

Excused Absences: Absences may be excused for health reasons (including medical appointments), family emergencies, participation in religious activities, or other reasons as approved by the principal. If no reason is given the absence will be considered unexcused.

Pre-Arranged Absences: If you know your child will be out for longer than a few days please fill out a Pre-Arranged Absence Form, available in the Front Office. Travel/Vacation is generally considered a Pre-arranged Unexcused Absence (unless otherwise determined by the principal).

Late arrivals: Students are considered Tardy if arrival at school is between 8:20am -9:10am. Arrival after 9:10am is considered a morning absence. Please be sure to check in with the office when arriving after 8:20am to let them know you are here and to have your school lunch counted.

Parking Etiquette

• Please refrain from parking in any of the "RESERVED" parking spots, the fire lane or the loading dock area. We know parking is tight but for safety and courtesy reasons these areas/spots must be respected.

End-of-Day Pick-up

• If you are waiting at the curb during pick-up, please pull forward as far as possible to allow other vehicles to enter the line. Cars should never be unattended in the fire lane. This is a safety issue and we appreciate your help.

Parent/Visitor Sign-in

• All parents, visitors, and volunteers who are going to be in the school after 8:30 am need to sign in at the office.

Opportunities

• We are in need of Noon Duty attendants to assist with outdoor recess and lunch room supervision. Please go to the ASD website to apply or ask for more details at the front office.

The Chugach Optional Office is open from 7:30am - 4:00pm every school day. We can be reached at 907-742-3730 or by email at ChugachOffice@asdk12.org.