The Scoop

Dear Chugach Families,

I can’t believe we’re nearly halfway through the school year! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be doing our winter benchmark testing. For K-3 students this will mean doing the mClass testing, and for our 3-6 students we will be doing the MAP Growth testing. Thank you to Beverly and Amy for being our building test coordinators. Also during the next few weeks, we will have our band and orchestra concert, so keep an eye out for those dates.

For those of you who do not have a student in the Upper’s group, you may not have known they are instructing math as a 5th grade, 6th grade, and 7th grade. Yes, you read correctly. Our Upper teachers are doing this to meet the needs of students who are on grade level as well as meeting the needs of students who need more of a challenge in math. This also aligns with our school-wide math goal of increasing our overall math scores. As part of this, our Upper teachers have been using an online math curriculum called Illustrative Mathematics. However, creating student worksheets requires a lot of time copying and collating. The Upper Teachers and I looked into ordering Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, and we were approved to use our remaining Bridges math funds to purchase student workbooks and teacher manuals for our Upper’s. This is great news. By purchasing the materials we are also provided with professional development training in Illustrative Mathematics by the publisher, Imagine Learning. We are hoping to have materials for our Upper students to use by January of this school year. Also in January, I will be looking into purchasing an updated math curriculum for our K-4 students. I will keep you posted as I can gather pricing.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend, and that you have your batteries charged for the final few weeks of this semester.

Joel

Wednesday, December 4 - MAP testing - Uppers

Thursday, December 5 - Basketball (3:00pm-4:00pm; Uppers & Middles)

Friday, December 6 - MAP testing Make-Ups (SEED Lab), Parent Coordinator Meeting (8:30am-9:30am, Staff Lounge), EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @11:15am), Basketball Game @ Government Hill (3:30pm-5:00pm)

Monday, December 9 - MAP Testing - Middles, Lego League (3pm-4pm; Art Room)

Tuesday, December 10 - MAP Testing Make-Ups (SEED Lab); Holiday Sing-A-Long (8:10am in Library), Band& Orchestra Winter Concert (8:30am-9:05am, Gym), Community Assembly Meeting (6:00pm-7:30pm)

Wednesday, December 11 - MAP Testing - Uppers

Thursday, December 12 - Holiday Sing-A-Long (8:10am in Library), Band&Orchestra Winter Concert (8:30am-9:05am @ Denali Montessori), Basketball (3:00pm-4:00pm; Uppers & Middles)

Friday, December 13 - MAP Make-Ups (SEED Lab), Middle Field Trip to AK Native Heritage Center (9:30am-1:00pm), Basketball Home Game vs. Muldoon (3:00pm-5:00pm)

Monday, December 16 - MAP Make-Ups (Art/Health Room), Lego League (3:00pm-4:30pm)

Tuesday, December 17 - Holiday Sing-A-Long (8:10am in Library), Basketball Game @ North Star (3:30pm-5:00pm)

Thursday, December 19 - Holiday Sing-A-Long (8:10am in Library), Basketball (3:00pm-4:00pm; Middles & Uppers)

The Busse Family were this year's auction winners of the prized Chugach Optional Parking spot. Please be sure to respect the RESERVED - AUCTION WINNER sign and avoid blocking this spot with your vehicle. Thank you for your cooperation!

Exciting News

Student Council has exciting news to share with the Chugach Community. A record 620 pairs of socks were donated during our Socktober Fest Sock Drive.

Also… a whopping 50 pounds of candy was donated as well in our “Treats for Others” Halloween candy collection campaign.

This month, the socks and candy will be donated to the Downtown Soup Kitchen. The team and the people who benefit always look forward to our arrival by giving us a tour of the center, answering questions, and graciously expressing their appreciation.

A BIG Thank you to everyone who helped make these events successful!!

Support Chugach: Shop, Save, and Share!

Have you seen the bulletin board in the MPR?! There are so many ways your shopping now (and all year) can support Chugach!

Fred Meyer Community Rewards: Support Chugach when you shop at Fred Meyer! Log in to you your digital account, then select "Chugach Optional School" as your community rewards recipient! We will receive a donation from every purchase: https://www.fredmeyer.com/i/community/community-rewards

Minted: Order holiday cards, stationary, or other fun items from Minted! When you use the code “FundraiseChugach” at checkout, you get 20% off your order and Chugach gets a 15% donation! https://www.minted.com/

Mabel’s Labels: Are your mittens hats, water bottles, and lunch boxes going missing? Are you a regular at the Lost & Found? Get Mabel’s Labels for all school stuff! Search for Chugach to access our fundraiser: https://mabelslabels.com/fundraising/support

We have a few more shop-and-support opportunities in the works. Check the bulletin board in the MPR for updates! If you have ideas for similar fundraisers, email chugachoptionalcecboard@gmail.com.

Please be aware of the IDLE FREE Zones around our school building. These areas are on 12th Ave by our school's back entrance and outside our school front doors. Vehicles should not be left running in these areas. Thank you for your cooperation!

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

Raptor System

• Please remember to bring your government-issued ID with you when you enter the school so that you can check in at out new Raptor station. Check in is required after 8:30am and before 2:30pm. We appreciate everyone who has taken the time to sign in and are excited about the new security.

Outer wear

• All students need to have proper winter gear when going outside for recess.
• For Kinder, Primary and Middle, this means boots, snow pants, jackets, hats, and gloves.
• For Uppers, they must have boots, jackets, hats, and gloves (although snow pants are recommended as well).
• Students who don’t have the proper gear with them and can’t find something that fits from Nurse Maya will be spending their recess sitting on the benches by the front office.

Please encourage your student(s) to be prepared.

Attendance

• If your child is going to be out of school for the day please contact the office before 9:15 am at 907-742-3730
• All students arriving after 8:20 am must sign-in at the 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

Email: chugachoffice@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/chugachoptional
Location: 1205 E Street, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-3730