Dear Huffman families,

What a surprise to wake up to a snow day yesterday! We were expecting some snow, but the day off of school was definitely unexpected. I hope you all enjoyed the day at home and were able to get out and enjoy our early winter.

It's hard to believe that October is just around the corner. Before we know it, first quarter will be over and we will be welcoming families into the building for parent teacher conferences. We look forward to this time to connect with families.

Speaking of connections, it has been so inspiring yesterday to watch a small army of committed Huffman volunteers show up for our annual potato harvest. Friday was the day that was planned to harvest with students, and normally if the weather doesn't allow us to participate, we will reschedule for the following week. Unfortunately, with the cold temperatures predicted for next week, the master gardeners in charge felt that we needed to harvest now to avoid damaging the crop.

We will share pictures with our students when they return on Monday, and we will look forward to continuing this tradition with planting in the spring!

Respectfully,

Molly Hickox, Principal

Huffman Elementary School

Please remember to make sure your child has gloves, hats, warm jacket and snowpants for recess and/or PE every day. We follow district guidelines to go outside until it is -10 degrees. Many students were caught off guard this week and got pretty chilly during recess. We have a very limited amount of loaner gear for those that need it, so it's time to pull out all the winter gear at home and make sure it gets into backpacks for school!

Several families have asked about when we send notifications about positive cases in the school. We will send the following notifications to the email addresses we have on file for the parent/guardians of each student:

• If there is a positive case in your child's classroom
• If your child has been identified as a close contact of a confirmed positive case

Per district policy, we are no longer sending all school emails when we have a positive case. You can track the total number of positive cases at Huffman on the ASD website under School Operations/School Status in Real Time.

As always, if you have questions about COVID related health issues, please reach out to Nurse Krista Hepler at hepler_krista@asdk12.org or 742-5651.

Some of you may have received a letter that states your Free and Reduced Lunch benefits have expired. While all Huffman students will receive free lunch all year, it is important to submit a new application if you think you might qualify again. There are other district programs that use the Free and Reduced Lunch data for qualification. You can start a new application and submit it here.

All school volunteers must register with the district and undergo a background check. If you would like to volunteer in your child's classroom or anywhere else in the school, please fill out the volunteer forms on our website under Families/Forms and return them to our front office. You can drop them off in person or email them to bostick_jennie@asdk12.org. You may also just stop by our office and fill out a hard copy if you choose. Thank you for volunteering at our school!

Starting today, parents have access to their child's PEAKS scores if they took the assessment last spring. PEAKS is our statewide summative assessment that is given every year in the spring to 3-9 graders. PEAKS scores are available in Parent Connect in Q under Testing Results. For more information about the assessment and how to interpret the results, click here.

When your child is absent, please call our main office at 742-5650 option 1 to report the absence. Please give a brief reason for the absence, and please be honest. Due to COVID protocols, Nurse Krista is required to follow up with all students who may be experiencing symptoms. If you are out for appointments, a family trip, or something else that is not related to illness, it will save us a lot of time if you state that reason in your message. Our school nurses have taken on a lot of extra work during the pandemic, so please help us be as efficient as possible.

Email: hickox_molly@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/huffman
Location: 12000 Lorraine Street, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-5650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuffmanElementary

The School Board is committed to equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs and activities shall be free from discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, physical or mental disability, Vietnam era veteran status, genetic information, good faith reporting to the board on a matter of public concern, or any other unlawful consideration. The Board shall promote programs which ensure that discriminatory practices are eliminated in all District activities.