This week at Connections!

Please see the attached letter from our Principal!

Re-Enrollment and initial enrollment appointments for the 25-26 school year have begun!!

Contact your local office to setup an enrollment appointment today!

Central Peninsula 907-714-8880

Homer 907-226-1880

Seward 907-224-9035

Our annual Art Show is this week at the Soldotna Connections office. Stop by our office Monday-Thursday 8am-4:30pm to check out the submitted pieces! Art will also be displayed on Friday, April 4th from 8am-3pm with an Art Reception from 1-3pm with light refreshments served.

There's still time to submit art for the Art Exhibition with the City of Soldotna with the theme: Connecting in Soldotna. Themed pieces need to be dropped off to the Soldotna office by Friday, April 4th, they will be on display until May 19th.

Any questions, please contact our office at 907-714-8880.

Connections Junior, Sara DeVolld, just returned from the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C. where she was honored as a National STEM Champion by industry leaders from companies and agencies such as NASA, Google, Autodesk, Broadcom, and Nokia.

Sara also won the National YoungArts Award for the same STEM-infused wearable art designs in January.

Having been awarded these two prestigious awards for her Vintage Train Case designs in 2025 allowed Sara to share her message with investors and national media outlets that young women don't have to choose between the arts and the sciences; they can do BOTH!

Congratulations Sara!

We have a few important deadlines approaching- please mark your calendars so you don't miss them!!

Last Day to submit ORDERS to your advisor- TODAY, March 31st

High School Eligibility Report DUE to your advisor- April 10th

High School Eligibility Check- April 14th

Last Day for local vendor ORDERS from Beemuns, AK Crazy Collector, etc.- April 30th

Last Day to submit REIMBURSEMENTS to your advisor- April 30th

2nd Semester Reports DUE to your advisor- May 14th

Connections Graduation- May 22nd 4pm @ SOHI Auditorium

Connections 8th grader, Dee Wilmeth, had a fantastic time at the Alaska State Spelling Bee!

Although Dee didn't make the top two, she was tied for 2nd runner-up (3rd place) with a student from Sitka.

What a great opportunity! Thank you Dee for representing Connections and KPBSD so well!!

For students considering taking classes next year at Kenai Middle School-

You are invited to attend the 5th/6th Grade Visitation on April 22nd.

All students should arrive at Kenai Middle School at 9:15am and leave at 11:15am.

AGENDA

1. Welcome- Mr. Dosko/Mr. Felchle- KMS Library 9:15am
2. Power Point Presentation
3. School Tour

Kenai Middle School's annual "Spring Open House" for transitioning students/parents and perspective students/parents will be on Thursday, April 24th. More information to come.

We will have a Book Fair at the Soldotna Prep School April 22nd-25th!

The fair will run 10am-3pm daily.

Homer & Seward families that attend the Book Fair in person, you will receive a $5 off coupon to use at the Book Fair.

We will have an additional *Adventure Night* on Thursday, April 24th from 5-7pm! Bring your family, invite a friend, & come dressed as your favorite adventurer, real or fictional!

Online ordering will be available beginning APRIL 21st! Link is below.

Paper catalogs are available at the Soldotna Connections office and will soon be at the Homer and Seward offices as well.

Click link below to access the file with clickable links.

A little Ukulele playing and singing with Braden Rollins- Musical interests peaked?? Let's hope so!

The Alaska System of Academic Readiness (AK STAR) is designed to provide families with information about their child(ren)'s performance and progress in relation to the academic standards for Alaska students.

Grades 3-9 will participate in the AK STAR, but only grades 5, 8, and 10 will participate in the Alaska Science Assessment.

Why is this important?

• For Students: Scores track individual progress, highlight strengths and areas for improvement, and help you tailor instruction to meet your student’s needs.

• For Connections: Scores show how our students are performing compared to the Alaska grade level standards and their peers across the nation. When students take this assessment, we can use this data to better advise parents in curriculum choices, instruction, and plan for needed supports.

• For the Borough & State: Performance data informs the public and lawmakers about student growth, which can impact school funding and state support. Help show them how much your student is learning!

Please click this link: https://education.alaska.gov/assessments/akstar/families-and-community for more information about the AK STAR assessment, facts, and FAQs.

For Alaska Science Assessment information, facts, and FAQs, click this link: https://education.alaska.gov/assessments/science

Visit https://education.alaska.gov/assessments/akstar/student-readiness and/or https://education.alaska.gov/assessments/science/student-readiness to see the Educator Guides, the Spring 2024 Student Tutorials, and Practice Tests. The more students familiarize themselves with the online tools and test platform, the more comfortable they will be on testing day. No one enjoys test anxiety 😊.

Spring MAPs scores are included in the AK STAR test. Those results will be accessible before the end of the school year and are helpful for guiding your homeschooling instruction.

Testing will be held at Homer Connections April 1-4 and April 7-10 at:

Homer Connections

206 E. Pioneer St.

Homer, AK 99603

SIGN UP HERE

Testing will be held April 8th-10th and April 15th-17th at the Soldotna Prep School.

The Alaska Science Assessment sessions will be April 16th & 17th also at Soldotna Prep School.

Sign up HERE. You MUST sign up so that testing materials will be prepared for all students.

If you wish to OPT OUT of either of the assessments, please click the link below for instructions on how to opt out.

Connections will be hosting our 2nd Family Fun Zone during the 38th Annual Sports Rec & Trade Show at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

Saturday & Sunday, May 3rd & 4th

Saturday hours 10am-6pm and Sunday hours 10am-5pm

Family Fun Zone is FREE with entrance to the show! We will have carnival games, face painting, prizes, and more! Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Entrance to the show:

General Admission- $5

Senior/Student/Military- $3

Kids 10 & under- Free

The Seward office had a Silversmithing class instructed by Art Koeninger from Homer. A great time was had by all, with lots of learning and creativity happening!

Participants were: Noah Dickinson, Lavina Dickinson, Erin Huett, Jessie Huett, Cassie Vachowski, Jacob Vachowski, Emmajean Kendrick, Zach Woodard, Ava Sawyer, Kellen Schrock, and Ellia Schrock.

As we continue planning for the remainder or the 24-25 school year and look ahead to the 2025-2026 school year, we'd like some feedback on the events that Connections offers.

Please take the time to complete the short feedback survey below. Thanks in advance for helping us serve our families as best we can!

As homeschool parents, you have taken steps to prioritize your child’s education and to give them the tools they will need to be successful. While it may be impossible to predict the future or even know what our kids will be “when they grow up”, one thing is for sure – it will be very different than the world we grew up in, and artificial intelligence will be a part of it!

AI has exploded on the scene in the past year or two, and if you are curious, or perhaps even a bit skeptical, about Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT, Seward Connections Advisor, Laura Haskins, has put together a Video Series called “Understanding and Navigating Artificial Intelligence”. The information in this series is geared toward K-12 parents and students. Her hope is that you gain a basic foundation in order to start a conversation with your family and to explore it further.

The link will take you to a Google Folder where you will find 5 short videos to watch at your convenience. Please also check out the other resources in the Folder and she would also appreciate it if you complete the feedback survey when you are done. Click the image below or scan the QR code to get started.

Soldotna area families- one month left of Elementary Music Class!

Tuesdays- April 1st, April 15th, and April 29th

Classes will take place at the Soldotna Prep Music Room.

All grades K-6th will now meet together 2:30-3:30pm

Connections will be holding a Spring Recital on Tuesday, April 22nd at 6pm. It will be held at the Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna.

We hope you will all attend to support our amazing musicians!

THIS TRIP IS CURRENTLY FULL. We do have a waitlist started, so if you sign up you will be added to the waitlist.

April 27th - April 28th

See the flyer for all the details.

CLICK HERE to sign-up!

Our second boat for our Marine Science Tour is CURRENTLY FULL- waitlist has been started!

Monday, April 28th, 2025

Check in time: 9:30am

Tour: 10am-3pm

Seward Harbor

Please click the image below and sign-up if you would like to go:

Each of our locations have special events in their certain areas!

Be sure to click the link below for your area to see what each Connections location has coming up AND the community events for each area.