American Charter Chats

• Winter Break- Monday, December 23rd - Monday January 6th
• Return to School-Tuesday, January 7th
• Second Quarter Report Cards- January. 8th are available/sent home
• Early Release- Friday, January 10th @ 1pm
• Session 3 Quest Clubs Begin- Monday, January 13th
• American Charter Foundation Meeting- Monday, January 13th @ 2:10pm
• Spelling Bee- Tuesday, January 14th @ 8:00am
• Afternoon of Excellence for Honor Roll Recipients- Thursday, January 16th @ 1:00pm
• No School- Monday, January 20th, MLK Jr. Day
• National School Choice Week- Monday, Jan., 27 - 31
• Ice Skating Field Trip- Monday, January 27th Primary Prep and Secondary
• Ice Skating Field Trip-Wednesday, January 29th Multi-Age Classes

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This month the Primary Prep classes enjoyed visits from Middle School students. The Middle School students took time to read stories to the younger students.

Mrs. Ostendorf’s class is enjoying their weekly coding class. Students learn and create through Code.org, an education innovation nonprofit dedicated to the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science and artificial intelligence. The class started with learning grade level fundamentals and are moving up through a series of lessons, which have been very creative and engaging.

This month the class had visitors from Wells Fargo, Valinda Stansberry and Kristina Bibbo. They read the book, "Lolly Learns about Wants and Needs" by Lisa Bullard. This fueled a discussion about the difference between a "want" and a "need". Students shared examples distinguishing a "want" from a "need." Due to Mrs. Bibbo's Wells Fargo sponsored volunteer service, a $150.00 donation will be presented to American Charter Academy by the Wasilla Wells Fargo Bank. Students and staff thank the Wells Fargo representatives for their presentation in financial academics.

Life Science Students had the opportunity to use microscopes and slides to identified the characteristics of animal and plant cells.

Life Science Students investigated understanding the similarities and differences between osmosis and diffusion by carefully dissolving the shell from an egg, allowing for the testing of water movement across a membrane

Physical Science Students created and tested the strength of spaghetti bridges. The winning design held a daunting weight of 178 pounds!

In 2023, Rebecca Van Lou initiated a Christmas Choir at AMC. Due to schedule changes, she was not able to continue in 2024, so Mrs. Ostendorf established a Quarter II Quest opportunity to provide vocalists with a holiday showcase. This year, AMC performers from grades 2 to 5, known as the AMC Acapella Choir, will perform for the AMC Holiday Assembly. Seasonal classics such as "Jingle Bells, " "Here Comes Santa Claus, " and "Carol of the Bells" will be sung. Audience members will be invited to join in on a couple of closing numbers. Uniquely, this group of performers sings group and solo sections and adds dramatic movements to their performance. For a majority of the singers, this will be their first time performing in front of a live audience.

AMC students participated in their first season of girls and boys 4th/5th grade basketball. The kids learned a lot from head coach Jessica Chappell and finished strong, winning all three games each in the district wide Jamboree. Thank you Mrs. Chappell, Mrs. Kotyk, and Mrs, Worley!

Middle School students on a tour of the Career Tech Campus.

Primary Prep and Multi-Age students enjoyed a trip to watch the Alaska Nutcracker.

Hello American Charter Families,

First, I want to wish everyone Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Wonderful New Year!! American Charter Academy is extremely fortunate to have you as part of our school community; thank you for helping make the first half of the school year successful and memorable!

Second, the next steps for the construction of AMC’s new school are as follows. The project will be put out to bid by the borough the middle of February. There will be an open window of time for the contractors to read through the bid package and ask questions, approximately mid-February to mid-April. The contractor who wins the bid will be confirmed at the last borough assembly meeting in April. Once the contractor is onboard, a timeline will be established for when the project will begin and end. Currently, three possible dates for the school completion are Fall 2026, Winter 2026, and Spring/Summer 2027.

Third, second quarter report cards will be sent home/available January 8th, and an Afternoon of Excellence event will be held January 16th, @ 1:00pm to acknowledge Honor Roll recipients from 1st & 2nd Quarter.

Thank you for partnering with AMC as we ‘Achieve Academic Excellence Together.’

~Wishing everyone a relaxing and rejuvenating vacation.

Sincerely,

Ms. Farren

Are you interested in volunteering with AMC? Follow the link above and someone from the American Charter Foundation will be in contact with you about opportunities.