Larson Elementary

It’s hard to believe we’ve been back in school for three weeks! Our students have been doing wonderful things academically and I cannot wait to see how much more they will grow as we finish up the school year. Students completed their second iReady diagnostic right before winter break and more than 72% of all students showed growth from the beginning of the year to December. This could not have happened without our outstanding staff and parental support; thank you for all that you do.

If you are interested in volunteering at Larson we would love to have you. Please call the office or stop by and we can help you fill out the appropriate paperwork.

Matt LaHue

Principal Larson Elementary

Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District

907-352-2300

If you were thinking about getting some new Larson gear, NOW IS THE TIME!

The Larson FTA is hosting a Spirit Gear fundraiser! A portion of the proceeds will be given back to Larson.

The fundraiser will run until January 24th. Items will be delivered to school and sent home with students.

Fliers were sent home. Click on the link below to order today! Please contact the front office at (907) 352-2300 with questions.

Quarter 2 ended on December 19th. Quarter 2 report cards are available in ParentVUE. To access report cards, log into your ParentVUE account and click on the "documents" tab.

If you have any questions or are having trouble accessing the report card(s), please contact the front office at (907) 352-2301. Thank you for a wonderful second quarter!

Larson students are great at getting involved! Many of our students participate in before school and after school events. Here are just a few of the extra curricular activities happening at Larson:

• Math Club
• JNYO
• Battle of the Books
• Science Olympiad
• Chess Club
• Volleyball
• Art Club
• 5th Grade Math Tutoring
• Migrant Ed Tutoring
• Dungeons and Dragons

• Math Club: On January 11th, Miss Lamont’s Math Club students participated in the MSBSD Math Derby. They excelled in both individual tests and team tests.

• Junior Native Youth Olympics: Ms. Gueco and Mr. Foster are leading an exciting after-school program where students practice events like the high kick, stick pull, and arm pull in preparation for the NYO District Meet at Houston High School on February 7th and 8th.

• Battle of the Books: Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Merrill guide students every Wednesday after school to prepare for the Battle of the Books competition at Matsu Central on February 6th and 7th.

• Science Olympiad: The team, led by Mrs. Pitney and Mr. Merrill, meets three times a week to prepare for the Science Olympiad Event on March 22nd at Matsu Career Tech High School.

• Chess Team: Mr. Hinds coaches the Thursday morning Chess Team to get ready for the Chess Tournament at Colony Middle School on April 5th.

• Volleyball: Miss Smith and Miss Davis are coaching the Larson Volleyball Team, with the 5th-grade team playing at the 5th Grade Volleyball Jamboree at Wasilla Middle School on March 1st.

Parent teacher conferences are being held on Monday, February 10th and Monday, February 17th. There will be NO SCHOOL for students on these days..

This semester like last, parents will sign up for conferences through ParentVUE. The parent window for signing up for conferences will be Friday, January 31st - Friday, February 7th. Based on each teacher's preferences, parents can choose in-person conferences, telephone conferences or ZOOM conferences. Instructions for scheduling conferences are listed below.

Our goal is for our teachers to communicate with 100% of our parents/guardians. Please reach out to your student's teacher if you have questions regarding scheduling your conference date/time. The Larson teacher/staff directory can be found by clicking below:

Dear Parents,

IMPORTANT: This tool works best when using a computer/laptop and DOES NOT work as well using the ParentVue App on a smart phone. Limited access can be achieved going to ParentVue from a smart phone web browser such as Safari or Google Chrome. You will need an active ParentVUE account. If you need assistance, please visit https://www.matsuk12.us/registration

1. Log into Synergy ParentVUE using a web browser at https://ak-matsu-psv.edupoint.com/PXP2_Login_Parent.aspx?regenerateSessionId=True
2. Select the child for which you want to setup a conference (if you have more than one child in the district)
3. Choose the Conference button from the left menu
   

4. Then click the Parent Teacher Conferences link in the upper right corner of the page

5. Click to select a teacher

6. Select time. When you select the time, the appointment box will turn purple and display your child’s name. If you no longer want that time, click the box again to remove your student. Times that are red, already have a name, or say “locked” are not available.

7. If scheduled via ZOOM, the day of the conference you need to login to ParentVUE to access the Zoom link

Please contact us with any questions or problems at (907) 352-2300

Temperatures are supposed to drop into the negatives next week. Our goal is to get Larson students outside for recess for 30 minutes every day! We go outside all winter long unless the temperature drops below -10 degrees. Please send students to school with warm coats, snowpants, hats, gloves, scarves and boots. Please make sure all gear is labeled with your child's name. If you are having difficulty providing cold weather gear, please contact Nurse Ramilo at 907-352-2305.

Larson is looking for some AWESOME people to join our team! Contact Jayme Gueco at 907-352-2303 or via email jayme.gueco@matsuk12.us if you are interested in becoming a substitute.

Please contact Durham Bus Services at 907- 885-3561 for any of the following reasons:

• Drop off and Pick Up Issues
• Late Buses
• Missed Bus Stops
• Lost Items

For a look at a student’s bus location, parents can go to www.matsuk12.us and click on Parents > Transportation Lookup > Where’s My Bus. This document walks you through how to access Where's My Bus with picture references.

The username and password will be the phone number that a parent/guardian used at the time of registration. Please note that GPS will not work if the route is being driven in a substitute bus. If you are having issues viewing the bus, please contact either the Pupil Transportation Department at 907-761-HELP (4357) or the IT HELP DESK at 907-761-4357.

January 27th - Volleyball Game at Larson vs Iditarod 4:15pm

January 29th - Volleyball Game at Larson vs Shaw 4:15pm

February 3rd - Volleyball Game AWAY vs Shaw 4:15pm

February 5th - Volleyball Game at Larson vs Willow 4:15pm

February 6th - 3rd/4th Grade Battle of the Books Competition at Matsu Central School

February 7th - 5th/6th Grade Battle of the Books Competition at Matsu Central School

February 7th - 12th Annual NYO District Meet at Houston High School

February 8th - 12th Annual NYO District Meet at Houston High School

February 10th - NO SCHOOL - Parent/Teacher Conferences

February 12th - Volleyball Game at Larson vs Tanaina 4:15pm

February 13th - Volleyball Game AWAY vs Pioneer Peak 4:15pm

February 17th - NO SCHOOL - Parent/Teacher Conferences

February 19th - Iditarod Teacher on the Trail Presentation (all grades)

February 19th- Volleyball Game at Larson vs American Charter 4:15pm

February 24th - Volleyball Game AWAY vs Sherrod 4:15pm

February 26th - Volleyball Game AWAY vs Iditarod 4:15pm

March 1st - 5th Grade Volleyball Jamboree at Wasilla Middle School

March 22nd - Science Olympiad at Matsu Career Tech High School

April 5th - Distict Elementary Chess Tournament at Colony Middle School

The front office number is 907-352-2300.