School Community Newsletter

Congratulations to Mitkoff Middle School teacher Hannah Smith and Petersburg High School teacher Alice Cumps for being identified as two of the three Alaska state finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching! Their applications have been forwarded to the national level for review by the National Science Foundation.

About PAEMST

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) is the highest recognition that a kindergarten through 12th grade science, technology, engineering, or mathematics teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States. Up to 110 teachers are recognized each year.

https://paemst.nsf.gov/recognition

Stedman Elementary Webpage-Click Here

Important Dates

March

26th 11:30-12:30 Lunch Hour with the Principal and Counselor

April

1st Partners in Education meeting 4:00pm Stedman Library

3rd Kindergarten Registration for 2025-2026 5:15-6:15pm

7th- AK Star testing begins

18th&21st INSERVICE NO SCHOOL

22nd 4th Grade Stikine River Trip Permission Slip Goes Home

26th Early Childhood Fair 10:00am-12:00pm

FYI: Spelling Bee POSTPONED

These students (below) have been working on r-controlled vowels in 3rd Eagle Power and finished off the lesson collaborating by explaining where they are and what they need to do to move further on their level of understanding to a 3 or 4, showing understanding and mastery.

Stephanie Pawuk’s classroom: Although there are many things we do when teaching reading to increase fluency and comprehension, I chose to focus on John Hattie’s strategies of goal setting, feedback, and teachers' high expectations when working on reading fluency with struggling readers in grades 2-5. Goal setting has an effect size of 0.50, feedback has an effect size of 0.92, and teachers’ high expectations have an effect size of 0.90. (All are considered high effect sizes) I work with grades K-5 this year but I decided to focus on grades 2-5 where many students have stronger decoding skills and are ready to work on fluency.

I set the fluency goals using the DIBELS standards that increase in difficulty as the year progresses. These are challenging goals. Although true fluency includes reading with prosody, or reading with expression, for the purposes of this study I focused on reading speed and accuracy, or words per minute read correctly. Students know at any point in the year what their fluency goals are because they are posted on my board at all times for each grade level. I adjust them as the year goes on. Each time we read, we talk about their goals. After every practice passage, students can identify whether their reading fluency is far below grade level (in the red), below grade level (in the yellow), at grade level (in the green), or above grade level (in the blue). Setting these high goals and giving immediate feedback after reading has proven to be effective. Students have learned to easily calculate their words per minute. Having clear goals and high expectations has really pushed students to improve their reading fluency. They often ask to reread practice passages to get an even higher score. We are excited about growth in our classroom even if it is just movement from red to yellow!

OVERALL GROWTH in my groups grades 2-5 this year:

2nd grade: average percent of increase in reading fluency from the beginning of the year until now: 312.5%

3rd grade: average percent of increase in reading fluency from the beginning of the year until now: 171%

4th grade: average percent of increase in reading fluency from the beginning of the year until now: 143%

5th grade: average percent of increase in reading fluency from the beginning of the year until now: 140%

I am so proud of my hardworking students!

Mitkof Middle School Gear Store- Click here to order your Mitkof Viking Gear

NATIVE YOUTH OLYMPICS

Practices are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 6:30-7:30 pm

VOLLEYBALL- will be headed to Craig April 10th-12th

Home events coming soon once schedules are finalized.

Thomas Olsen Phillips represented PHS admirably at the Poetry Out Loud competition on March 5 in Juneau. He did a terrific job, reciting "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman, "Numbers" by Mary Cornish, and "Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

We have a FACEBOOK page!

https://www.facebook.com/people/Petersburg-High-School/61571925772105/

Over the coming week in Advisory, we will take surveys and group photos for the yearbook. This includes all class photos, as well as clubs and groups such as Elks, Surveying, ASB, NHS, etc. Note: Seniors, your class photo with caps and gowns is March 31st, between 6th and 7th period. (We will use it for your graduation program and the Pilot).

Please be in attendance and ready for those photos. Thank you!

PROM COURT---May 3rd:

• Lukas Dormer
• Kaden Duke
• Trent Kittams
• Angus Olsen
• Elias Ward

• Iris Case
• Adara Curtiss
• Ashley Eilenberger
• Eleanor Kandoll
• Cadence Lopez

Secondary Testing Schedule (including ACT & SAT)

28th- Much Ado About Nothing PHS Play

29th- Much Ado About Nothing PHS Play

Trinity Edwards Visit- MMS/PHS Math Teacher

31st- AK Star Testing Grades 3-5

MMS 3rd Quarter Awards Assembly (7th period)

APRIL

1st- Happy April Fools Day

Partners in Education meeting 4:00 Stedman Library

AK Star Testing Grades 3-5

2nd- AK Star Testing Grades 3-5

3rd- AK Star Testing Grades 3-5

Kindergarten Registration for 2025-2026 5:15 Stedman Elementary

4th- AK Star Testing Grades 3-5

7th- ATP Liaison Meeting

8th- Policy Committee Meeting 3:30 District Office

Career and Technical Education Committee Meeting 6:00 PHS Library

10th- Music Fest @ Juneau

PHS Baseball @ Ketchikan

District Insurance Committee Meeting 1:00-5:00 District Office

MMS Volleyball @ Craig

11th - Music Fest @ Juneau

PHS Baseball @ Ketchikan

District Insurance Committee Meeting 1:00-5:00 District Office

MMS Volleyball @ Craig

12th- Music Fest @ Juneau

PHS Baseball @ Ketchikan

MMS Volleyball @ Craig

15th- School Board Meeting 6:00 District Office

18th- No School For Students- Teacher In-Service

21st- No School for Students- Teacher In-Service

24th - Art Festival @ Wrangell

25th- Art Festival @ Wrangell

PHS Track & Field @ Juneau

26th- Art Festival @ Wrangell

PHS Track & Field @ Juneau

Early Childhood Fair 10:00-12:00 Stedman Elementary

Robyn Taylor, Superintendent

supt@pcsd.us

Petersburg School District

PO Box 289

Petersburg, Alaska 99833

877-526-7656

Vision: Inspiring all to become responsible and healthy citizens, positively contributing to our global community.

Mission: Petersburg Schools will advocate for continuous growth, promote a healthy environment, and provide diverse educational opportunities where all students achieve.