Paw Print Press 2.0

Greetings, Rogers Park Families,

What a great start to the school year! Our Running Wolves have been busy learning, growing, and getting back into the rhythm of school. We have spent these first few weeks practicing routines, learning our school-wide expectations, building classroom communities, and getting to know one another. I have loved seeing students become more comfortable, confident, and ready to take on each new day. We are off to a strong start!

Starting the Day Strong

A quick reminder that school begins at 9:00 a.m. on Mondays and 8:00 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. Students arriving after 8:05 a.m. Tuesday through Friday will be marked tardy, and families will receive a robocall.

Our goal isn't simply to have students arrive on time, it is to help them start the day successfully. Specials begin at 8:10 a.m., so arriving a few minutes early gives students time to get inside, unpack, connect with their classmates, and get ready to learn.

Thank you for helping us make those first few minutes of the day calm, positive, and productive!

From Summer Nights to School Nights

We know that getting back into a school-year sleep routine can be a big adjustment after summer! As our days get busier, some students may start feeling tired as the day goes on. A good night's sleep helps children come to school ready to learn, participate, make good choices, and enjoy their day.

Here are the general sleep recommendations by age:

• Infants (0–3 months): 14–17 hours
• Infants (4–12 months): 12–16 hours
• Toddlers (1–2 years): 11–14 hours
• Preschoolers (3–5 years): 10–13 hours
• School-age children (6–13 years): 9–12 hours
• Teens (14–17 years): 8–10 hours

A few simple routines can help make bedtime easier:

• Keep bedtime and wake-up times as consistent as possible.
• Give your child a 30-minute and 10-minute reminder before bedtime.
• Create a relaxing routine; read a book, take a bath, or listen to quiet music.
• Turn off screens at least an hour before bedtime.
• When possible, keep phones, tablets, and other devices out of the bedroom overnight.

We Are Better Together!

Families are such an important part of our Rogers Park team. When we work together to help students arrive on time, get enough rest, and come to school ready to learn, we are giving them a great foundation for success.

Thank you for everything you do each day to support your child and our school community. I am so excited about the year ahead and all the learning, friendships, challenges, celebrations, and HOWL moments we will share together!

Let's keep our Running Wolves fueled for success!

With appreciation,

Mary Wood
Principal, Rogers Park Elementary School

Over the past two years, we have had an early arrival room staffed to receive students who are arriving before 8:35 a.m. on PLC Mondays. Due to staffing reductions and programmatic changes, Rogers Park was not able to sustain an early arrival room on PLC Mondays this year.

On PLC Mondays, students may arrive to school at 8:35 a.m. for breakfast, but will not be permitted to enter the building before 8:35 a.m. Please note - There is NO ADULT SUPERVISION on the playground until 8:35 am on Mondays. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Principal Wood at 907-742-4800.

To help keep our classrooms focused, safe, and ready for learning, Rogers Park Elementary follows the Anchorage School District’s policy regarding personal electronic devices. Students should not use or have out during the school day personal cell phones or other electronic devices, including gaming devices, Apple Watches or other smartwatches, earbuds, tablets, or similar technology. Personal devices must remain turned off and put away during the school day unless a staff member has specifically authorized their use for an instructional or school-related purpose.

Our expectation is simple:

If we see it, we take it.

Any personal electronic device that is seen or used in violation of the policy will be collected and secured at school. A parent or guardian will then be required to come to school to pick up the device. This expectation helps us minimize distractions and ensure that students are present, engaged, and ready to learn. We appreciate families partnering with us by reviewing this expectation with their children and helping them arrive at school prepared to follow the policy.

Need to Reach Your Child During the School Day?

We understand that families may occasionally need to contact their child during the school day. If you need to reach your child, please call the Rogers Park Elementary front office rather than contacting your child directly on their personal device. Our office staff can accommodate a parent or guardian speaking with their child or can deliver a message to the student as needed.

If you have questions about the policy or how it applies to your child, please contact Principal Wood at 907-742-4800. Thank you for your continued partnership in creating a focused, safe, and supportive learning environment at Rogers Park Elementary.

As we continue through the school year, we want to share a reminder about the importance of our upcoming MAP Growth (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments. Our MAP Growth testing window is September 8–25, 2026. MAP Growth gives us valuable information about where students are academically and helps us make informed decisions about how best to support their learning.

MAP testing is more than just another test. The results provide teachers with real-time data about each student's strengths and areas for growth. Teachers use this information to plan instruction, adjust learning groups, provide additional support when needed, and make sure students are being appropriately challenged.

MAP Growth scores can also be an important part of future class placement decisions at Rogers Park and as students transition to middle and high school. The results give us another piece of information to consider as we work to place students in learning environments that provide the right balance of support and challenge.

We encourage families to talk with their children about the importance of doing their best on MAP assessments. Remind your child to take their time, read carefully, and show what they know. Most importantly, help them approach the assessment with confidence and a positive attitude.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Together, we can use the information we gather to help every Rogers Park student grow, learn, and succeed.

MAP Growth is the ASD and State of Alaska required benchmark/interim reading and mathematics assessment for students in grades 3-9. Grades 10-12 students identified as needing Tier II and Tier III reading and mathematics support also take MAP Growth as part of the Anchorage School District's MTSS framework.

Alaska's Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) has partnered with NWEA to implement a creative approach to a balanced statewide assessment that connects fall and winter MAP Growth benchmark/interim assessments and the Alaska spring AK STAR summative assessment. AK STAR eliminates the spring benchmark/interim assessment window for grades 3-9 by combining the summative and benchmark assessment into one test that produces a spring benchmark score, which includes a growth measure. More information is available at the State of Alaska AK STAR website, education.alaska.gov/assessments/akstar.

MAP Growth is an online, adaptive assessment that provides each student a personalized testing experience with data that speaks to their individual progress and growth in mathematics and reading.

The MAP Growth reading and mathematics benchmark will be administered in person during the fall and winter benchmark windows. The spring benchmark will be embedded in the AK STAR summative assessment as outlined above.

• Fall Benchmark 1: September 8 - September 18 (make-ups through September 25)

• Winter Benchmark 2: November 30 - December 11 (make-ups through December 17)

• Spring Benchmark 3: embedded in AK STAR administered during the summative assessment window: March 29 - April 9 (make-ups through April 30)

• MAP Growth assessment only: Grades 10-12 identified as needing Tier II and III support

MAP Growth practice tests and tutorials allow students and families the opportunity to become familiar with the types of questions and tools available on the actual MAP Growth assessments such as the highlighter and calculator. An overview of these resources with links to the practice tests are compiled on the MAP Growth Practice Tests Quick Sheet.

Parents/drivers, please park in the visitor parking spots when you bring your child(ren) into the school. Please do not park at the drop off curb as it causes congestion to the traffic flow.

-Parents/drivers, please be conscientious and move up as cars pull out of the curbside drop off.

-Parents/drivers, please have students exit on the right side door at the curb in the morning. The middle lane is continuously moving throughout the loop. Children who exit on the left side of the car are put directly into the moving lane of traffic.

-Parents/drivers, please do not park in handicap parking spots unless you are eligible to. Motorists are parking there for convenience and it is a hardship on drivers who need it.

Remember that the speed limit in both our drop of lane and our parking lot is 5 MPH. Please do not park on the crosswalk as the students have to walk in the road to get to the building. Thank you all for keeping our students safe!

Before School

Students who are eating breakfast may be dropped off as early as 7:35am (8:35 am on PLC Mondays). They will need to walk around the building to enter the cafeteria doors from the playground. Students not eating breakfast may go to the playground at 7:35am where there will be supervision until students line up at 7:50am.

Early Pick up

If you need to pick up your student early during the school day, please call the office at 907-742-4800 when you are on your way. Students may be picked up early until 2:00pm. If you need to change your chid's pick up arrangements, please contact the office by 2:00 pm.

After school

The dismissal bell rings at 2:30 p.m. All students need to be picked up by 2:45pm unless attending a prearranged after school club.

Mark your calendars and plan to donate to the ninth annual Rogers Park PTA Jog-a-Thon: Run with the Pack, our biggest fundraiser of the year! The money raised by this event will be used for grants to every teacher in the school, support for school clubs and family events, recess ice skating, and much more!

All students who bring in a donation will receive a Jog-a-Thon sticker and be entered into a lottery with a chance to win prizes from Moose's Tooth, Wild Scoops, Sweet Caribou, Skinny Raven, Subway, the Alaska Zoo, and more. The student with the most donations will get to be Principal for a Day! The class with the most donations will win bonus recess!

The Jog-A-Thon will take place during the school day on Friday, September 25th. Every student will participate by walking or jogging laps for 20 minutes. This is a fun event for both students and caregivers, so keep an eye out for caregiver volunteer requests coming soon.

Renew your membership. Please stay involved with PTA by renewing your membership here. Thank you so much to those who have already joined or renewed their membership for this school year.

PTA activities. Our PTA activities are already in full swing for the 2026/2027 school year! We served over 300 ice creams at our Back to School Ice Cream Social, welcomed new kindergarten and preschool families at our Coffee & Kleenex event, and installed two water bottle filling stations in the building for students and staff. Rogers Park’s PTA-sponsored Running Club will kick off on August 31. Thanks so much to our volunteer coaches, Sam and Heather, and staff sponsor coach, Mr. Green.

PTA meeting. Mark your calendars and join us for our first meeting of the year on Thursday, September 3 at 6pm in the school library and on Zoom. We are thrilled to welcome our new secretary, Zoe Dorable. We are fortunate to have all the board positions filled this school year, but have many open committees and volunteer needs - we hope you’ll join us and get involved!

Support the library. Our wonderful school librarian, Ms. Levine, has created an Amazon wishlist of books needed in the library, if you’d like to contribute. Our RP library supports over 350 amazing readers!

Communications from PTA. The Rogers Park PTA will communicate with members via email, Facebook posts, and the PTA corner here in the Paw Print Press. You can find our upcoming events on our website, our bulletin board in the school hallway, and on Facebook.

Jog-a-thon is coming up! As you'll read elsewhere in this newsletter, PTA is gearing up for the ninth annual Rogers Park PTA Jog-a-Thon, our biggest fundraiser of the year! Jog-a-thon 2026: Run with the Pack! will take place during the school day on Friday, September 25. The money raised by this event will be used for grants to every teacher in the school, support for school clubs and family events, recess ice skating, and much more! Does your employer offer matching donations? Consider a matching donation for the PTA!

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events and wish you all a great start to the year!

Rogers Park PTA

Rogers Park Elementary- Where awesome meets education!

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Sep 8-25 K-3 * BOY * mClass Benchmark Window

3-5 * BOY * MAPGrowth Benchmark Window

Sep 3 (Th) *6:00pm - 7:30pm* PTA Meeting (Library/Zoom)

Sep 7 (M) *no school* Labor Day

Sep 16 (W) *5:00 pm - 6:00pm* HG Math Night

Sep 16 (W) *6:00pm - 7:00pm* Open House

Sep 25 (F) *All Day* PTA Jog-a-thon (outside)

Sep 30(W) Fitzgerald Photography School Picture Day

Rogers Park Mission: Preparing Passionate, Productive, Learners for Life

Rogers Park Vision: Empower the HOWL

(Help each other, Own our actions, Work safely, Listen & Learn)

Rogers Park Elementary

1400 East Northern Lights Boulevard

Anchorage, AK 99508

907-742-4800

http://www.asdk12.org/rogerspark