The Peace Bear Corner

From the Principal:

Hello Denali Families!

Thank you for helping us kick-off the 2026-27 school year. I hope you and your family are having a great start. Thank you for supporting your child's teacher and their classroom by practicing classroom procedures and routines with your student. In Montessori we call this "normalization."

Continuing with gratitude, a huge thank you to our Denali PTSA (which may include you) for supporting our teaching staff to be Montessori trained. This year, six of our educators are completing their North American Montessori Center training. At the end of this school year those educators will receive a Montessori diploma and join the other seven Montessori-trained educators in our program. It will be wonderful to have almost all of our Montessori program educators Montessori trained. This is HUGE! We couldn't do it without the financial support from the PTSA and the time our educators are devoting outside of school hours to do the work. Many of our educators who are already trained are providing mentorship to those going through the training. It takes everyone to make this big step. (Read more about this later in our newsletter.)

If you haven't yet, you will soon see invitations to volunteer in the classroom. Ensure you have completed the Anchorage School District volunteer form prior to starting these opportunities so that we do not need to turn you away when you come in. Also, thank you for helping keep our students, staff, and community (including you) safe by only coming into the building through the main office and scan in using the RAPTOR system (if you are not wearing your visitor or volunteer sticker, you will be asked to leave immediately), including in the morning. The only way we can ensure we keep your child safe is to ensure we know who is in the building. Thank you for helping us with this.

Here are a few reminders to help us most efficiently and safely support our students, staff, and community:

• Denali Montessori teachers and staff are unable to supervise children before 7:45am. Denali Community School has the playground rented until 7:40am. You are welcome to use the playground and supervise your child from 7:40 to 7:45am. Please do not leave your child unsupervised for their safety.
• Drop off is on the playground until almost 7:55am (8:55am on Mondays), before that students reporting to the office will be sent around the building to the playground. If you do not see a full playground, please drop your child off in the front of the school and ensure they enter the building.
• The last staff on duty starts walking in about 7:55am (8:55am on Mondays). There is no buzzer from the playground. Please talk to your child that if they arrive and the playground doors are closed, to please walk around to the front of the building to the main entrance. The mornings will be darker soon and your child may not be seen if they are running late.
• Starting Monday, 9/14, individualized reading instruction will begin for Kindergarten (and on Monday, 9/21 for 1st-6th). Kindergarten and Upper El will have their time at 1:30 pm and for Lower El it will be at 8:15 am on Tuesdays-Fridays. For Lower El, if your child is tardy, they will be missing out on targeted reading instruction. For Kindergarten and Upper El, we will have difficulty pulling students during this time. If you have an appointment, please plan to pick up your child outside of this time or wait until 2:30 pm dismissal. Last year, we noticed the scores of students who missed this targeted reading instruction had significantly lower growth on their reading scores than our other students.
• Reminder to do the Driver form so they can be a parent driver on field trips. This is SEPARATE from the volunteer background check forms.
• Pickup is at 2:30 pm everyday. We do not have teachers or staff available to watch your child after that time. If you need childcare after 2:30 pm, please reach out to the non-ASD on-site programs, Camp Fire or Denali Community School.
• To ensure that your child is going home with you or who you have approved, you do need to pick up your child directly from your child's teacher. About half of our students attend an after school program and we understand there are still a lot of families picking up their child from three different locations. Thank you for your patience and understanding during a busy 10 minutes dismissal while we are also trying to keep students safe. We will not release students to walk across 10th St nor the main parking lot without a parent/guardian/adult caregiver supporting them.
• If you are running late (2:40 pm or later), you will need to pick up your child from the office and you will need to sign your child out using the RAPTOR system.
• The Office closes at 3 pm. If you child attends an afterschool childcare program, or something else, please call the respective sponsor. We will not have someone available in the office to open the door or answer the phone to the school phone.
• Please submit tardy/attendance through Parent Connect.
• Classrooms are busy, and calls between 2:15-2:30 pm may not be answered by the classroom, it is important to relay any information about changes in pick-up early in the school day.
• If you are picking up your child early, please know we will not call your child to the office until you arrive so that your child has maximum opportunity to learn and are not waiting for an extended time period in the front office.
• If your child rides at bike/scooter to school, they will need to have a lock and must wear a helmet or a parent/guardian will need to pick them up that day.
• Our playground is rented by Camp Fire and Denali Community School starting at 2:40 pm. This includes all the playground areas. Please be mindful of your time so that we can continue to offer childcare to more than half of the students who attend Denali Montessori.

We are starting a new attendance initiate this school year to support students being here and on time. You can learn more about it in the fliers below.

For more upcoming dates, please see the upcoming dates area below and the district calendar.

If you need assistance with anything, please contact us via email (denali_office@asdk12.org) or phone (742-4500). We are here to help you.

Wishing you well,

Deanna Beck (Ms. Deanna - pronounced like Dean-Na)

• Monday, 9/7/2026: Labor Day Observed - no school
• Wednesday, 9/16/2026 5-6pm: Open House and Student Art Show; Starting at 6pm: PTSA potluck and fall member meeting
• Tuesday, 9/22/2026: School Picture Day
• Wednesday, 9/23/2026: Cross Country Running Jamboree at Bartlett High School
• Sunday, 9/27/2026 1 pm: PTSA Fundraiser at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub: Kung Fu Panda Purchase tickets online now at https://beartooththeatre.filmbot.com/movies/kung-fu-panda-presented-by-denali-montessori/

*Note that most links go to Denali Montessori's Facebook page to assist you with adding events to your calendar if you have set-up your social media and technology devices for this feature

This is my 5th year as the principal of Denali Montessori. In 2022, we were still coming out from COVID and our new norm in schools. Denali Montessori had seen a lot of retirements of our Montessori certificated teachers and a longtime principal. Students had been isolated from others during lockdowns and greatly lacked conflict resolution skills.

When I came in, I knew we had huge tasks of teaching conflict resolution skills (we continue to use Kelso's Choices), as well as other SEL lessons. I also started looking into ways to get our new-to-Montessori teachers trained. That first year, many of our amazing retired teachers hosted professional development class on Montessori philosophy, Montessori math, and Montessori language and literacy. This helped our new-to-Montessori educators have a basic love and understanding of Montessori.

Our school team also identified barriers to training so that I could work to find ways around them, if possible. I supported Laura Roark, the director of Anchorage Montessori School, in creating a Montessori teacher training center here in Anchorage which became Alaska Center of Montessori Education. Laura and I have also worked together to co-host high-quality Montessori professional development for all Alaska Montessori educators, including the American Montessori Society (AMS) Regional Symposium last school year. Additionally, the principals of Tudor Montessori and I worked together for joint professional development as we recognized that having ASD's Montessori programs united would make our Montessori educational offerings stronger.

All of these efforts have helped us to continue to be able to offer Montessori programming (to learn more about what makes a school Montessori, please read Montessori has Many Faces and What is the Montessori Method).

Unfortunately, all of this came at the same time our Anchorage School District has been having to make major cuts to the school district's budget year after year. Just like every other school in ASD, we have seen our class sizes grow. ASD was unable to support funding the training for our educators.

This is where our amazing Denali Montessori PTSA stepped in. They increased the amount of funding they would devote to getting our Montessori educators trained in Montessori. Our dedicated Montessori teachers have vowed to spend upwards of five hours a week outside of their workday to train. Our Montessori teachers who are currently trained have signed up to provide mentorship to our teachers going through the training.

At the end of this year, we will have 13 of our educators who have completed Montessori training (we currently have 7 Montessori trained educators serving the Montessori program), including our resource special education team. This second part is valuable in supporting our students who receive resource special education support with coherent instruction and learning materials between the resource classroom and the general education classroom.

Thank you to all of you who have contributed to PTSA by being a member and/or supporting our PTSA fundraisers. You are directly supporting this important initiative. Thank you for supporting your child(ren)'s teacher(s) as they are further trained in Montessori or mentor other teachers as this is additional mental and physical energy. The end result will result in a stronger Montessori program.

Parents play a primary role in the success of the Montessori program. Montessori is a highly individualized learning method, following the interests and levels of the children. The program values and relies on parent volunteers to help in the classrooms. Enrolling a child in the program means a commitment by parents to spend at least 36 hours (plus 10 hours for additional children in the same household) of their time volunteering each year, which equates to about an hour each week (note this is for our lottery families).

American Montessori Society provides us a monthly newsletter for our families. We share for your information to support your Montessori learning at home, including more understanding about the importance of home-school collaboration and supporting your child to gain independence, such as through morning routines.

The Montessori Advocacy & Outreach Committee (MAOC) is a volunteer group under the PTSA with the mission to support the Montessori curriculum at our school through different projects. Current projects include the Montessori Materials Room, the Reading Cart and MAOC Literacy Night (later this year). If you have questions or are interested in helping with a project, please connect with MAOC at denaliMAOC@gmail.com.

MAOC Annual Planning Meeting

Thurs., Sept. 3rd, 10:00am at Middle Way Cafe.

Photo: MAOC volunteers creating a Montessori Materials Room for teachers.

Mission Statement

Denali Montessori promotes the development of the whole child within a compassionate, diverse community.

Vision Statement

Within a compassionate, diverse community, Denali Montessori promotes socially responsible, resilient life-long learners who can advocate for themselves and others.

Anchorage School District Elementary Student Handbook

Denali Montessori PTSA: http://www.denaliptsa.org/

https://www.facebook.com/DenaliPTSA

Join the PTSA today: https://denalimontessori.memberhub.com/store

Buy Denali Montessori Spirit Gear: https://www.bonfire.com/store/denali-montessori-spirit-gear/

Email: denali_office@asdk12.org
Website: https://denali.asdk12.org/
Location: 952 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-4500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DenaliMontessori

This year our teachers will be completing a universal social-emotional behavior screener (SAEBRS). Important information we want to share in partnership with all families.

1. This screener will take place 3 times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring).

2. The teacher rating will be completed outside of class time and will not disrupt learning.

3. This screener will help our teachers strengthen classroom structures and the school meet students’ social, emotional and behavioral needs.

Please check in with Ms. Deanna if you have further questions or would like more information. You may also find additional information on our ASD’s website.

This year our 6th grade students will be completing a universal social-emotional behavior screener (mySAEBRS). mySAEBRS is a student self-report survey. It gives students an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and share how they are feeling about academics, social and emotional topics.

• Completed on a computer or tablet

• Takes about 5–10 minutes

• Asks students to think about the past month

• Occurs 3 times per year (Fall, Winter, Spring)

Student voice is an important part of understanding the whole child, and mySAEBRS helps ensure that students are active participants in that process. This screener will help our teachers, counselors and administrators strengthen classroom structures and the school meet students’ social, emotional and behavioral needs.

Please check in with Ms. Deanna if you have further questions or would like more information. You may also find additional information on our ASD’s website.

As part of The Alaska Reads Act, the State of Alaska requires that districts administer an early literacy screening tool three times a year to students in grades K-3 to identify potential reading difficulties in order to improve reading outcomes for students. Families can read more about this comprehensive K-3 reading policy at The Alaska Reads Act website: education.alaska.gov/akreads

mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition Assessments is the State of Alaska Department of Education’s and ASD’s Early Literacy benchmark screening and progress monitoring tool for students in grades K-3 in reading. mClass utilizes curriculum-based measures and is used by schools as part of the ASD Comprehensive Assessment System to support informed instructional decisions.

The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development explains the decision to adopt mClass as the statewide literacy screener here:

https://education.alaska.gov/Alaska-Reading-Resources/Statewide-Early-Literacy-Screener

mClass screening assessments will only be administered in-person during the benchmark window listed below:

• BOY 2026: September 8-9 for Denali Montessori

Results for K-3 students that were assessed during a benchmark window, will be available in Parent Connect by October 2, 2026 ParentConnection Login Information and Reference Guide: parentconnect.asdk12.org

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.

Carl Jacobs, President

Kelly Lessens, Vice President

Margo Bellamy, Clerk

Rachel Blakeslee, Treasurer

Paul McDonogh

Pat Higgins

Dora Wilson