December:

• 12/4 - 12/7 - MAP Testing for grades 3-8
• 12/8 - mClass Testing for grades K-3
• 12/16 - Friends of ANCCS Winter Market - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
• 12/19 - Winter Celebration - 1:00 - 3:00 pm
• 12/21 - Last School Day of Quarter 2
• 12/22 - Grading Day - No School
• 12/22 - First Day of Winter Break for Students

January:

• 1/8 - Remote Learning Day (ANCCS Only) - No In-Person School
• 1/9 - First Day of In-Person School for Quarter 3
• 1/15 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School
• 1/25 - ANCCS Family Night

There are lots of exciting things going on at ANCCS as we wrap up Quarter 2 and look forward to winter break beginning. This week, students are busy showing us what they know on their MAP and mClass assessments. Please encourage your student to take their time and do their best on these assessments. Getting a good night's sleep and eating a healthy breakfast also are important for setting students up for success. Testing takes a lot of brain power and while we do our best to pace the assessments with breaks, you may notice that your student is more tired than normal at the end of the day.

We also have several winter family events coming up! Please join us Saturday, December 16, for our Friends of ANCCS Winter Market! There will be many wonderful vendors selling unique gifts and items. Your shopping also will support our school. Our Winter Celebration will be December 19 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Classes are preparing songs, skits, and other performances to share with our families and community.

Winter break begins on December 22 for students with our last day of school for the quarter on December 21. We wish you all a happy and peaceful winter break. We look forward to seeing your students back in person on January 9!

Please join us from 1:00 - 3:00 pm on Tuesday, December 19 for the ANCCS Winter Celebration! Each class has been preparing a song, skit, or short performance to celebrate the season and share with our families and community. We will have cookies to share with our families and guests.

Dismissal

If you wish to take your student home after the performance at 3:00 pm, please let your student's classroom teacher know. The front staff will be available to check students out early. We look forward to seeing you at our Winter Celebration!

While our attendance rate took a significant dip in October, we saw some growth and improvement in November. The below graph shows our 90% attendance rate for ANCCS. The dark red line represents the percentage of students attending 90% of the time or more for 2023-2024. While only 59.54% of ANCCS students attended school 90% of the time in October, our rate grew to 64.91% in November. Let's keep growing!

We want all students here every day, so there is still room for improvement. That said, the above graph shows ANCCS's 90% attendance rate as compared to ASD. The blue bars represent the percentage of ASD students achieving 90% attendance each month. The red bars represent ANCCS's attendance rate. It is excellent that our ANCCS attendance rate is higher than the district average. Quyana, parents and families, for getting your students to school every day!

At ANCCS, we say "less than 8 is great," meaning we want all students to achieve 90% attendance and miss fewer than 8 days of school per year. In order to achieve 90% attendance for December, your student can miss no more than 1.5 days of school. While some absences are unavoidable, please make a plan to ensure your student is at school whenever possible.

Students have been reflecting on the Yup'ik word Qanruyutet, or instructions or teachings, during Yuuyaraq Gathering and in their morning circles. Here are some ways to extend these conversations at home.

Reflect: Ask your student about the word qanruyutet. What does it mean to follow the instructions at school? What does it mean to follow the instructions at home or in your family?

Connect: Share a story with your student about how you learned from the qanruyutet of your Elders or family members. As a child, did you ever not listen to the qanruyun? What happened or what did you learn?

Explore: The qanruyutet can vary from culture to culture. With your child, research a culture that is different than your own. What are the teachings or instructions? How are they similar to or different from the teachings in your culture or family?

Elder Wisdom: “Yuk eliskuni, qanruyutni maligtaqukuniki nalluyagutevkenaki, tauna yuk umyuartuarkauguq.” If a person learns and follows the qanruyutet and does not forget them, that person will be wise.

ANCCS is excited to relaunch the Alaska Strong Atauchikun program this winter. Atauchikun is a 6-week program for families to come together, engage in cultural activities, and learn about positive parenting skills. In addition to the activities and events, participants receive included meals and can earn up to $225 in gift cards for completion of the program. Scan the QR below for more information or reach out to seetomona_shawn@asdk12.org.

Did you know that you can earn money for ANCCS while you shop at Fred Meyer and Amazon? Please share this information with your neighbors, friends, and family. Funds raised through these programs are used to pay for bussing to reduce the cost of field trips and provide opportunities to our ANCCS students.

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. Read more about the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development's decision to adopt mClass as the statewide literacy screener.

Our winter mClass screening assessments will be administered on Friday, December 8. Results for K-3 students will be available in Parent Connect by January 5, 2024.

ParentConnection Login Information and Reference Guide.

Our wonderful Yup'ik Choir has been invited to share what they have and sing at many recent events. Our students sang at the BIA conference as well as the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Well done, Yup'ik Choir! We love to hear your voices.

Happy December, ANCCS families! Influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) cases are high in Alaska. A few things you can do for your family: consider a flu vaccine, help teach students to cough/sneeze into their arm or into a tissue, keep hands washed, and avoid touching eyes/nose/mouth. Masks are available in the nurse's office if students ask for them. Here is the link for when to keep kids home from school.

Lastly, it's cold outside! Please make sure your students come to school with warm winter gear. Grades 1-5 are outside 30 minutes every day. We go outside as long as it is above -10 degrees out.

The Alaska Department of Education & Early Education (DEED) has put together many great resources for families about the Science of Reading and how to support your student's reading at home. Additionally, stay tuned for upcoming Kuuvviaq (Coffee) & Content sessions with Ms. Harrington, our Instructional Coach, for discussions on supporting ANCCS readers.

Need some tips on how to help your young reader?
Sign up to receive tips via text. Each week, ASD will send one text message with an activity idea or tip you can practice at home with your K-3 child to help support their reading. To opt-in for weekly activities text “@asdreading” to the number 81010.

Our school uses the SAEBRS screener to look at school-wide systems of support for social emotional learning and behavior. Teachers will be completing the SAEBRS screener for students in their classroom December 6. The SAEBRS screener results will be used to help us look at the effectiveness of our schoolwide and classroom structures. This screener is completed by teachers and will not take away from student instructional time nor require input/answers from students. If you have any questions, please contact Principal Sweetsir or Assistant Principal Osborne.

Staff, students, parents, and community members have the opportunity to provide input on teacher and administrator performance. The input forms are shared with the person’s immediate supervisor. Forms are available now until April 28.

• Parents, members of the public, and employees can access the web-based input forms anonymously by going to the District Overview evaluations page on the District’s website.
  
• For those who wish to complete a hard copy, go to the electronic form and click the link “Printable version of this form” or schools can print the forms. Completed forms can be submitted directly to Human Resources.

The web-based input forms are confidential and will be transmitted electronically by Human Resources to the appropriate supervisor. Printed copies are also confidential and routed to Human Resources and then to the immediate supervisor. Schools will also keep the forms confidential and route them to Human Resources.

• ANCCS APC – Board:

  • President: Manny Acuna, parent
  • Vice President: Caroline Wiseman
  • Secretary: Michael Patterson, parent
  • Treasurer: Roger Hamacher
  • Pamela Dupras, staff
  • Elizabeth Hancock, founder
  • Ronni Weddleton, community
  • Justin Ovsak, community
  • There are 2 vacant APC seats--please join today!

  
  

  
  

  ANCCS APC – Elder Council:

  • Lucy Brown
  • Anthony Nakazawa
  • Edgar Blatchford
  • Agnes Baptiste

  
  

  ANCCS APC – Founders Council

  • Martha Gould-Lehe
  • Rosemary Savage
  • Sheila Sweetsir
  • Janann Kaufman
  • Deborah Pungowiyi
  • Elizabeth Hancock
  • Virgina Juettner
  • Lisa Dolcheck
  • Max Dolcheck (remembered fondly for faithful service)

• President: Margo Bellamy
• Vice President: Carl Jacobs
• Treasurer: Kelly Lessens
• Clerk: Dora Wilson
• Seat C: Dave Donley
• Seat D: Andy Holleman
• Seat E: Pat Higgins
• Superintendent: Dr. Jharrett Bryantt