Dear Romig Families,

Thank you for another great week at Romig!

Romig students have been invited to preview West's performance of Peter Pan Goes Wrong this Friday! All students will go directly to Base Camp on Friday morning for attendance and to get organized to head over to West for the play. Romig students will be in the West auditorium on Friday from approximately 10 am - 11:15 am. If you need to blue pass your student out during this time, please let the office know ASAP so we can plan accordingly to have your student ready to leave on time.

What you'll find in this week's newsletter:

This week's events at Romig
Picture Retakes are on Thursday!
Pre-order your yearbook
PTSA Fundraiser: Rai$e for Romig
Upcoming Romig Activities
How to report bullying
Helpful information about Q and Canvas
How to sign up for girls volleyball - deadline to sign up is Thursday, 10/15 at 4:30 pm
An overview of the Standard Response Protocols - how we keep our students safe

Interested in working at Romig?? We are also looking for a special education resource paraprofessional. More info here.

Here's to another great week,
Bethany Essary
Principal, Romig Middle School

Keeping Our Kids Safe & Traffic Moving

A huge thank you to the vast majority of our families who model patience, kindness, and care in the parking lot every afternoon! You make a huge difference in keeping our school community safe.

This reminder is to ensure dismissal runs smoothly and safely for everyone and to address recent concerns regarding honking and aggressive driving. Please review these helpful parking lot and traffic flow expectations:

Use the Second Lane If traffic backs up near the entrance, please pull into the second lane to move forward and clear space off the main road.
Practice "Zippering" When two lanes merge into one, alternate turns like a zipper so everyone moves smoothly together.
Tighten Up the Line Always pull as far forward as possible in the pickup loop, leaving only small spaces between vehicles so we can fit more cars into the lot.
Be Mindful of Time Please ensure you arrive on time each afternoon. All students are expected to be picked up by 4:15 PM.

Thank you for your partnership, patience, and for keeping our parking lot a safe, welcoming place for all our children and staff!

Orange Shirt Day was started by Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, who left her home on the Dog Creek reserve in Canada in 1973 to attend boarding school. When she got to school, her clothing was taken away, including her favorite orange shirt given to her by her grandmother. Phyllis started Orange Shirt Day (also called National Day of Remembrance for US Indian Boarding Schools) to raise awareness of the impacts of the residential school system.

On this day, we recognize the damage the residential school system did to Indigenous children, lifeways, and cultures. As a school, we firmly stand with Alaska Native people, and all Indigenous peoples and honor September 30th as Orange Shirt Day.

100% of every dollar stays right here at Romig.

Last year, your generosity helped fund things like:

🎁 Holiday food boxes for families in need
📚 Battle of the Book grants
🎂 Birthday celebrations for Romig students
🚌 Year-end field trips
🎵 Sports and arts programs
🏫 Teacher grants and classroom support

Each year, the Romig PTSA provides additional support for our students, teachers, and school. One quick click can make a real difference for a Romig student.

👉 Donate Now — Rai$e for Romig 2026

Yearbooks are available for purchase on the LifeTouch Yearbook website. To purchase your students yearbook:

Go to LifeTouch Yearbook Pay
Romig school code is 1761927
Last day to pre-order yearbooks: April 9th
There will be a limited supply of yearbooks available for purchase at the school at the end of the year

Other Info: Yearbooks are passed out to students on the second-to-last day of school near the end of the school day. Pre-ordering is the only way to guarantee your student gets a yearbook!

If you haven't already had the chance, now is a fantastic time to check Parent Connect to see how first quarter is going for your student! If you need help accessing your Parent Connect, please reach email Pledger_Megan@asdk12.org or Hutson_Allison@asdk12.org. We're here to help!

This is the moment for grade improvement. Encourage your student to take a proactive look at their current standing.

✅ Check those grades: What's looking good? What needs a little boost?

💌 Reach out to teachers: A quick, friendly email can make all the difference! Please encourage your student to ask teachers directly about missing assignments, quizzes they can retake, and other steps they can take to improve their grade.

Information about joining Romig's Battle of the Books teams will be coming out soon. It's never too early to get started reading the books though! We will have two teams: a 6th grade team (who will participate in the 5/6 competition) and a middle school team. Here are the book lists...

5/6

The Academy by T.Z. Layton
City Spies by James Ponti
The Dark Times of Nimble Nottingham by Ryan James Black
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
I am Rebel by Ross Montgomery
I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863
The Last Kids on Earth: The Graphic Novel by Scott Brallier
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Where the Red Fern Growns by Wilson Rawls

Middle School

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
Framed! by James Ponti
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhard
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
Tasty: a History of Yummy Experiments by Victoria Grace Elliott

Chess Club

Do you enjoy chess—or want to learn how to play? Sign up now to join! Starting Sept. 29th The Romig Middle School Chess Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30–9:15 a.m.

♟️ FREE to join!
♟️ Open to a maximum of 30 students
♟️ All skill levels are welcome!

To participate, you must complete a Chess Club Participation Form and turn it into the front office.

Come play, learn new strategies, and challenge your friends!

♟️ Chess Club—Make your move! ♟️

Creating a safe, welcoming environment at Romig is a team effort. While our staff is always actively supporting students throughout the day, open communication with our families helps us stay fully connected.

If your student experiences or witnesses bullying, harassment, intimidation, or any unsafe behavior, please encourage them to speak with a trusted Romig staff member. We take every concern seriously and are dedicated to keeping our school a positive, safe space for everyone.

Students and families can also report incidents and concerns anonymously online through StopIt. Every report is sent directly to school administration. Thank you for helping keep Romig a great school community.

Standard Response Protocol

How we work to keep our students and staff safe.

Since the 2016–17 school year, ASD has used the ALICE program as part of our emergency response training. At the time, it was one of the leading options available to help schools prepare for serious situations like an active shooter. While ALICE provided some valuable training, not all parts of the program aligned well with the needs and values of our school communities. After careful review, and as part of our planning for the 2025–26 school year, ASD made the decision to phase out the ALICE program.

In its place, The Anchorage School District is implementing new safety protocols for the 2025–26 school year from a nonprofit organization called The “I Love U Guys” Foundation. They’ve been doing this work since 2005 and currently support over 50,000 schools and organizations across the world.

The two programs we’re implementing are the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and the Standard Reunification Method (SRM). Together, these offer a clear, easy-to-follow plan for handling a wide range of emergencies—from natural disasters to security threats—and for safely reuniting students with families afterward. More information and resources can be found here - SRP ♥ The "I Love U Guys" Foundation. Please know that student and staff safety remain at the heart of every decision we make. We’re excited about this next step forward and appreciate your ongoing support and trust.

Romig has dedicated time today (Mon, 9/28) during Base Camp to review the SRP program with students. Students will have opportunities to ask questions and have conversations as they walk through the language, protocols, and reasoning of the program with their classes.

Need help?

If you would like to bookmark the information below, here's a link to a Google Doc version.

Q - Quick Reference Guide

Click on the links below to access instructions.

Canvas - Quick Reference Guide

Click on the links below to access instructions.

Parent Observer
Canvas Information (vendor’s page - has a lot of helpful information)

Volleyball sign up: Now through Oct 15th

In fact, the sooner students sign up, the easier it is for us to make sure that we hire the correct number of coaches and can be ready for the season! The deadline to sign up for volleyball is October 15th at 4:30 pm. Please respect the sign-up deadlines. We want all students to participate in all the things. We also want to provide all students a successful and positive experience. This requires enough time to process all of the paperwork, hire the correct number of coaches, and get organized for the season to start.

All students are invited to join, regardless of experience! Middle school is the perfect time for young people to explore new sports and activities in a safe, supportive environment.

in Q Parent Connect

You can check Q Parent Connect to confirm your student is signed up for an activity. (Please give us a couple of days after you submit your student's paperwork to get it processed.)

Login to Q Parent Connect
Scroll down to activities.
If your student is signed up for a sport, you will see it under activities. Dates are really important! You need to see:
A physical that has an "end date" after the last day of the sports season.
Begin and end dates for the sport listed for the current year

Fee payment is not reflected in Q Activities. If you are unsure if you paid the fee, you can check your account receipts in Parent Connect or confirm with our AAFP, Kayla Grant.

You can also call or email to report an absence

You can also call to excuse an absence. Call 907-742-5200 and choose option 1. Due to the high volume of calls we receive, it is likely you will be asked to leave a message. We check messages throughout the day.

If you are asked to leave a message, please include:

Student's first and last name
Date of the excused absence or the time and date of the blue pass being requested
Reason for the absence.

Please note that you will not receive a phone call back, but Ms. Allison checks the voicemail continuously throughout the day to record the reports.

To report an absence via email, send the email to Ms. Allison (Hutson_Allison@asdk12.org).

ASD Visitor & Volunteer Information

We are incredibly fortunate to be part of a community where volunteers support the Anchorage School District students, teachers, and staff through commitment and service. If you are interested in volunteering at Romig MS this year (including chaperoning any events), you can complete the ASD volunteer application now! All volunteers must be approved prior to visiting the schools. Be sure to select any schools you might want to volunteer at. It takes 1-2 weeks for volunteers to be approved. Thank you for all you do! Learn more about volunteering in ASD here.

Upcoming events

September

9/28 XC Meet at Mirror Lake
9/30 Orange Shirt Day

October

10/1 Picture Retake Day
10/2 6th grade to go see West HS's performance of "Peter Pan Goes Wrong"
10/3 Boys Basketball Games
10/5 XC Running Think Pink Relay at Kincaid
10/6 Choir Concert
10/7 XC Running Championships at Kincaid
10/8 PTSA Meeting at 6 pm in the West-Romig Library
10/10 Boys Basketball Championships Tournament
10/12 Indigenous Peoples' Day | No School
10/14 Intermediate & Advanced Orchestra Concert
10/15 Intermediate & Advanced Band Concert
10/15 at 4:30 pm Deadline to sign-up for volleyball
10/15 Last Day of Quarter 1
10/16 Teacher Work Day | No School for Students
10/19 Volleyball practices start
10/28 Parent Teacher Conferences Students released at 1:00 pm
10/29 Parent Teacher Conferences Students released at 1:00 pm
10/30 Teacher In-Service Day | No School for Students

November

11/3 Teacher In-Service Day | No School for Students
11/11 Veterans Day | No School
11/26 Thanksgiving | No School
11/27 No School

December

12/7 Intermediate & Advanced Band Concert
12/10 PTSA General Meeting 9:45 am
12/14 Orchestra Concert
12/15 Choir Concert Date may change
12/15 Beginning & Jazz Band Concert12/17 Last Day of Quarter 2
12/18 Teacher Work Day | No School for Students
12/21 - 1/1 Winter Break

January

1/4/27 First Day of Semester 2!

Down the Road

2/25/27 Cake Auction
3/15 - 3/19 Spring Break | No School

Click here to access the ASD School Year Calendar

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or needs. Our school website is also a great resource: Romig Middle School Website. You can call us at 907-742-5200.

Main Office Hours: 8:30 - 4:30

Follow Romig on Facebook and Instagram!
Registration Questions: Registrar Megan Pledger, Pledger_Megan@asdk12.org
Attendance Questions: School Secretary Allison Hutson, Hutson_Allison@asdk12.org
General Questions: Administrative Assistant Denise Buchanan, Buchanan_Denise@asdk12.org
Online Payment Questions: Kayla Grant, Grant_Kayla@asdk12.org
Activities or Student Services Questions:

Assistant Principal, Allison Little, Little_Allison@asdk12.org
Assistant Principal, Jen Birtz, Birtz_Jennifer@asdk12.org

Curriculum or Program Needs: Principal, Bethany Essary, Essary_Bethany@asdk12.org