School Community Newsletter

As we transition from the excitement of a new school year into a season of appreciation and gratitude, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible community we have here. Each day, as I walk among our dedicated staff and enthusiastic students, I am inspired.

I am deeply grateful for our committed teaching staff, who continually strive to enhance their practices and create the best possible educational environment for our students. I also want to acknowledge our students, who challenge themselves to grow and learn every day.

Additionally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the staff members who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure our district runs smoothly—our district staff, paraprofessionals, secretaries, maintenance and custodial teams, and food service personnel.

Finally, I want to express my appreciation to our parents and the entire school community for their unwavering support. Together, we create boundless opportunities for our students to thrive.

Thank you for being an essential part of our school community!

The district is reviewing possible calendars for the 2025-2026 school year and would like your input on the drafts. Each of the drafts in the following survey link meet the State of Alaska requirements. Please take a few moments to click on the survey link to review the draft documents and provide your input. Petersburg 2025-2026 Calendar

The district has already begun its budgeting process for the 2025-2026 school year. I would like to express my gratitude to the School Board for their fiscally conservative approach, to the Petersburg Borough for funding at the cap, and to the state for the one-time funding of $680 per student above the Base Student Allocation. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has advocated for educational funding at both the state and local levels.Thanks to these efforts, we find ourselves in a financially secure position for the 2024-2025 school year.

Last week, the district budgeting committee held its first meeting to review our financial status and identify priorities for the district and each school, contingent on available funding. We also looked ahead to the next few years to assess potential funding scenarios based on legislative and borough support for public education. A winter budget revision will be presented at the December 2024 school board meeting.

Stedman Elementary Webpage-Click Here

Important Dates

October

10/30- Wake up to Crazy Hair and Wacky Socks Wednesday

10/31 PJ's & Popcorn- Early Out @1:45pm

November

11/1 Inservice NO SCHOOL

11/5- Partners in Education (PiE) meeting 4:00 (Stedman Library)

11/11 Veterans Day Parade 9:00 am

Breakfast with 5th graders immediately following the parade

11/15-11/17 Viking Swim Club: November Rain @Petersburg

11/22 Coffee Hour with the Principal 10:15-11:15 am (Stedman Library)

Discuss: Strategic Plan, School Improvement, and Data

11/25 Bring a special person to BREAKFAST 7:45-8:10 in Cafeteria

Early out 1:45pm

Conferences 4-8 pm

11/26 Bring a special person to BREAKFAST 7:45-8:10 in Cafeteria

Early out 1:45pm

Conferences 2-6 pm

11/28 No school

11/29 No school

We have royal blue Stedman gear for sale! A variety of sizes in youth tees and hoodies, plus some adult-size hoodies. Stop by the office and pick one up during the week!

Stedman Yearbooks can be purchased online HERE (distributed in May)

10/30 Activity Night 6-8 pm. $2

10/31 Activity Day 12:30-2:00 (must pass Q1 with at least 70% by 10/25)

Early Out 2:00

11/1 No School- Teacher Inservice

11/4 Quarter 1 Awards Assembly 2:30-3:00 Auditorium

11/11 Veterans Day Parade 9:00 am

11/26 Early Release 2:00 HAPPY THANKSGIVING

11/28 No school

11/29 No school

Basketball and Cheer!!

Stikine Basketball Tournament- November 14-16

Girls practice 3:15-4:00

Boys practice 4:40-6:00

Cheer 4:30-6:30 T/W, 4-6 Th/F (MS Commons)

Music-Save the Date

December 18th MMS Winter Concert @ 7:00pm

MacBook Devices Must Be Turned in Daily

As a friendly reminder, middle school learners are expected to turn in their MacBooks at the end of each school. These devices are not insured to go home; if damaged at home, they will be responsible for repair costs. Our supply of devices is limited, and in the event of damage, we may be unable to provide a replacement MacBook.

Additionally, it's important to remember that these devices have applications that, if used without monitoring, could put the school at risk of not complying with CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act) guidelines.

Learners who repeatedly neglect to turn in their device at the end of the day may lose access to their MacBook and Mac system and be issued a ChromeBook instead.

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

Click here for the weekly MS/HS Bulletin

STATE CHAMPIONS!!

Congratulations to BOTH PHS Boys and Girls STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS!

Petersburg High School Store - CLICK HERE (This store is open year-round and links to the store are also available on the PHS Activities & Athletics Webpages).

Seaweed Fundraiser

Fall is here and it’s time to cover your gardens with Seaweed. The Music Dept. is taking orders for bags of seaweed at $12 a bag for a delivery on November 2nd. Contact a music student or call the HS office @ 877-526-7656 ext 200 to place an order.

NHS Applications for Juniors and Seniors are due 11/14 to Mrs. Etcher.

Counseling Corner

Lots and lots of scholarship opportunities are available- Click here for the weekly HS/MS Bulletin

SAT Registration

Regular Deadline to register for the December 7th SAT is November 22nd! https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register

10/31-11/2 Wrestling @ Mountain City

10/31 Early Out 2:00

11/1 No School- Teacher Inservice

11/2-11/2 Swim & Dive Regionals - Petersburg Hosts

11/7-11/10 Volleyball North Conference- Petersburg Hosts

Wrestling at Ketchikan

Swim at State in Anchorage

11/11 Veterans Day Parade 9:00 am

11/21-11/23 Volleyball at Regionals in Craig

All State Music Festival

Wrestling at Sitka

11/26 Early Release 2:00 HAPPY THANKSGIVING

11/28 No school

11/29 No school

Manic Mondays: Pep Band Rehearsals 3:05-3:45pm

November 11th- Veterans Parade (during school day)

November 21-23rd All-State Music Festival @ ANC

November 29th Tree Lighting Ceremony TBA

December 5th 3rd-5th Grade Music Concert @ 6:30pm

December 6th K-2nd Grade Music Concert TBD (during the school day)

December 17th PHS Winter Concert @ 7:00pm

December 18th MMS Winter Concert @ 7:00pm

February 14-16th All-Northwest Music Festival @ Spokane, WA

March 5-8th Region V Pep Band Tournament @ KTN

April 10-12th Region V Music Fest @ JNU

May 1st 3rd-5th Grade Music Concert @ 6:30pm

May 2nd K-2nd Grade Music Concert TBD (during the school day)

May 6th PHS Spring Concert @ 7:00pm

May 7th MMS Spring Concert @ 7:00pm

The System for School Success is Alaska’s accountability system designed to celebrate success in our schools and identify areas we can focus on to help provide additional support. This accountability system fulfills the requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to regularly evaluate school efficacy and close gaps in student achievement.

Accountability systems are not meant to be punitive. State standards and assessments are set as expectations for what students should know and be able to do. Accountability systems help to set the expectations for school performance and effectiveness and are one of the ways we can identify what is working well and what we need to improve. A brief overview of Alaska’s accountability system can be found at: education.alaska.gov/akaccountability/schoolsuccess/accountabilitysystems.pdf.

Alaska’s accountability system allows us to:

· Articulate goals for student achievement, growth, and success

· Collect, analyze, and report on school performance

· Recognize high-performing schools and provide additional support to schools when needed

School report cards can be found on the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s website under System for School Success.

Stedman Elementary School, Mitkoff Middle School and Petersburg High School all received a school designation of Universal Support. This means that the index value is higher than schools identified as the lowest 5% of Title I schools, the graduation rate is higher than 66.67% for schools with grade 12, and the index values for each subgroup in their school is higher than schools identified as the lowest 5% of Title I schools.

Universal Support (education.alaska.gov/akaccountability/schoolsuccess/Universal_Support.pdf)

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.