Paw Print Press 2.0

We are excited to welcome the beautiful month of October and celebrate all the wonderful things happening at Rogers Park Elementary!

Our fall mCLASS and MAP Growth testing windows are now complete. Teachers will be using this important information to identify student strengths and areas for growth as they organize WIN groups. Students will receive targeted support through phonics and reading intervention groups, reading comprehension, as well as enrichment opportunities. We are excited to use what we have learned about our students to help every child continue to grow and succeed.

September was also filled with wonderful community events! We loved seeing so many families at our Open House on September 16. It was a great opportunity for families to visit classrooms, connect with teachers, and celebrate the learning happening throughout our school.

Our September 25th PTA Jog-a-Thon was another tremendous success! Thanks to the incredible support of our Rogers Park families and community, our PTA raised over $16,000! We are so grateful for everyone who participated, donated, encouraged our students, and helped make the event such a success.

Congratulations to our Principal for a Day students, Henry Dixson from Mr. Baumann's 4th grade class and Camellia Jaimes from Mrs. Carey-Williams' 2nd grade class! Mrs. Wood will be determining a day in October when Henry and Camellia will join her for a special day as Principal for a Day.

We also want to recognize our top two fundraising classes! Congratulations to Mr. Baumann's 4th grade class and Mr. Prather's 3rd grade class! These classes will enjoy an extra recess with Mrs. Wood next week. Way to go, Running Wolves!

As we move into October, please continue to support your students at home by encouraging healthy sleep schedules and reminding them of our Rogers Park expectations to HOWL with Excellence:

H – Help each other
O – Own our actions
W – Work together
L – Listen and learn

Thank you for your continued partnership, encouragement, and support of our students and staff. Together, we are helping our Running Wolves learn, grow, and HOWL with Excellence every day!

Have a wonderful October, Rogers Park Families!

📌 Please notify the front office should your child be TARDY or ABSENT from school,

EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY INFORMED YOUR TEACHER!!

🚕 To change plans for pickup, please make sure to contact the school no later than 2pm.

📸 Please have your ID ready to show the front office, even if you have shown it in the past.

What is PBIS?

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based framework for teaching and supporting positive behavior for ALL students. This school-wide approach focuses on building a safe, positive environment in which all students can learn.

Why PBIS?

The purpose of PBIS in the Anchorage School District is to create connections and foster healthy relationships that enable students to develop the social emotional learning skills necessary to be ready for college, career, and life. We do this by providing a consistent, positive, predictable, and safe place for every individual to learn and grow.

What are the benefits of implementing PBIS in schools?

Schools who successfully implement PBIS have experienced increased academic outcomes, fewer behavioral issue and discipline, reduced bullying, better attendance and decreased rates of drug/alcohol abuse. There have also been improved outcomes for teachers and staff – teachers report feeling more effective and have a better view of school safety and positive school climate.

What does PBIS look like in schools?

Schools establish clear expectations for behaviors across all school settings. Staff teach both the behavior skills and academic skills necessary to be successful. Using a common language by all staff and frequently acknowledging the expected behaviors, they create a safe learning environment with lots of time for learning. Schools collect and use data to make decisions to meet schoolwide and individual student needs. Schools seek input and communicate with families about the behavioral expectations at their school as well as the types of support that is offered for students.

Do PBIS Schools address misbehavior?

Yes! One of the misunderstandings of PBIS is that we don't address misbehavior. When schools are implementing PBIS they acknowledge that students are learning so mistakes are expected to happen - even with behavior. Staff respond to that behavior by planning ahead for how they will respond in a consistent, calm, effective manner. They remind and reteach expected behaviors and have clear consequences that are fair and transparent. Using a "tiered" approach, they identify students who are in need of more support and effectively match interventions with student need. Partnering with families in the process of providing supports is central to a PBIS approach as well.

Does PBIS Address the mental health needs of students?

ASD's PBIS framework intentionally integrates mental health into all levels of supports for students. By creating safe, positive, predictable and consistent places for students to learn, we are creating the foundation for wellness every day. By having school-based mental health professionals as part of the school's leadership team, we ensure that we are looking at "whole child" supports and interventions and can respond quickly and intentionally when student mental health needs arise.

Where can I learn more?

Watch the video linked above to see PBIS in Action in ASD. Connect with your school and ask them about how they're implementing Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. There are a lot of great free resources online, but you can learn more here. You can also learn more about the specific resources our schools and our district are using through the linked resources.

Educators and practitioners provide a continuum of academic, behavioral, social, and emotional support matched to students’ needs. We describe this continuum across three tiers of support. The Tiered Fidelity Inventory will be the roadmap for implementation of evidence-based practices.

Tiered PBIS Framework

Foundational systems across all three tiers include:

• A shared vision for a positive school social culture

• A representative leadership team that meets regularly and shares expertise in coaching, social, emotional, behavioral, academic, equity, mental health, physical health, wellness, and trauma

• Families are actively engaged‍

• A supportive and involved school administration

• On-going access to professional development for preparing all staff to implement each tier of PBIS

• Systematic collection of screening, progress-monitoring, outcome, and fidelity data

• Ongoing use of data for decision making

• Disaggregating data to examine equity among student subgroups

We are collecting gently used winter gear for our recess lending closet. If you are able to donate, please ensure all items are clean, free of holes, and have working zippers.

We are accepting:

• Winter coats
• Snow pants
• Hats
• Waterproof gloves or mittens

Donations can be dropped off in the front office. Thank you for helping keep our students warm this winter!

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.

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.

Dear RP families,

Jog-a-thon update: Thank you so much to our Rogers Park families and staff for making Jog-a-thon 2026: Run With the Pack a success. This year we met our fundraising goal and raised over $16,000! 177 students brought in donations - half of the RP student body! 57 students received prizes from Alaska Railroad, Subway, Sweet Caribou, Wild Scoops, Moose's Tooth, Alaska Zoo and the PTA. Every student received a sticker. Congrats to our top two student fundraisers (we had an unprecedented tie!) who will get to be Principal for the Day. Congrats also to Mr. Baumann's and Mr. Prather's top fundraising classes, who won bonus recess.

We were super impressed with all the amazing students who ran and walked laps at the Jog-a-thon last Friday. We overheard at least one student say it was "the best day ever"! Did anyone run more than 24 laps?? We are so grateful to our school community for your support.

PTA meeting: Our next PTA meeting will be on Thursday, November 5th from 6-7:30pm in the library or on Zoom. Please consider renewing your membership here.

Upcoming family events: We hope to see you at one of our upcoming PTA family events.

• Family Movie Night - The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Friday, October 9 from 6-8pm in the RP Gym. Free admission, pizza and concessions sold for $2. Bring the whole family, along with your cozy blankets and pillows and lounge on available mats in the gym!

• STEM Night. Thursday, October 15 from 5:30-7:30pm. STEM Night is an evening of hands-on activities related to science, technology, engineering, and math. Every student who attends will be entered into a drawing to win STEM-related prizes.

Volunteer opportunities:

• Coffee cart. The PTA needs volunteers to staff the teacher coffee cart on Friday mornings. Spread good cheer by delivering coffee, tea, and cider to teachers and staff. We provide the coffee and instructions, you brew and deliver! A longtime PTA volunteer called coffee cart “my favorite school volunteer activity ever.” It really is a feel good opportunity and can be done with a friend or on your own. Sign up for a shift today.
• Stay tuned for upcoming volunteer opportunities during school conferences week, including a snacks and drinks potluck for teachers and helping out with the library book fair!

--

Rogers Park PTA

Rogers Park Elementary- Where awesome meets education!

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October

(SEL Focus- Self-Direction)

Oct 1-31 Bully Prevention Month

Oct 1 (Th) *6:00pm - 7:30pm* PTA Meeting (Library/Zoom)

Oct 2 (F) School Custodian Appreciation

Day

Oct 9 (F) *6:00pm - 8:00pm* PTA Movie Night

Oct 12 (M) *no school* Indigenous Peoples Day

Oct 15 (Th) *5:30pm - 7:30pm* STEM NIGHT

Oct 15 (Th) *5:30pm - 8:00pm* East Area Choir Festival

Oct 16 (F) *no school* *Grading Day - no school**End 1st Quarter*

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