Trailside Parent Newletter

Hello Trailside Families!

Thank you parents and families for successful parent teacher conferences!

With the latest time change and snow fall, students perform their best with a good night's rest- thank you for your consistent routines at home- they pay off!

Students are expected to have a hat, warm mittens or gloves, a warm jacket, boots and snow pants.

For winter, snowpants are required for all PreK-3rd grade students and for all 4th and 5th grade students who want to play in the field/on the hill. If you need help with winter gear, please contact the school nurse.

Once again I would like to thank the PTA for organizing awesome After-School-Activities (ASA's). We have some great ones coming up (see info below).

***We need your help :) Please join the PTA to help support the wonderful programs that make Trailside an amazing school.

Thank you!

Mr. Niessner

Trailside Kindy and 1st grade families! Through my interactions with younger students when spending time in classrooms, I am noticing more Kindy and 1st grade students are unable to put on their own gloves and/or zip up their coat. Thank you families for working with your children in teaching them this important skill. Thank you!

Friday, Nov. 7- 5th Grade Field Trip to UAA for Men's Basketball Game. UAA vs Evergreen State. Tip off at 11:00am- More info coming soon- CANCELLED.

Tuesday, Nov. 11- Student Release Professional Development Day. No School

Friday, Nov. 14- Choir Field Trip/Performance- Dena'ina Convention Center- Depart Trailside at 7:30

Thursday, Nov. 20- Winter Choir Concert

Dec. 2-12- mClass Testing (K-3rd Grades)

Dec. 2-12- MAP Testing (3-5th Grades)

Thursday, Dec 18- Last Day of Quarter 2

Friday, Dec. 19- Student Release Grading Day

If you pack your student's lunch, please avoid packing candy/sweets or foods really high in sugar.

Trailside Families- Last school year, we were able to bring the Swimming/Boat Safety Unit for 3-5th grade students. This is a fantastic partnership between Service High School, Northern Lights Swim Club, and Trailside Elementary.

We are currently working on the logistics and details and will forward them out to families as soon as possible. There will be a cost for students this school year. Scholarships from PTA will be available.

Hello Trailside Families!

Thank you for all of your support this year so far and we hope everyone enjoyed the amazing Fairytale Fall Festival a few short weeks ago! With the holidays coming up quickly, we just wanted to share a few updates, reminders and calls for volunteers:

🎨 Art to Remember – Final Week!

Time is running out! All orders are due Friday, November 14th. Have you seen Ms. Thorson's incredible student artwork this year?

Last year we raised $2,500 through this fundraiser—let's see if we can top it! These keepsakes mean so much to families and make a real impact on our school.

Order now at our Trailside customized Art to Remember page!

🩰 NEW! Nutcracker Ballet After-School Activity

Calling all K-2nd graders who love to move! Join Ms. Fuller for a magical Nutcracker-themed ASA in the Music Room. Participants will learn ballet, craft wands, and work together to create a special performance.

• When: Tuesdays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. (Nov 18, 25; Dec 2, 9, 16)

• Cost: $18 (scholarships available—email trailsideactivities@gmail.com)

• Performance: Parents welcome Dec 16th for the final 15 minutes!

• Register: Trailside PTA store

Registration closes when full or at 9 p.m. the night before the activity starts. Want first dibs on future ASA announcements? Join the PTA at https://trailsidepta.givebacks.com/shop! Members get emails before flyers go home.

📚 Read-A-Thon: We Need YOU!

It's that time of year—our Read-A-Thon is coming! This event helps us keep Trailside running like a private school, funding everything from swimming to new computers, library books, After-School Activities, Field Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, 4th & 5th Grade Camp and so much more.

But we need a committee to make it happen! Please consider volunteering—your energy and creativity make all the difference. Attend our upcoming PTA meeting on November 17th or email TrailsidePTAPresident@gmail.com to get involved. Let's make this our biggest Read-A-Thon yet!

⛸️ Ice Rink Volunteers Needed!

Calling all ice skating and hockey enthusiasts! We'd love to bring back our community ice rink this winter, and we're looking for volunteers to help make it happen. We're hoping to coordinate with the fire department for flooding and organize a volunteer crew with equipment to maintain the ice throughout the season.

If you have experience with ice rinks, access to maintenance equipment (like a four-wheeler with pull-behind tools), or simply want to help keep this beloved winter tradition alive for our kids and surrounding community, please contact TrailsidePTAPresident@gmail.com. Let's work together to create another wonderful winter for Trailside!

🎲 Save the Date: Family Game Night!

Mark your calendars for Friday, December 12th—we're planning a Family Game Night (possibly with a LEGO/Robotics theme)! Have ideas or want to help plan? We'd love to hear from you at TrailsidePTAPresident@gmail.com. We're always looking for new and creative ways to bring our community together!

📸 Share Your Trailside Moments!

Help us capture this year's memories! If you've taken photos of classroom activities, field trips, events, or other special moments at Trailside, please send them to trailsideyearbook25@gmail.com. Every photo helps tell our school's story!

📅 Upcoming Events:

• NOW: Read-A-Thon Committee Formation (volunteers needed!)

• November 17: PTA Membership Meeting, 8 a.m. in MPR (our last meeting of the year!)

• November 20: Choir Performance, 6:30 p.m. in the MPR

• November 27-28: Thanksgiving Break (No School)

• December 12: Family Game Night (Possible LEGO/Robotics theme)

Thank you for making Trailside such an amazing community!

Please be aware if your child is well enough to come to school then they are also expected to go outside for recess until it is - 10 F. This means your child needs to have proper winter gear to safely enjoy time outside.

If your family needs assistance with food, below is a list of where in the community food assistance is available:

https://anchoragefood.org/

The Anchorage Food Bank will be hosing their annual Thanksgiving Blessing Dinner. This provides a free Thanksgiving dinner to take home for those in need this holiday season. Each family will receive a frozen turkey and groceries for a complete meal. (Flier below):

https://foodbankofalaska.org/hubfs/2025%20Anchorage%20Blessing%20Flyer.pdf

Donna Wilson, RN, NCSN

School Nurse, Trailside Elementary

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:

• Winter Dec. 2-12, 2025.

Results for K-3 students that were assessed during a benchmark window, will be available in Parent Connect 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 3 - September 12 (make-ups through September 19)

• Winter Benchmark 2: December 1 - December 12 (make-ups through December 18)

• Spring Benchmark 3: embedded in AK STAR administered during the summative assessment window: March 30 - April17 (make-ups through May 1)

• 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 Grow 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.

*Must be completed each school year

Parents who wish to chaperone or volunteer with school events must complete a Volunteer Application each school year (it does not carry over through multiple school years). If you have not done so already, please complete a volunteer application :

Hello Choir Families:

Our first performance is just a week away! The students need to be on the bus Friday morning by 7:10 so please bring your singer about 6:50am. I know it's early!! But I don't want anyone to miss the bus.

Please go to Q and pay the $5 bus fee as soon as possible.

The shirts will be done next week and distributed to the singers hopefully during Wednesday's rehearsal.

Choir members also need to wear black pants, black socks and black shoes.

Please reference my past emials to access the videos and recordings so your singer can practice between rehearsals.

Two weeks left of choir! This is when it all comes together. Thank you for supporting your child in this endeavor. Their singing warms my heart at every rehearsal!

Trailside is updating social media accounts! (Our current Facebook page is "owned" by a former principal from many years ago). Stay connected with us by "following" the following pages:

Facebook: Trailside Elementary. https://www.facebook.com/61568728824790/about/?_rdr

Instagram: TrailsideElemAK

Email TrailsidePTAPresident@gmail.com to volunteer. Every volunteer hour invested strengthens our school community and enriches our children's experience at Trailside. No contribution is too small!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

REMIND is a communication tool that will be used to send important notifications to families throughout the year. Here is the link to join: https://www.remind.com/join/9caeah

Free & Reduced-Price Meal Application Reminder. Free & Reduced-Price meal applications and Direct Certification are available throughout the school year. Feel free to copy the information and adjust it to fit specific school community needs. Student Nutrition appreciates school support in getting this information out to families.

If there are any questions, please contact Student Nutrition at SNAdmin@asdk12.org.

Please call or email the office when excusing your student due to sickness, or pre-arranged absence (Travel, Etc.)

When leaving messages for the office, please make sure to leave the student's first and last name.

Please also leave a good contact name and number we can reach you at if we have questions regarding the message.

907-742-5500

donaldson_karen@asdk12.org

All parents, please check your parent connection and make sure all of your contact information is correct.

Please notify the office of any of the following changes:

• Custody/Legal Documents (as soon as possible)
• Address Changes
• Phone number updates
• If you are moving, please notify the office as soon as possible.

Please make sure when using Q Parent Connection to excuse your student, it has to be done in the system prior to 8:30 am. If not, you will get a Robo-Call from the district notifying you that your student was absent for the day. Please call the office if it is after 9:30 am and the office staff will get your student excused.

If you are traveling please contact the office so we can get your student excused, you will then see a "P" (Travel status and other pre-arranged absences) in Q- Parent Connection instead of "E" (Excused).