Alaska Native Cultural Charter

March

• 3/6 - Last school day of Quarter 3
• 3/6 - School Dance, grades 5-8
• 3/7 - Quarter 3 Grading Day - NO SCHOOL
• 3/10 - 3/14 - Spring Break - NO SCHOOL
• 3/17 - Classes resume for Quarter 4
• 3/18 - 3rd - 5th Grade Museum Field Trip
• 3/18 - 1:30 - 2:00 pm and 5:30 - 6:00 pm - Visit our School event
• 3/20 - Middle School Museum Field Trip
• 3/20 - Badminton Team Field Trip for Colony Tournament
• 3/20 - Family Connection Night: Screenagers, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
• 3/24 - 4/4 - AK STAR/ Spring MAP test and Science Assessment opens, grades 3-8
• 3/25 - 1:30 - 2:00 pm - Visit our School event

April

• 4/3 - ANCCS Family Night, 5:30 - 7:00 pm

• 4/18 - ASD April Closure Day - NO SCHOOL

• 4/25 - Administrative Assistant & Secretary Appreciation Day

• 4/25 - ASD Registration opens for Returning ANCCS Students

Waqaa ANCCS families! Third quarter flew by with lots of exciting activities and learning for staff and students. Our ANCCS student ambassadors and student leaders were busy this quarter planning several events in and for our school, including our January family night, Valentine's spirit week, and a school dance for grades 5-8.

Spring break marks the end of quarter 3 with the last day for students on Thursday, March 6. Fourth quarter resumes on March 17. Although quarter 4 is the longest quarter of the year, it is sure to fly by as there will be lots going on at ANCCS, including family nights, field trips, AK Star testing, and culture week.

This month, our students have been racing to Nome by working on their iReady math. Every minute that students spend on their iReady math moves their classes' dog team forward one mile. Let's see which class can make it all 1,049 miles to Nome first! The race will end on Thursday, March 6. Students may work on iReady from home or any location by accessing their iReady account online.

For K-8 students NEW to ANCCS (including current preschool students):

• Spring lottery opens for parents on February 1, 2025 at midnight for the 2025-2026 school year
• Spring lottery closes for applications on March 20, 2025 at 5:00 pm
• Spring lottery runs March 21, 2025
• Parent notifications released March 28, 2025 at 5:00 pm

For new preschool students:

Families interested in ANCCS preschool for 2025-2026 will need to apply through the preschool department. The application will be posted in February.

LINK TO PRESCHOOL APPLICATION:

Preschool / General Education Preschool Programs

Please select the General Education Preschool, then Alaska Native Cultural Charter School.

Please join us on Thursday, March 20, for a family connections night to discuss screen time, technology use, and navigating parenting in the digital age. We will be viewing the film Screenagers and providing opportunities to connect with other parents, caregivers, and school staff.

This event is from 5:30 - 7:30 pm and is open to all parents, guardians, and caregivers of current ANCCS students.

5:30 pm - Doors open & dinner served in MPR.

5:45 pm - Childcare open in gym for current ANCCS students and siblings ages 4+ (children under 4 years old may stay with their grown ups).

6:00 pm - Screenagers shown in library with follow-up discussion.

Please RSVP by completing the linked survey form.

View the trailer for the film: Screenagers.

Please RSVP by March 15 by completing this form to reserve your spot! This will help us to plan for our discussions, dinner, and childcare needs.

Each spring, Alaskan students are provided an opportunity to show what they know. When students show what they know, teachers and parents can partner to promote student success. The State of Alaska Department of Education has partnered with NWEA to align and connect the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics tests with the MAP Growth benchmark assessments students take in fall and winter.

This balanced assessment system targets instruction to better support meeting students’ individual learning needs. In addition, students will take only one assessment per content area (ELA and math) and be provided two scores as follows:

1. Summative assessment result at grade-level

2. MAP Growth interim benchmark result, including growth from fall to spring

AK STAR, the Alaska System of Academic Readiness, is comprised of English language arts and mathematics and is administered to students in grades 3-9. The Alaska Science Assessment is administered to students in grades 5, 8 and 10. The purpose of a large-scale, summative assessment is to provide parents and schools an overall picture of a student’s progress in meeting the Alaska standards at grade level.

Parents can locate resources for AK STAR and the Alaska Science Assessment, including directions for Student Readiness (Practice Tests and Tutorials), student testing times and general assessment information on the ASD website at https://www.asdk12.org/akstar.

Parents can also help by ensuring their children are well rested, eat a nutritious breakfast, and are at school on time for the days of testing. Please avoid scheduling appointments on your child’s testing days.

The ASD AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment testing window allows for school assessment scheduling flexibility. Students! Get ready to show what you know during our school’s AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment testing dates.

2025 ASD AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment Testing Window:

March 24-April 4

(Make-ups through April 25)

All ANCCS students can eat school breakfast and school lunch at no cost to families. Students also have the option to bring in their own lunch from home. We have one microwave available for students to warm up their home lunch. However, we have noticed an increase in students bringing popcorn to make at lunch. This has resulted in several instances of burnt popcorn, which can be a safety issue and may set off the fire alarms. We also use popcorn as classwide incentives and celebrations. When students bring popcorn to share with friends at lunch, it takes away from the specialness of these celebrations. For these reasons, we kindly ask that you do not send popcorn packages with your students to school.

ASD Goal: Every student will attend school at least 90 percent of the time.

ANCCS Goal: Less than 8 is Great!

The graph below shows our 90% attendance rate throughout the school year. From January to February, the percentage of students attending 90% of the time dropped from 67% to just under 60%.

We are hoping that with the arrival of spring there will be fewer sick days and that our students will be here each and every day, ready to learn.

We value your partnership and ideas on how we can support student attendance.

Let's aim for at least 75% of our students to achieve 90% attendance in March!