November Newsletter

Hello Chapman Families,

October was such a fun month at Chapman! We loved seeing so many families throughout the month at our events. Bingo for Books, the Chapman Halloween Carnival, and Parent-Teacher Conferences were all extremely well attended. Thank you to everyone who spent time in our school with your kiddos—we truly appreciate the opportunity to work alongside you in helping your children grow and succeed.

This past month, families and staff gathered for some important collaborative meetings to finalize our school goals for the year. We are continuing our commitment to improving math and reading proficiency rates while also focusing on boosting overall attendance and building essential life skills.

School-Wide Goals & Updates

• Attendance: Our goal is to maintain at least a 90% attendance rate. So far this year, our school-wide attendance is just over 93%! Thank you to our families for prioritizing daily attendance. We would love to host a school-wide celebration if we maintain this goal. If you have ideas on how to keep attendance a top priority, or want to share your input, joining our Site Council and Title I meetings is a great way to make your voice heard.

• Skills for Life Success: Based on feedback from families and staff, our long-term vision is to ensure all Chapman graduates have a solid foundation for high school and eventually graduate from high school fully prepared to be self-sufficient adults. Workplace readiness was a major topic of discussion, with strong communication emerging as a top priority. To support this vision, our goal for this school year is improving student communication skills.

As we head into November, I am incredibly thankful for the entire Chapman School community—our students, staff, and families. Together, we ensure our students are supported, engaged, and succeeding. I am proud to be a Chapman Eagle!

Respectfully,

Heidi Stokes

Chapman School

Many communication based issues arise at school from an inability to identify the size of the problem then communicate in a way that matches the problem size. You can help your child by practicing identifying problem size at home. When your child comes to you with an issue or setback, first ask them how big the problem is then ask if their response or communication choice matches the problem size.

Possible questions to ask:

• Does a little problem warrant interrupting an adult?
• What size of problem requires an adult to be alerted?
• What is a possible strategy to solving the each of th various sizes of problems?

Check out this chart below that is based on Zones of Regulation, Identifying the size of the problem:

Does your kiddo need more help in math and reading? Are you looking for a way to extend students learning beyond the school day? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then skills club would be a great fit for your kiddo! Starting next week (October 6th and 8th) Skills Club is kicking off!

3rd-8th: Skills club is every Tuesday from 2:30-3:00 (Run by Ms. Kohler)

K-2: Skills club is every Thursday from 2:30-3:30 (Run by Ms. Woods)

3rd-23rd: Community Food Drive: Please donate non-perishable food items

9th: Veterans Assembly 1:00 pm

17th: 5th-8th Band Concert 7:00 pm

20th: Early Release-Students out at 1:00 pm

24th: K-4th Concert 1:00 pm

26th-27th: No School-Holiday

28th: Chapman Bazaar

3rd: Picture Retakes

3rd: Family Engagement Night 5-6:30 pm

7th-10th: Polar Shop

8th: Breakfast With Buddies 7:30 am

11th: Early Release-Students Dismiss At 1:00 pm

21st-Jan 4th: Winter Break-No School

KPBSD is now using @ParentSquare for all communication between school and home.

KPBSD has launched a new communication platform, ParentSquare, to simplify how schools connect with families and foster more consistent, inclusive engagement. With one place for messages, updates, forms, and more, the district is consolidating multiple tools into a single, easy-to-use system for both staff and families.

The district’s goal is to improve how families receive information, making it more accessible, timely, and responsive to different needs.

The platform also reduces the administrative burden on staff by integrating directly with the district’s student information system and replacing manual processes with paperless workflows. Staff can track engagement, send real-time updates, and use one tool instead of managing multiple systems.

With the launch of ParentSquare, KPBSD joins a growing number of districts nationwide adopting integrated communication strategies to better connect with families and support student success.

We’re looking forward to stronger connections and better communication across our school community.

• Sign up: https://www.parentsquare.com/signin

• Download the app: https://www.parentsquare.com/resources/app-download/

Girls Coach: Lukia Martishev

Boys Coach: Leo Dykstra

Basketball Starts: October 5th

Practice: Monday-Friday 2:30-4:00

Game Schedule

Practice Starts: October 5th

For all home games volunteers are needed to do the book and also run the clock

November 2nd: @ Chapman vs. CIA Girls: 3:30, Boys 5:00

November 4th: @ Chapman vs. Nanwalek Girls: 3:30, Boys: 5:00

November 5: @Chapman vs. Kenai Girls: 3:30, Boys: 5:00

November 6: @ Homer Middle Girls 4:00 Boys 5:30

November 10th: @ Chapman vs. ABC Girls: 3:30, Boys: 5:00

November 12th: @ Ninilchik: Girls: 4:30, Boys: 6:00

November 16th: @ Chapman vs. Ninilchik Girls: 3:30, Boys: 5:00

November 17th: No Practice: Middle School Band Concert

November 18: @ Skyview Girls: 3:00, Boys: 4:30

November 23: @ Chapman vs. McNeil TBA

November 20-21: Small Schools Basketball Tournament @ Chapman Game times TBA – Volunteers needed to run books and clock, take the gate fee, and stock the hospitality room

Contributor: Heidi Stokes

Hello Basketball Families!

If you have a child participating in middle school soccer, we have our first official eligibility check coming up on Friday, October 16th , so I wanted to check in and make sure everyone knows the eligibility procedures for middle school students and for homeschool students.

You can follow this link to see our full eligibility policy. Please make sure to note that if your child takes in person classes at Chapman, they are required to attend those classes to attend practice and competitions.

If your child is enrolled in Connections, you must submit your grades to your Connections advisor through their process by 2:30 pm EVERY Friday. Connections advisors will communicate to the Chapman office on Friday about each student’s eligibility status. If you do not turn in a grade check form, your child will not be eligible to compete in games/races/competitions for the following week (Monday-Sunday each week). Even if an athlete is ineligible for competitions, they are still expected to attend and participate in daily practices.

If your child is enrolled in any other homeschool program like IDEA, Raven, etc., you must submit a copy of this document (available electronically at that link or physical copies can be picked up in the Chapman office at any time) to Chapman School by 2:30 EVERY Friday. A new form must be filled out completely and signed by the homeschool advisor or administrator each week. A parent’s signature is not accepted for this form. A completed copy of the form can be turned into the Chapman office or can be submitted via email to hstokes@kpbsd.k12.ak.us. If you do not turn in a grade check form, your child will not be eligible to compete in games/races/competitions for the following week (Monday-Sunday each week). Even if an athlete is ineligible for competitions, they are still expected to attend and participate in daily practices.

Questions about eligibility can be directed to me via phone or email. Please make sure to note the weekly deadlines for submission of these requirements. They are HARD WEEKLY DEADLINES every week starting September 4th. The Chapman Staff encourages you to communicate early and often if issues arise…most issues can be figured out if we are talking and talking early. So please do not hesitate to reach out if anything comes up.

We are excited that your child is participating in an extracurricular activity and I am looking forward to cheering them on. We appreciate your support in helping your child be successful both on the court and academically.

Thank you!

All Chapman volunteers and visitors to classrooms, the lunchroom, etc. must have a volunteer screening completed. If you plan on volunteering for clubs or sports as an assistant coach or parent helper, you must also have training on concussion and sudden cardiac arrest. Trainings are linked below. You do not need a screening completed to attend Chapman sponsored events such as award's assemblies, parent teacher conferences and family activities.

We appreciate those who are willing to assist in coaching a sport or club. In an effort to ensure that kids are safe, the following trainings are required for those volunteer at practices or games regularly.

https://nfhslearn.com/courses/protecting-students-from-abuse