Anchorage School District - Educating All Students for Success in Life |
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A Message From Our Superintendent |
ASD Families and Community members,
Happy November! It has been an eventful month already. Last week I wore red, white, and blue for Election Day. Every other Tuesday of this month, I encourage you to wear your Native Alaskan regalia in honor of Alaska Native Heritage Month. Other ways to celebrate will include cultural storytelling nights on our Facebook page, a Districtwide “Rock your Mocs Day” on Nov. 20, and more.
Happy Veterans Day to our family and community members who have served in our Armed Forces! The Anchorage School District is proud to educate nearly 5,000 students of military families. Our military families enhance the rich culture of ASD.
Later this month, many of us will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday and enjoy some time of rest away from school. Please celebrate safely.
What I was most looking forward to this month, the return to in-person learning, must yet again be postponed. As I expressed in my letter to families on Sunday, this heartbreaking decision was made because the conditions across Anchorage are currently threatening to push the community’s medical capacity beyond its limits, as reflected in our decision making criteria.
Over the weekend I learned that although hospital capacity is in the green zone, COVID cases in hospitals are increasing and hospitals are struggling with staffing. There is growing concern over staffing in the medical field as well as at ASD, because so many employees are in quarantine due to being a close contact to someone within their social bubble who tested positive.
Postponing is not something I wanted to do, but it was necessary. Please know that I will continue to face forward in getting students back to school.
The decision making around COVID-19 is complex and requires us to be adaptive. As a District, we will continue to use science as our compass. A recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), shares there were few outbreaks reported in schools since early 2020, and in school outbreaks, it was more likely that the virus was introduced by adult personnel.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 90 percent of affected children were household contacts of previously affected adults.
Health professionals at the State and Municipal level agree, with the widespread transmission, school could actually be a safer place. When mitigation plans are followed, schools are not the super spreaders we once believed.
School closure should be one of the last resorts we take as a community. The same WHO report says early modelling studies suggested that closing schools reduced community transmission less than other social distancing interventions.
I am committed to bringing our students back into schools just as soon as conditions allow. In the meantime, we will continue refining our plans and training our staff. We will trust PPE. We will be kind to one another as we learn these new procedures in buildings.
I recently spoke with a teacher leading an in-person tutoring group. The teacher explained students understood “airplane arms” to distance in the classroom, but once they left the classroom setting and were in hallways and the playground, they needed a new way to remember to social distance in different spaces. This group of students now uses “zombie arms” in the hallway and on the playground. It is practices like these that show if we work together, we can be back in schools safely.
As a community, it is time for us as a whole to prioritize education. I ask you to tighten your social bubble, follow Municipal mandates, and commit to Keep ASD Symptom Free. Together, we can move forward to educate all students for success in life.
Cheers,
Dr. Deena Bishop
Superintendent
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How to Familiarize Students with New ASD Health and Safety Practices |
Health and safety measures are a top priority to protect students and staff when we return to in-person learning. The District is asking families to talk to their children about how school will look different, and how we must all do our part to stay healthy.
Below you will find links to videos you can watch as a family to help better understand protocols and prepare for your return to school in-person. Make a game out of it! Watch together and practice your airplane arms (or zombie arms!), sing your ABCs while you wash hands, and take turns showing each other how to properly wear a mask. Children follow our example. If we set the expectation for best practices, students will be eager to follow suite.
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ASD Celebrates Alaska Native and American Indian Heritage Month |
From the land of the Dena'ina people, ASD wishes you a Happy Alaska Native American Indian Heritage Month! ASD will participate in celebrations throughout the month to honor the rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people.
Each Tuesday this month will be Traditional Tuesdays. You are encouraged to sport your favorite item of traditional regalia. Post a photo to social media using #ASDTraditionalTuesdays.
There will also be several Family Storytelling Nights with Johon EchoHawk Atkinson (Ts'msyen, Metlakatla). Join other families in a cultural night of storytelling. The next event is Wednesday, November 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. on our ASD Title VI Indian Education Facebook page.
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In addition to following safety protocols, as a District, we must be committed to #KeepASDSymptomFree. Stay home if you are feeling sick or have even mild symptoms.
Stay home if one or more symptoms develop and call your child’s doctor’s office:
- Fever 100.4°F or higher, or chills, or a presumed fever (your child feels very warm)
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Cough
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches, joint pain
- New rash
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Headache
- New congestion or runny nose
- Exposure to someone with the above symptoms or someone with known COVID-19
If your child has traveled outside the state of Alaska, they will need to follow the state guidelines on testing/quarantine before returning to school.
If a student or staff member gets sent home sick from school, they can return to the building when they meet one of four return to school criteria. View the video below for a detailed explanation of each option.
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ASD Provides Free Meals to Students Through Emergency USDA Program |
With the decision not to return students to in-person learning, ASD food service will continue service as it did previously and will continue offering meals at no charge to children enrolled in National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This is possible through a special emergency program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The change of this program enables ASD to provide meals at no charge at the 34 current community eligible provision schools to the 80 National School Lunch Program Schools in the District. ASD Virtual students are also eligible to participate, provided their primary enrollment is one of the 80 neighborhood schools.
Students or parents wishing to receive meals must pre-order them using ASD’s pre-order system.
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Teaching Today: Clark Middle School |
Teaching Today is a video series documenting how ASD teachers engage student to achieve their learning goals from a distance during a health pandemic. These inspiring stories show how ASD teachers reinvent the way they teach to ensure students have access to engaging, hands-on content. In the most recent video, Clark Middle School science teacher Jason Patterson shares how he does real-world science in a digital setting, and how social emotional learning has helped him connect with students, even through the distance learning platform. |
Enjoy ASD's Online Art Exhibition |
Through a collaboration with Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, we celebrate our students’ creative expression and believe art builds character, develops real-world skills, and provides emotional outlets for young people. Though our art education may look different this year, we believe advocating for the arts is important now more than ever. We hope you enjoy this opportunity to view Anchorage School District student artwork.
This online exhibition is presented through a school-year-long collaboration between the Anchorage Museum and ASD that offers opportunities for K-12 students to show their artwork in a virtual space during the Covid-19 pandemic. Artwork in these online galleries rotates quarterly.
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Airplane Arms: Getting Tested and Returning to School |
The Anchorage School District has created a new video series to help inform staff and community members about back to school during the pandemic. All of these videos are recorded and are available on the District's website.
In episode 12, our host and ASD Director of Health Services Jennifer Patronas discusses COVID-19 testing, when you should get tested, and which test to get. Patronas is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Ohlsen, a family physician with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, and Jennifer Cottle, a nurse at Ravenwood Elementary.
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Future School Board Members Training |
The Anchorage School Board is hosting a free training on November 18 for interested community members to learn about Board service. This 1.5 hour, interactive training, led by Board Member Alisha Hilde, will be over ZOOM from 5:30 to 7p.m. Translators are available upon request. Please contact grant_katy@asdk12.org to sign-up.
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ASD Testing Sites in November |
Throughout the month of November, the Municipality of Anchorage will be conducting COVID-19 testing at select ASD sites. This COVID-19 PCR testing service is open to the public and free of charge. Testing will be conducted by Visit Healthcare. It is helpful to schedule your visit ahead of time online.
All testing sites will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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Food Bank of Alaska to Provide Thanksgiving Meals |
Do you need assistance providing a Thanksgiving meal for your family? The Anchorage faith community, Food Bank of Alaska, and thousands of volunteers are here to help provide families in need with a turkey and all the fixings.
The meal distribution will take place Monday, Nov. 23 from noon to 8 p.m. Distribution will be done drive-thru style. Please have space available in your vehicle to place the box of food. Bring proof of zip code; you may only attend one site. The Food Bank encourages you to arrive by 6 p.m.
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Learn More About Telecommunications Apprenticeship Opportunities |
Telecommunications is a broad and diverse field. Telecommunications workers build and maintain the physical system that enables our information-based society. They climb poles, and dig holes, splice fiber optics, construct cell towers, and cable buildings for high-speed data networks. Talk to current apprentices about their experiences in this always-evolving trade.
Join the IBEW/NECA Electrical Apprenticeship Program for National Apprenticeship Week and learn about what it’s like to be an apprentice in the electrical and telecommunications trades! Members will talk about how apprenticeship works, how to apply, and what it’s like to live the construction lifestyle. A panel of apprentices will be ready to answer all of your questions.
The electrical trades Zoom session will take place Thursday, November 12 from 1 to 2:15 p.m. Contact Dora Wilson with questions at 907-777-7225 or dwilson@ibew1547.org
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The Anchorage Special Education Advisory Council Seeks New Members |
SEAC is looking for new members. The Anchorage Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) is a resource for students with disabilities, their families, the community, and the Anchorage School District.
SEAC is committed to sharing ideas, identifying concerns, raising community awareness, and advising the Anchorage School District. SEAC conducts meetings each month, usually on the second Thursday during the business day. All meetings for now will be held via Zoom and may resume in person later.
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COVID-19 Peer Leader Navigators Available to Assist Anchorage Residents |
COVID-19 Peer Leader Navigators (CPLNs) are trained to help residents find services including rental and utility assistance, food, childcare, health-care and education information, and other COVID-19 resources available for Anchorage families. The CPLN project builds on APL’s existing Peer Leader Navigator program, a group of trusted, multilingual, and multicultural community residents who help underserved Limited English Proficient communities access health information and resources.
Residents may also visit the Alaska Literacy Program at 1345 Rudakof Circle, Suite 104, Anchorage, AK 99508 during CPLN office hours, which are as follows:
- Tuesdays, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Wednesdays, 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
- Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Fridays, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
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Elisa Vakalis, President
Margo Bellamy, Vice President
Starr Marsett, Treasurer
Andy Holleman, Clerk
Dave Donley
Alisha Hilde
Deena Mitchell
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Thurs. Nov. 12
Fri. Nov. 13
Thurs. Nov. 26
Thurs. Nov. 27
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5530 E Northern Lights Blvd.,
Anchorage, AK 99504
907-742-4000
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