Remind your child about walking-to-school procedures

Three hit-and-run incidents involving elementary students walking to school on the east side of Anchorage within the past few weeks now have been linked by the Anchorage Police Department as attempted abductions.  For more information about these incidents click here.

APD and the district encourage parents to use these incidents to talk with their children about safe walking-to-school practices, especially during Alaska’s dark winters.

“We are extremely concerned about these incidents, as we have repeatedly stressed the importance of safe walking procedure to out students.  We are working closely with the APD and ask anyone who has observed these or any similar incidents to contact APD or their school immediately,” said Superintendent Carol Comeau.

Safe Walking-to-School Tips

Choose a school route and practice walking it with your child.  Avoid secluded areas such as woods or parks.

Remind you child to be aware of his or her surroundings at all times.

Ensure that your child walks with a friend whenever possible.  Teach him or her that there is safety in numbers, so traveling in groups is a good idea anytime, not just walking to or from school.

Teach your child never to get in a car with someone they don’t know, no matter what the person tells them, and never approach a car driven by someone they don’t know.

Tell your child to scream loudly and run away as soon as someone they don’t know approaches them.  Consider providing your child with a loud whistle they can use if needed.

Encourage your child to report what happened as soon as possible to an adult-the school office will notify police.  No incident is too insignificant to report.

Visibility is an issue during Alaska’s dark winters.  Have your child wear reflective tape on their coats and backpacks.  Teach him or her to recognize traffic signals and pavement markings.  A walk signal does not always mean it is safe to cross, they still need to look both ways before crossing.  Follow instructions provided by crossing guards.

Here are some additional web sites to visit for more safety tips:

www.asdk12.org/parents/safety/index.asp

www.usa.safekids.org/wtw/

www.education.com/reference/article/ref_stranger_danger/

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7305

www.aboutourkids.org/articles/protecting_your_kids_predators

Time is almost up for your Science Fair Project.  This is the last week.  Click here for this week’s newsletter “Finish Up!”.

The Alaska Zoo, Department of Fish and Game and the Anchorage Bear Committee are sponsoring an art contest for grades 1-6.  Click here for more information and the registration form.

Dear Families,

As this will be our last newsletter before spring break, I want to take this time to ask for your help. Please mark your calendars for Standards Based Assessments (SBA), which all Anchorage School District students, grades 3-10, will take.  These tests are designed to estimate the degree to which students have mastered the Academic Performance Standards for reading, writing, and mathematics as outlined in Grade Level Expectations. The SBA in science is also administered to fourth grade students only.

The testing window is set by the state and this year we will administer them on Thursday, April lst (only for fourth grade science tests) and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, April 6th-8th, for third through sixth graders. The order of the tests is reading (Tuesday), writing (Wednesday), and math (Thursday) for each test administration.

What can you do to help your child?  It is very important that we have all children here at school on those testing dates. Every test is counted towards our achieving AYP (annual yearly progress) and we would like to have 100% student participation in the SBA’s.  So, please mark down these dates on your calendar to help make sure that your children are at school, rested and ready, on those very important dates.

“Thank you” also goes to all the parents who are dropping off/picking up their children on 10th Avenue. This has helped to reduce the morning and afternoon congestion and to ensure student safety. Another way that you can help would be to turn off your car while you are waiting and to make sure that you are not parking in the crosswalk area. We need to keep this part of the curb clear so that families may safely cross the street. Thank you for your help.

Have a fun spring break!

Brooke Hull, Principal

March 5…………………………………………….End of 3rd Quarter/ In-service Day ( No School )
March 8 -12……………………………………………………………………..Spring Break ( No School )
March 15 -19………………………………………………………………………………..Denali Science Fair
March 24…………………………………………………………………….Deadline for Lottery Application
March 24………………………………..Parent/Teacher Conferences – School Dismissal 12:30pm
March 25………………………………..Parent/Teacher Conferences – School Dismissal 12:30pm
March 25……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Lottery
March 25……………………………..PTA Movie Night (Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs)
March 26……………………………………………….State Released In-service Day ( No School )

Parents of Students in grades K – 12

The 2010 Climate and Connectedness Parent/Guardian Survey is being administered to provide schools with information about perceptions and experiences related to school climate and connectedness for use in setting school goals and redirecting resources.  This is an annual survey implemented and analyzed jointly by the ASD departments of Safe and Drug Free Schools and Assessment and Evaluation. The survey will take place between March 22 and June 30 of 2010.

Parents/Guardians should complete one survey for each child in school. There are many different ways to access the survey:

• • Mailing of paper surveys—Surveys will be mailed with students’ SBA and HSGQE test results during the first week of June. There will be a separate mailing for parents/guardians of juniors and seniors not taking the HSGQE retest and parents/guardians of kindergarten, grade 1 and 2 students. All of the surveys will be in self-addressed, postage-paid mailers, making it easy for parents/guardians to return the surveys directly back to the Assessment and Evaluation Department.
• ASD Web site—ASD Web site: http://www.asdk12.org/depts/assess_eval/climatesurvey.asp
• Parent Connect — As of this year we are providing a fourth optional link through Zangle’s Parent Connect.  A survey link will appear on the page where you access your account.
• Conferences — Paper surveys will be available at the school on the days of conferences.
• ASD Facebook page — A link to the survey can be found on Facebook.

Science fair Projects are due Mon. through Wed. Mar 15 – 17 and will be judged on Thurs Mar 18.  Projects received on Thurs. Mar 18 will not be judged.

Maria Montessori believed that peace begins with children. In  her global view children who learn about other cultures and  religions are more compassionate and tolerant. This year Denali  Montessori has supported  Montessori’s vision through a fundraiser for the Malawi children’s village, an African community that cares for and schools orphans. In the process the Denali community has learned more about Africa and the Malawi culture.

So far we estimate that we have collected around $150 dollars for the orphans in Malawi. Although that may not seem like it would buy much here, in Malawi it will buy much more.

In Malawi:

$10 will buy a blanket to keep as many as 3 small children warm during the cold nights of July and August.
$92 will support one orphan for an entire year.
$100 will buy anti-malarial medicine for 100 orphans
$250 will allow an orphan to attend secondary school for one year.
$300 will pay for a new roof for a family housing one or more orphans
$400 will build a home for an orphan family.

ANY amount you donate will make a difference! Thank you one and all for your generosity!

For more information visit:
www.malawichildrensvillage.com

Schools with formal parent involvement programs report higher academic achievement – especially in urban elementary schools.  Harvard Family Research Project

How do you engage with your child’s school? Here at Denali, we are so fortunate that parents can become involved through our PTA, MAC and with classroom help – and as we see from the Harvard Family Research Project, that involvement pays off in so many ways, including higher academic achievement.

Please consider some of these fun, important new ways to engage with students here at Denali:

• Join our new “Reader Support Program.”  (RSP)  RSP volunteers can be parents, grandparents, family friends or neighbors who will commit to scheduling at least one half hour per month reading with a Denali student.  It’s easy and so rewarding.  Teachers have prepared book bags for each student with easy instructions.  Email Janice Banta at banta_janice@asdk12.org with your available half hour slots.  You’ll get a reply with the teacher name and classroom number and you’ll be good to go.
• If you can spare half an hour on Wednesdays – over the lunch recess period (11:30-1:30) or during the last half hour of school (3:00-3:30) we would appreciate having parent supervision of student government students gathering recycling for our building.  Help the earth and support these wonderful students in their recycling program.  Email Ms. Banta and pick the Wednesday you would like to help out.
• Our Haiti House pin effort has been a huge success, raising over $2,000 for Partners in Health’s Stand With Haiti program.  Pin production and sales are winding down, but many students want to continue to make and sell pins.  If any parent wants to oversee student efforts to make and sell pins, contact Ms. Banta and we can arrange a place and time that is convenient for you.

Thanks to all the parents that help make Denali great!   Janice Banta

It is the policy of the Anchorage School District to provide equal educational and employment opportunities, and to provide services and benefits to all students and employees without regard to race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, marital status, change in marital status, pregnancy, parenthood or other prohibitions. This policy is consistent with numerous laws, regulations, and executive orders enforced by various federal, state and municipal agencies, including but not limited to Executive Order 11246, Title 41, part 60 -1, 60 -2, 60 -3, 60 -20, Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and Section 504.

Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the School District’s Equal Employment Opportunity Director, who also serves as the Title IX Coordinator, ASD Education Center, 5530 E. Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage , AK 99504-3135, (907) 742-4132 or ti any of the following external agencies: Alaska State Commission for Human Rights, Anchorage Equal Rights Commission, Director of the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services.

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There will be only one more Denali tour before the Lottery deadline.  If you have friends who are interested in sending their children to Denali next year, please invite them to visit our school Wednesday, March 17th at 9:00 am.

There are only two more weeks to work on your Science Fair Project.  Click here for this week’s newsletter “Define and Refine”.

“Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character”

Thursday, March 4th

Help celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday and the finish of Idita-Read.