Schools

The Anchorage School Board discussed school choice in local facilities Monday, exploring how to give parents and student more opportunities -- as well as how those choices should look in the future. It's the beginning of discussions on what options in education the Anchorage School District currently offers, and what could be changed to make them more successful. One topic of those talks is ensuring that all students in the district are free to choose where they learn. With programs ranging from Chinese and Spanish immersion to cultural and specialized learning, ASD officials say numerous selections can be found in the city at neighborhood, charter and alternative schools.

Vandalism happening at Anchorage schools is on the rise now that school is out for the summer.     Gardner Cobb the Director of security and emergency preparedness with the district said typically every school is hit by people either tagging or breaking windows.     It's an expensive problem that costs the district thousands of dollars every year.     "Every year it runs 200,000 to a quarter million dollars. " Cobb said,"To spend a quarter million dollars on senseless vandalism when it could be put to salaries, peoples jobs, books, things like that.

When Alaska's constitutional convention assembled more than 50 years ago, framers were explicit in barring the use of public money for the direct benefit of private institutions. Senator Mike Dunleavy wants to give the voters a chance to change that, through Senate Joint Resolution 9 , which if passed would put that question on the ballot in 2014. "I'm fully aware that there is a lot of folks out there that are interested in vouchers for K-12, some folks are interested in supporting private schools,” said Dunleavy (R-Wasilla)

Students at Houston Middle School were evacuated Wednesday after a small amount of gunpowder was found in a student’s locker. The students were taken to Houston High just before 1:30 p.m., where parents could pick them up at the end of the day, which is around 2 p.m. Catherine Esary of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District said the students were evacuated as a precaution and that there was no imminent danger. According to Capt. Charley McAnally of the Houston Police Department, other items were also removed from the student's locker, but no other details were given.

Thursday was the last day of school for Anchorage School District students. They celebrated as they left their classmates, teachers, principals and school buildings behind until the fall. Students at Rogers Park Elementary said they plan to participate in activities like Boy Scouts camp, summer classes, fishing, and hiking. Max Jamieson, a 3rd grader, said his favorite part about the summertime is having the luxury to sleep in. "You don't have to wake up at 6 o'clock every morning," he said.

The Anchorage School District says multiple children at Fairview Elementary School were found to have bed bugs and bites. District officials met Thursday morning to address the issue. Individual cases of bed bugs were found at a couple of schools since the school year started, but District Superintendent Carol Comeau says having four or five students confirmed with bed bug bites at the same school is more than they’ve had in the past. “It seems to be this year, we've been aware of it -- I’m sure there have been bed bugs but not as many,” Comeau said.

The Anchorage School Board passed a resolution Monday night recognizing March as "Music in Our Schools Month. " Music class is required in elementary schools, and during sixthgrade it's an elective. The district said 91 percent of sixth graders, or about 2,300 students, take either band or orchestra. But participation in music classes falls with age: in middle school, 48 percent of students participate in either band, orchestra or choir, and those figures become 15 to 16 percent in high school.

by The Associated Press Monday, April 12, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska is receiving nearly $11 million in a federal grant to help turn around the state's persistently lowest achieving schools. The $10.7 million from the School Improvement Grant program is part of $3.5 billion to be available to states this spring under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Federal officials say the money being sent to Alaska will be distributed to school districts through a competitive process.

According to a new study from the Association of Alaska School Boards , students in the state believe that personal problems are more often the cause of dropping out of school, rather than school-related experiences. The new study is in collaboration with four school districts across the state, and it focused on the effects of school climates. About 280 students from 26 schools in the Anchorage, Juneau, Lower Kuskokwim and Yukon Koyukuk school districts participated in a series of focus groups.

by Channel 2 News staff Monday, November 30, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In a poll conducted by Channel 2 News, respondents were asked if security at Anchorage schools should be increased. Here is the official question and results of the 262 people who voted. Should security at Anchorage schools be increased? Yes 45 % No 55 % All polls conducted by Channel 2 News and KTUU.com are unscientific.