Thursday was the first day of school in the Anchorage School District and students, families and staff are adjusting to big changes. School start times are different for every grade this year and sixth graders joined middle schools.
The parking lot at Williwaw Elementary in East Anchorage was buzzing early in the morning. Parents parked and walked up with their students, many stopping to take photos before classes started at 8 a.m.
Twins Maude and Jolene Gourdin were full of energy, ready to start second grade. Neither one had a hard time waking up for school, but they’re looking forward to different activities.
“Learning,” Maude said.
“Hm, playing,” Jolene said.
The Anchorage School Board voted to change start times in the spring of 2023, but delayed the shift until this fall. Elementary schools start an hour earlier, middle schools start an hour and 15 minutes later, and high school students, who started class at 7:30 a.m. last year, will now begin at 8:45 a.m.
The new start times are designed to help older students perform better and increase their graduation rates. Elementary school students naturally wake up earlier than older students but it’s the after-school situation that many parents are worried about.
“The ending time is challenging for pickups and everything else,” Kelsie Gourdin, the twins’ mother said. “I don’t know quite how we’re going to do it. If we didn’t have help at home it’d be very expensive.”
Nicole Moyer is a school psychologist at Williwaw Elementary. She stood out in front of the school, helping students find their classrooms.
“Hopefully they feel welcome, and if they’re trying to figure out where to go, at least they’re not figuring it out alone,” Moyer said.
First grader Sean Williams just arrived at school, but he’s already thinking about lunch.
“I have pineapple juice in my pack instead of worser stuff,” Williams said.
He’s a little jealous of his older brother.
“Hunter has great stuff, I have the boring-est stuff,” Williams said.
A few miles away at Wendler Middle School, parents started lining up their cars in the parking lot to drop off their students around 8:45 a.m. Middle schools are starting much later this year, and seven of the district’s 10 middle schools are adding sixth graders.
Enaaseyh Jacobs is one of those sixth graders.
“I’m a little nervous and I kind of wish I had another year, but I’m also really excited,” Jacobs said. “It’s a big change and I’m going to have like a lot of different classes. I’m not used to this but it’s going to be a challenge, and I’m excited.”
Enaaseyh’s mother Helena said her daughter thrived at her elementary school, the Yup’ik immersion program at College Gate. She’s one of the first students who will continue the program at Wendler.
“I’m glad that they’re continuing it here and they’ve got a really incredible teacher lined up for them,” Helena Jacobs said. “I love it. It’s one of the reasons we’re still in Anchorage. I think if we didn’t have this option for our kids we probably would’ve tried to transition out to rural Alaska just to have them connected to their culture and being raised in the language.”
Leighann and Lonni Joe are about to start seventh grade. They graduated sixth grade from Tudor Elementary and are excited to have more class options at Wendler, especially one class in particular.
“Probably journalism for me,” Leighann Joe said.
“Yeah, journalism for me too,” Lonni Joe said.
Sam Joe is Lonni’s father and Leighann’s grandfather. He stopped to take photos of the pair before they disappeared into the school building.
“They’re growing up real quick and it’s going by fast,” Joe said. “Holy cow, I just remember watching them graduating from preschool and now they’re here.”
Thursday was the first day of school for most students in the district, but eighth graders and 10th-12th graders start on Friday. Preschoolers and kindergarteners start next Thursday.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
