Education

All Alaska education news stories including child care, K-12 schools, university and policy.

A woman smiles while bent over looking at her laptop screen in her classrom.

Anchorage elementary teacher selected as 2021 Alaska Teacher of the Year

Kelly Shrein was recognized for her efforts to stay in touch with students including driving by their homes and moving with them to the next grade level.
three highschool students pose in front of sign that reads: bartlett high school

Bartlett High School seniors reach top of their class by leaning on ten years of friendship

A trio of friends will share the honor of addressing their class as salutatorian and co-valedictorians. The friends say their accomplishment has been 10 years in the making.

Anchorage School District to reexamine policy after students prevented from wearing cultural regalia at graduation

One student chose not to attend her graduation entirely after her regalia notification was denied. Another student’s sealskin cap was taken moments before joining his peers on graduation day.

‘Thankful for everything they’ve done’: Anchorage students turn health workers’ selfies into art

An Anchorage high school art teacher started the project to honor and celebrate essential workers on the frontline of the pandemic.
A female teacher points to a word projected on a white board in a classroom with three students sitting a tables facing the front of the classroom

ASD will get $112.5M in federal aid. They want to know how to spend it.

The district must use at least 20% of the money to address learning loss. That leaves nearly $90 million dollars to be spent.

How Anchorage high school yearbooks documented a pandemic year

From screenshots of Zoom classes to requesting student selfies, these two yearbook staffs got creative to capture an unusual year.

‘These Fs are tied to the pandemic’: Thousands of Anchorage students start summer school

The Anchorage School District is prioritizing re-building kids' relationship to in-person learning and starting to address learning loss.

Three years in the making, Anchorage School District launches new third grade Alaska Studies curriculum

It's the first time the school district has co-created curriculum alongside Alaska Native communities.

Combining Shakespeare and hip-hop, McLaughlin Youth learn to tell their own story

The class gave students school credit and they learned how to make music from an Alaskan hip hop artist

Anchorage teens can now obtain pilot licenses through UAA, ASD partnership

At the end of the program, teens will walk away with a private pilot's license, and college course credits, and having saved tens of thousands of dollars - all before graduating high school.
A girld in a purple tank top gets a shot from a white man in a red masik

Cases are rising but masks to remain optional for students, says Anchorage School District

Local districts make their own decisions about mask wearing for fall as cases are on the rise as the youngest students remain ineligible for a covid vaccine.
Anchorage School District Superintendent Deena Bishop at Huffman Elementary School on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.

Anchorage School District, University of Alaska recommend masking for school year

The superintendent will present the recommendation to the school board and the board will vote on whether to implement the policy.
A man plugs his ears with his index fingers and another man to his right holds up a piece of paper

Outbursts, tears and jeers don’t sway Anchorage School Board from mask mandate

Hours of public testimony from Anchorage parents against a mask mandate for the fall did not move the school board away from the superintendent’s universal masking recommendation.
A variety of face masks and face shields displayed on a table at Huffman Elementary School.

Anchorage mayor, school district spar over face masks

Dueling social media posts show the leader of Alaska’s largest city and Alaska’s largest school district are at odds over masking school children.
A toddler boy with blonde hair works in a workbook at a table next to an older girl with brown hair also doing school work at the table.

The pandemic forced these families to try new education formats. Now, they want to stick with it.

While some families who tried homeschooling last year hated it, others were introduced to a more customizable format that they’d like to keep exploring.
A group of children play in puddles.

Majority of Alaska students will start the school year under universal mask policies

A comparison of mask policies from school districts around the state show the majority of districts, urban and rural, have implemented universal mask policies for the start of the school year.

How can the Anchorage School District close its budget gap? | Alaska Insight

Lori Townsend talks with School Board Member Dave Donley, and Alyse Galvin of Great Alaska Schools, to understand the scope of the Anchorage School District's $68 million budget gap, and what can be done to address it.
the University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska will gain a plot of land that’s half the size of Rhode Island under new federal budget law

A clause in the new law, written by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, would give the university 360,000 acres in the next four years.
a trooper car

Former Mat-Su substitute teacher charged with sexually abusing 2 children

Court records show Scott Anthony Pezzini, 31, of Wasilla is charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor.