Superintendent

 Dear Students, Families, Employees, and Community Members,

Welcome to the beginning of a new school year! New classes, new students, new friends—a fresh start to making this the best year yet for the Anchorage School District.

By supporting our teachers to be engaging and inviting we’re providing the best possible learning environment for students. When students know their teachers care about them and that school is preparing them for their futures, they are motivated to learn and grow. Having access to classes and programs relevant to their lives and experiences is also essential to meeting the challenges before them.

Whether you’re a student, employee, parent, or community member, all of us want to have a voice and be heard. When it comes to what we want our schools to be, there is no “us” and “them.” It is all us. We are on the same team striving to meet the same mission. As partners with families, ASD schools are shaped to put the needs of students first. We do this by asking, “What is it we want our students to know and be able to do after they graduate?”

Research tells us that there are both academic and nonacademic decisions that are keys to whether students are successful in school. Indicators of personal success in students are not so different than those of the adults in their lives. They include self-worth, engagement, and having purpose in life. Students and adults alike want to be listened to, have meaningful relationships, and see that they are working together to reach common goals.

Students who see purpose in their learning work hard to achieve academic goals. Those positive learning experiences grow out of positive relationship experiences with teachers and other trusted adults. These experiences can go on to motivate positive actions such as helping fellow students and benefiting our society as a whole.

The Anchorage School Board and Administration are committed to providing an open learning environment where students and employees feel safe, cared for, and that they belong. Providing rich academic content is an absolute must for our students to learn what they need to know to be successful in life. But having a welcoming space in which we work and come to school is equally important. We belong together, and together we are keeping Anchorage schools a great place to be, to learn, and to develop life skills.

Cheers,