Anchorage Public Schools..... (College, Central: house, neighborhood, magnet school)

[roadfamily6now]

your thoughts and feelings.

My kids go to 2 public schools and one Charter school.
So far I am satisfied with them for the most part. But I am also interested in learning more from those of you that have more experience on this topic. We have only lived in Anchorage for about 18 months.

[LS57]

We are in two Anchorage public schools - West High and Central Middle school. These schools are the main reason we chose to live in Midtown, instead of further South. West has a 'School of the Arts' program that one of my sons is in, and Central is a magnet school for science. We are very satisfied with both. There was an open house at Central the other night, and I mentioned to one of the teachers that we are very pleased with public education in Anchorage. He looked at me like I must be nuts... I guess it's all relative; the place we moved from must have been an educational wasteland and that has slanted my opinion -LOL.

[bongo]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

your thoughts and feelings.

My kids go to 2 public schools and one Charter school.
So far I am satisfied with them for the most part. But I am also interested in learning more from those of you that have more experience on this topic. We have only lived in Anchorage for about 18 months.

Well, we are getting ready to negotiate a new teachers' contract, so the fun circus is about to begin in Anchorage. Get ready for all the political posturing.

IMHO, & I am biased as a teacher LOL, ASD is a great district; however, it is top-heavy with too many workshops, trainings, district reading specialists, changes in expensive curriculum, etc. We have gone through so many reading curriculums that it's not funny. What happened to First Steps? We have beautiful, expensive Scholastic readers collecting dust because we now have Houghton Mifflin readers. Where is the expensive anti-bullying curriculum? Collecting dust in a cabinet while we train in the newest Social Emotional Learning. And on & on & on.....

It all boils down to the fact that the education of our children is only as good as the teacher... that classroom teacher is the determining factor.

You can help by volunteering in so many ways: to collate the classroom book order at home, making copies in the work room, or volunteering as a chaperone for a field trip. Or just send some snacks!

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by bongo

It all boils down to the fact that the education of our children is only as good as the teacher... that classroom teacher is the determining factor.

This i agree with wholeheartedly!!! We were blessed to have some fantastic teachers last year with my youngest for Kindergarten. My youngest 2 kids go to Rilke Schule and for the most part, I like the teachers they have. There are other things that annoy me with that school but mostly it all revolves around the unorganization of it.

I think some of my middleschool son's teachers are quite good (central) as well. I see some young brilliant and enthusiastic teachers there!

I dont know much about my high schoolers teachers though. SHe talks a lot about her German teacher who seems really good!

[bongo]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

This i agree with wholeheartedly!!! We were blessed to have some fantastic teachers last year with my youngest for Kindergarten. My youngest 2 kids go to Rilke Schule and for the most part, I like the teachers they have. There are other things that annoy me with that school but mostly it all revolves around the unorganization of it.

I think some of my middleschool son's teachers are quite good (central) as well. I see some young brilliant and enthusiastic teachers there!

I dont know much about my high schoolers teachers though. SHe talks a lot about her German teacher who seems really good!

How exciting, Rilke Schule! I'm interested to hear more about the German Immersion charter. What grades are your 2 youngest? Did they know any German before entering school? This year is their first year, right? Is half a day in English like at the Spanish Immersion schools? Does the same teacher teach the German & English?

It is challenging to get native Spanish speakers for the two Spanish immersion schools and there are a lot of native Spanish speakers in Anchorage. Half of the students in the Spanish immersion schools are native or heritage Spanish speakers!

Does Rilke Schule have a population of native German speaking students? Is there a lottery system to get in to RIlke Schule or is it easy to get in?

Thanks for having this conversation.

[roadfamily6now]

as far as the German part goes, I love it!
My kids went there last year as K and 2nd grade. Neither child knew any German at all.
Most of the day it is 1/2 and 1/2 but ALL the teachers know German Fluently and they speak it regularly.

In K, my Daughter had a native born German Teacher for 1/2 of the day where they were taught in 90% German. They are also encouraged to speak as much german as possible throughout the day. The other 1/2 of the day they moved to a different classroom with their "english" teacher. Still there was a lot of German flying around, songs, and such.

In 2nd, my son had only one teacher but he did this 1/2 and 1/2 thing as well. However, there was still a lot of German being spoken all day long.

Both of my children loved it and learned a lot of everything.

This year, is year 2 for them. They are 1st and 3rd. Their German is greatly improving and is just fastinating to watch them grow in this way. Learning stuff in both English and German simutaniously. Reading, writing speaking 2 languages fluently.

There are a lot of Native German Speakers at the school. Infact I think all the staff members can speak enough German to make me think they know what they are doing! LOL There are quite a few Native Germans on staff as well. Also they have German College Students there as Interns. In fact, we are hosting one of them this year. She is lovely! (and helps my son with his german homework

There is a lottery system for Rilke Schule. It seems pretty easy to get into it if your child is in the upper grades. They have also DOUBLED their K classes and went from 2 classes to 4 this year! So they are growing fast and are also in the process of looking for a new building as they will quickly outgrow the one they are in. I'm not sure if every child that puts in an application for Kingergarten will get drawn but if they have an older sibling that gets in, they will have priority. Once they are in, they will be in for the next year automatically.

There are also quiet a few children that either have German Parents or Grandparents that know some German. More then I expected. In fact, there is a very large German population in Anchorage! I never knew!

[bongo]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

as far as the German part goes, I love it!
My kids went there last year as K and 2nd grade. Neither child knew any German at all.
Most of the day it is 1/2 and 1/2 but ALL the teachers know German Fluently and they speak it regularly.

In K, my Daughter had a native born German Teacher for 1/2 of the day where they were taught in 90% German. They are also encouraged to speak as much german as possible throughout the day. The other 1/2 of the day they moved to a different classroom with their "english" teacher. Still there was a lot of German flying around, songs, and such.

In 2nd, my son had only one teacher but he did this 1/2 and 1/2 thing as well. However, there was still a lot of German being spoken all day long.

Both of my children loved it and learned a lot of everything.

This year, is year 2 for them. They are 1st and 3rd. Their German is greatly improving and is just fastinating to watch them grow in this way. Learning stuff in both English and German simutaniously. Reading, writing speaking 2 languages fluently.

There are a lot of Native German Speakers at the school. Infact I think all the staff members can speak enough German to make me think they know what they are doing! LOL There are quite a few Native Germans on staff as well. Also they have German College Students there as Interns. In fact, we are hosting one of them this year. She is lovely! (and helps my son with his german homework

There is a lottery system for Rilke Schule. It seems pretty easy to get into it if your child is in the upper grades. They have also DOUBLED their K classes and went from 2 classes to 4 this year! So they are growing fast and are also in the process of looking for a new building as they will quickly outgrow the one they are in. I'm not sure if every child that puts in an application for Kingergarten will get drawn but if they have an older sibling that gets in, they will have priority. Once they are in, they will be in for the next year automatically.

There are also quiet a few children that either have German Parents or Grandparents that know some German. More then I expected. In fact, there is a very large German population in Anchorage! I never knew!

Thanks for the info. In our Spanish immersion schools, students must be native spanish speakers to enter at 2nd grade or above. Otherwise, they are too far behind since half the curriculum content is taught in Spanish.

Are you saying that anyone can get in to the German immersion at upper levels? Isn't that hard for non-German speakers to catch up? By third grade most kids are fairly fluent in the language via immersion since kindergarten.

[roadfamily6now]

As the years go by it will be harder and harder for the upper grades to catch up. Right now this is Rilke's 3rd year so at MOST the kids will have 2 1/2 years of German behind them. However, Rilke does offer a "German Boot Camp" for all students in the summer to learn German before school starts. There is more info at Rilke Schule German School of Arts Sciences. THey do not have to be native speakers. At least not yet.

[bongo]

OK- thanks! I had forgotten how brand-new the German immersion was! So you eldest is in the highest grade- 3rd grade. Next year they will add a 4th grade.

I can also understand why they are working out organizational kinks. It's a difficult program to implement.

Our first spanish immersion kids are getting ready to graduate from college now, after having gone through the program at ASD for 13 years.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by bongo

OK- thanks! I had forgotten how brand-new the German immersion was! So you eldest is in the highest grade- 3rd grade. Next year they will add a 4th grade.

I can also understand why they are working out organizational kinks. It's a difficult program to implement.

Our first spanish immersion kids are getting ready to graduate from college now, after having gone through the program at ASD for 13 years.

now that is cool!

Rilke goes from K to 8th grade. DH struggle with keeping them in the school. It is costly to drive the kids across town to school, plus uniforms and the enrollment fee plus all the volunteer house (which all parents should do anyway)........among other things.. and just sending them to the elementary school in our neighborhood. We live about 2 blocks from Scenic Park Elem.

Mostly it is the cost issue which then combinds with the unorganizational issues and the lack of Gym, library, and Playground....well you know. Once you find a crack, you can see all the faults.