SCHOOL WON'T END AT BELL
AFTER-CLASS FIELD TRIPS, TUTORING NOW ARE AVAILABLE

By Rosemary Shinohara
Daily News Reporter

(Published August 27, 2000)

As 49,000 to 50,000 students head back to Anchorage School District classrooms Wednesday, they'll find more opportunities than ever to stay after school this year.

In addition to new classrooms and a gym, Government Hill Elementary School got a new facade. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

Classrooms will be more crowded, students will pay more and higher fees and kindergarten teachers will have fewer aides.

But on the bright side, the district will for the first time be able to pay teachers to stay late and tutor high school students who need extra help.

And in five middle schools and a dozen elementary schools, the district will spend a new $1.6 million federal grant on after-school activities that include tutoring, field trips like going to the zoo or the museum, and recreational activities.

The after-school tutoring is one of several ways the district will try to head off problems for students who don't make "proficient," or passing, scores on new state tests. The first test scores for last year's sophomores will be in students' hands soon, and state test scores for third-, sixth- and eighth-graders are due at the end of September.

Anyone who is to graduate after January 2002 must pass state tests in reading, writing and math to earn a diploma. The district is poised to identify failing students and provide extra help as quickly as possible, said assistant superintendent Carol Comeau.

"A lot of that is going to have to be after school, summer school or Saturday school."

Remedial classes are one area of additional spending in a year otherwise characterized by reductions in programs and increases in fees. The School Board adopted the reductions after the Anchorage Assembly gave the district less than it requested.

The cost of participating in a high school sport went up by $100, to $175. The district reinstated a $50 fee for student parking at high schools.

The district cut half the kindergarten aides and increased class sizes in second through 12th grades by an average of one student in order to pay fewer teachers. The average class sizes will be 25 in second and third grades and 28 in fifth and sixth grades.

But because students can't always be neatly sorted into classrooms, some classes will be much larger.

"In those upper grades, there are going to be more classes with 30 kids," said Patricia McRae, elementary schools director.

McRae said she hopes fewer students that usual will have to be moved to different classrooms during the first few weeks of school. The district for the first time asked elementary students to register in advance to better plan how many teachers are needed at each school.

Some 700 students already knew they would be moving this fall, with a new elementary school opening in South Anchorage. The new Trailside Elementary, next to Service High, will gather students who would have attended Abbott Loop, Kasuun, O'Malley and Spring Hill. To balance enrollment among nearby schools, 50 Huffman students will move to O'Malley and some 70 Bowman students are transferring to Huffman.

Two other elementary schools, Ocean View and Government Hill, have undergone major remodeling. Ocean View, built in an era when classrooms without walls were in vogue, is renovated and has solid walls between rooms.

The capacity of Government Hill, which was severely overcrowded, was expanded from 300 students to 520. It also got a new gym and offices.

Before, it had only a multipurpose room for both eating and gym classes.

"I was in tears when I saw it," said gym teacher Cathy Maxell, reveling last week in the new gym, which features a built-in music system and two volleyball courts as well as basketball hoops than can be lowered for first graders.

Construction will be under way during the school year at two high schools, Chugiak and Dimond. The schools use temporary buildings to make up for space displaced by builders.

Chugiak is being remodeled and has about a dozen portable buildings.

Part of Dimond will be demolished this winter to make room for an entire replacement school. The student commons area at Dimond will be turned into lunchroom space because one of the school cafeterias will be closed, principal Guy Okadasaid.

About a fifth of the classes will be taught in 19 portable buildings installed over summer, he said.

Reporter Rosemary Shinohara can be reached at rshinohara@adn.com.

©2000 Anchorage Daily News