THE ANCHORAGE PEAK OFFICE WILL CLOSE FROM 11AM TO 2 PM ON MONDAY JULY 26TH, 2010.

IF YOU HAVE ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DROP OFF, PLEASE FELL FREE TO LEAVE THEM WITH CINDY AND MEREDITH AT CHICKABIDDY BOOKS, NEXT DOOR, IN SUITE 10.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FLEXIBILITY.

THE DENALI PEAK TEAM - KELLI GARIN, RAEANN, AND JENI

 

The Anchorage PEAK Office will be closed on Friday, July 9, 2010 for new staff training.  The office will resume normal office hours on monday, July 12, 2010.

 

The Anchorage PEAK office will be closed on June 18th from 8am-4pm. 

If you plan to stop by the office during the summer, it is a good ideal to call before you arrive to make sure we can offer you the best customer service during summer hours.

 

 

 

The Anchorage office will be closing at 1:30 on Monday, April 5 to prepare for state testing.  We will also be closed from 8-noon Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as some students will be taking the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam.  The Healy office will remain open and will be able to answer questions via telephone (683-7325).

 

REIMBURSEMENT DEADLIINE
APRIL 15, 2010

Parents!!! Please be sure to mark your calendars on April 15th with this important reminder. There are PEAK families that have missed out on thousands of reimburseable expenses because they turned in receipts after April 15th.

 

Make sure you are current through 3rd quarter. We cannot reimburse for any expenses if you are not compliant with our program through Q3. This means all work samples, Elective Course Journals, Core Course Journals, Quarterly Assessments must be in our office by 4 pm April 15th in order to reimburse for any approvable expenses for the entire 2009-2010 school year.

If you intend to sign up for activities that take place prior to June 30th, you must submit a receipt for reimbursement or an invoice to pre-pay by April 15th!! For any activities that occur after July 1st, those funds will come out of the 2010-2011 school year. You may need to register and pay for the activity now but hold onto the receipt until after July 1st. When you are re-enrolled, have signed compliance paperwork, and have an ILP written, we can then submit receipts for reimbursement.

To review remaining allotments, please go to our E-ducate website via this link educate.dbsd.org/peak. Log in with your username and password. Click on your student’s spending report. If you have any questions at all regarding your allotment, receipts, invoices or our procedures, please contact us for clarification.

 

The Standards Based Assessments for grades 3-9 are again at the Spenard Recreation Center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday April 6, 7th, 8th from 8am until finished (most students end between 9:30-11am).   The Spendard Rec Center is located at 2020 W. 48th Ave., Anchorage, AK   99517.  343-4160.  At the intersection of Tutor and Minnesota is Spenard Builder's Supply.  Continuing west on Tutor, follow road, drive over the railroad tracks until you stop at 48th.  Turn right on 48th.  Spenard Rec Center will be located on the left.  If you reach Northwood Elementary School, you have gone too far.  Coming from South Anchorage, take Minnesota to the Intl' Airport Road exit. Turn left on Intl Airport Rd.  Turn right on Northwood.  Turn right on 48th.  Drive past Northwood Elementary School. Spenard Rec Center will be on the right.

 

HSGQE for 10th graders are also April 6,7,8 at the Anchorage PEAK office located at 4240 Old Seward Highway 8 am- finished.  The Science portion for 10th grade HSGQE will be on April 9th at Starbuck's on Dimond and Old Seward at 8 am - finished.

We are still offering the Limo shuttle to escort students back to school.  Space is limited so please RSVP by turning in the completed Field Trip Permission Form (click here or find under downloads) prior to testing. Please be advised that riding the shuttle may delay your student's return to school after they are finished testing.  If you are concerned with the time your student is missing from school, please feel free to stay for testing and take your child back to school when they finish.  We will have cell phones available for students to call parents when they finish testing.

If, by emergency, you are unable to attend one of these testing days, we will be having make-up testing on Monday April 12th at the PEAK Office in Anchorage at 4240 Old Seward Hwy Suite 10 next to Chickabiddy Books from 8am-finished.

 

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      Attention 4th, 8th, 10th Graders only !!!  The Science portion of the SBAs will be held on Friday, April 9th. 

4th and 8th graders will meet at the PEAK office from 8am-finished.

        10th graders will meet at the Starbucks on the corner of Dimond and Old Seward from 8am- finished 

 

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The Anchorage office will be closed March 8 - 12 for spring break.

 

The "Quarterly Progress Evaluations" for 3rd quarter are now available.  Visit the Quarterly Progress Evaluations page for more information.

 

Girls on Ice is a unique, FREE, wilderness science education program for high school girls that takes place in the North Cascades in Washington state. Each year a team of 9 teenage girls and 3 instructors spend 11 days exploring and learning about mountain glaciers and the alpine landscape through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists, mountaineers and, some years, artists.

 

For more information visit http://girlsonice.org/about/

 

Mark your Calendars if you have a 5th grade or 7th grade student !!
Test Dates for TerraNova Testing are February 8-12th:

Monday Grade 5 Reading/LA  3:45 - 5:20
Tuesday Grade 5 Math  3:45 - 5:00
Wednesday Grade 7 Reading/LA 3:45 - 5:20
Thursday Grade 7 Math 3:45 - 5:00
Friday Make-up Test   3:30-5:30
  (both 5th and 7th grades combined)

These after school tests will be held in the PEAK office located at 4240 Old Seward Highway Suite 10 next to Chickabiddy Books. We will provide light snacks so kiddos will be at their best for testing.

 

 

All works samples, elective course journals, and quarterly online assessments for grades 3-10 are due on March 12th, 2010.  If you have not complied with Quarter 2 requirements, please take this time to get current and continue to be eligible for reimbursements.

 

This is a friendly reminder that 2nd Quarter Work Samples are due on December 17th.  Please be sure to complete Quarterly Progress Evaluations (Online or Printable Download off E-ducate) for grades 3rd-10th. 

Semester Grade Reports are also due on December 17th.  Log onto E-ducate, click on downloads, scroll down to the Semester Grade Report that suits your student(s) grade, print, and complete the form.

 

The Anchorage PEAK office will close December 17th at  4pm and reopen January 4th at 8am. 

Jim and Kelli wish your family a safe and enjoyable Christmas Holiday!

 

 The Denali PEAK offices will close at 2:00pm on Wednesday November 25 and will reopen on Monday November 30.  We wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

 

The PEAK Office in Anchorage will be closed Monday November 2 and Tuesday November 3rd for inservice.  We will resume our regular office hours of 8am-4pm on Wednesday November 4th.

Thanks, and we will see you Wednesday!

 

The Anchorage office will be closed from 8:00 am until noon Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday October 6,7, and 8.  The office will be closed all day on Monday October 19.

 

 Several federally mandated notices are available for you to read in the downloads section of our website.  These documents include a No Child Left Behind cover letter, Family Education Rights Privacy Act notice, Pupil Privacy Rights Amendment, and a Right to Request Teacher Qualifications letter.

 

 The PEAK Handbook has been revised to reflect our new graduation requirements as set forth by the school board in May.  

 

 The fourth quarter ends this week.  If you haven't already done so please gather together and submit your 4th quarter work samples and class logs (journals).  For students in grades 3-10, please be sure to complete the quarterly progress evaluations online or in print format.

 

The end of fourth quarter is rapidly approaching.  Although the actual end of quarter date is May 28 and you have a window of a couple of weeks to turn in work samples, course journals and quarterly progress evaluations, we encourage you to consider turning materials in soon if you're wrapping up your year (if not, don't worry).  Jim's last day for the year is May 27.  Cindy's last day is May 29.  The Anchorage office will be closed From June 1 - June 17 and will reopen on Thursday June 18.  Summer hours will be Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:00.  The Anchorage office will be staffed with a secretary until Jim's return on July 13.  Although the state allows parents to assign grades for students in grades K-8, a certified teacher must assign grades for high school students. There won't be any teachers available to evaluate work samples or assign grades between May 30 and July 12, so if you have a high school student who needs transcripts they must have all materials in by May 22 so we will have time look them over.  Students using pre-packaged curricula (Global Student Network, BYU, etc) that assign grades don't have to worry about turning materials in for teachers to evaluate.

Next year there will be staffing changes in the Anchorage office.  We will be hiring a full time secretary to help with administrative tasks.  Unfortunately we're losing a teacher.  Cindy is moving back to Anderson and will be teaching a multi-age K-5 classroom. Although we'll miss her dearly, her passion lies in the classroom.  She's excited about returning to her former classroom but will miss working with the many fantastic families we have in our program.

 

 

 

 

The deadline for reimbursement requests is April 15.  If you will incur educational expenses between April 15 and June 30, please prepay those expenses and submit a receipt, or ask the vendor for an invoice and submit that as a requisition for payment.

Please remember that in accordance with state law we cannot process reimbursements if you are not in compliance with PEAK's program requirements.  This includes regular contact with PEAK staff, quarterly work samples/logs, quarterly progress evaluations in math & reading (grades 3-10), semester one grade reports, and participation in state mandated testing in April.

 

Whether you’re a veteran mac user or new to the platform you’re apt to learn something new from Apple’s “Find Out How” video tutorials.  These are focused, bite-sized videos providing excellent how-to information.  Check them out at http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

Another resource worth checking out if you want to learn the basics about the Mac OS is Mac 101, located at: http://www.apple.com/support/mac101.

 

Please remember that when you submit semester grade reports you are reporting on your child’s progress in their PEAK homeschool courses, not for any private school courses in which they may also be enrolled. According to state regulations only a certified teacher can assign grades for high school classes. PEAK staff rely heavily on parent submitted grade reports when determining a high school student’s grade, but must ultimately base their decision on the work samples submitted. If there are only a few samples to evaluate, a grade of incomplete will appear on a transcript should one be requested.

 

Just a reminder…the default password for the denalipeak user account on all laptops is “peak” (no quotation marks).  The password for the online quarterly progress evaluations is also “peak.” There are no pre-defined usernames.  Students just type their first/last name and the session ID for the test they need to take.