2010-2011 Annual Report
The heart of KPBSD: meet the learning needs of all our students
KPBSD celebrates accomplishments, highlights, and our many areas of excellence as thirty thousand printed copies of the 2010-2011 annual report make their way into homes, schools, and businesses. More than 9,000 students begin classes in August together with more than 1,200 dedicated employees who work throughout forty-four schools.
The Annual Report is online, in full color. Click to view entire Annual Report and the rest of the story.
Highlights include:
“As we strive to expand our culture of continuous improvement, we work to sustain our effective partnerships that include strong family and community involvement. Together we can help our students take another step toward graduation.” –Dr. Steve Atwater, KPBSD superintendent
Our staff now devotes more time to sharing and analyzing their teaching strategies and, in turn, making improvements to better meet the learning needs of our students. We are also doing more to integrate technology into instruction and are more critically determining when a student is proficient in mastering the taught concept.
The 2010/2011 Future Problem Solving competition included challenges of scenario writing, community problem solving, individual problem solving and team problem solving.
Hannah Watkins, a 2007 Kenai Central High School graduate, has been selected as a 2011-12 Fulbright Scholar providing the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. She is one of only 35 scholars selected.
Within the past two years, KPBSD has placed 374 SMART Boards and added 617 new computers in classrooms, bringing the total computers in the District to about 6,800. The additional technology has resulted in teachers having the ability to prepare lessons based on real-time current facts, resources and news, as well as tools to integrate resources, such as visual media, into daily learning experiences.
Yearly, students with disabilities in KPBSD continue to make strong gains on the state standard-based assessments and rank at or near the top among all school districts in Alaska. We believe in developing strong partnerships with our families and community organizations in order to achieve positive student outcomes.
“As a teacher, you learn there’s nothing you can’t teach, and there are no students who can’t be taught. You just have to find a way that works for them. In turn, though, I have to admit that these amazing kids have taught me even more: perseverance, courage, and creativity in both teaching and learning,” –Matt Walton, English teacher, SoHi
School facilities are utilized for gatherings, recreational activities, community education, trainings and workshops, arts and cultural events, and even as Red Cross designated shelters in case of emergencies.
Programmatic Staffing was implemented starting in fiscal year 2009, after the Alaska Legislature enacted changes to the funding formula to better support education and help address funding inequities affecting KPBSD and other school districts.
The state of Alaska requires that 70 percent of funding for education be spent on instructional functions. When the fiscal year 2011 budget is sorted by function, it shows that KPBSD exceeds that requirement, as 72.9 percent of the budget is dedicated to instruction.
“I just think that a lot of us get focused on the negative sometimes, because there’s so much negative out there, but I want people to know good things are happening. We have great kids.” –Debbie Tressler, head secretary, K-Beach El
“During the course of this new year the School Board and the District will be attempting to define and redefine what we consider to be the essence of a successful student — and, by extension, a successful district. We look forward to this very focused effort as well as to another successful year in KPBSD schools.” –Mr. Joe Arness, president, KPBSD Board of Education
Each school day, 2,679 students are transported a total of 7,507 miles on school buses throughout the District.
KPBSD … Where Kids Come First!