Dear Parent(s) and Guardian(s):
The System for School Success is Alaska’s accountability system that is designed to celebrate success in our schools, as well as identify areas that we can focus on to help provide additional support. This accountability system fulfills the requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to regularly evaluate school efficacy and close gaps in student achievement.
Accountability systems are not meant to be punitive. State standards and assessments are set as expectations for what students should know and be able to do. Accountability systems help to set the expectations for school performance and effectiveness and are one of the ways we can identify what is working well and what we need to improve.
Alaska’s accountability system allows us to:
*Articulate goals for student achievement, growth, and success
*Collect, analyze, and report on school performance
*Recognize schools that are high-performing and provide additional support to schools when needed
Nikiski North Star Elementary received a school designation of Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). This means that one subgroup of students performed below the performance threshold. Our school has the opportunity to closely look at data, current performance, and current practices to determine what we can do to support this group of students. A component of this designation provides us with $25,000 for the 2023-2024 school year to implement a plan to provide additional support for students. The TSI designation is not meant to be negative; but rather, it is a chance for us to support our school and students.
Recently the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED) released the 2021-2022 Report Cards to the Public for each school district and school in Alaska. These Report Cards present information about performance for the 2021-2022 school year. During this first administration of The Alaska System of Academic Readiness (AK STAR) assessment, students in grades 3-9 were assessed in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Students in grades 5, 8, and 10 took the Alaska Science Assessment.
To view a 2021-2022 School or District Report Card to the Public, go to https://education.alaska.gov/compass/report-card. Once there, you will be able to select which School or District Report Card to the Public you wish to view. This user-friendly website aims to provide families with clear, common information about all public schools and districts in our State. These Report Cards to the public contain data and information about academics, school environment, teacher quality, and more. If you are unable to access the Report Card to the Public online, please contact your student’s school.
We know that the Report Card to the Public is just one of many ways you will engage with us at Nikiski Elementary. We look forward to sharing our school’s successes with you and working together to make our site better every day. We are looking forward to a more comprehensive report card next year, which will show our student’s growth.
We hope you will closely follow your student’s academic progress and work with his or her teacher(s) to help ensure academic success. Working together as a team, we can improve not only how well our students are performing individually, but how our school and district are performing as a whole. Aside from safety, there is nothing more important to staff at Nikiski North Star Elementary than ensuring that students are ready for the next step in their academic careers. We look forward to partnering with you.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding our School or District Report Card to the Public or our TSI plan, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (907) 776-2600. Please be on the lookout for opportunities for input as we begin planning for next year. Your input is important to us!
With gratitude,
Jenna Fabian, Principal