Academy Charter School

This page was created to celebrate Academy's successes. We welcome your support in this endeavor! The Alaska Legislature passed the Charter School Act in 1995.

A charter school is one that is granted a contract to provide a learning system within the public school arena. This law allows a charter school to operate within the local school district and with authorization by the local school board. A charter school is exempt from the local school district’s textbook, programs, curriculum, and scheduling requirements. Additional exemptions may be permitted p

er a school’s individual contract, within which the Charter delineates their enrollment policies and procedures, the philosophy, and methodology of the educational program. All school personnel are subject to the school district labor agreements unless the district and the bargaining unit agree otherwise. Funding for a charter school flows from the district on a per student basis and the district is allowed to charge an indirect fee for services they provide to the charter school. Each individual charter school creates and manages their own budget. That budget includes salaries, benefits, and all expenditures (facility costs, utilities, maintenance, curriculum, snow plowing, etc.) necessary to support a school to include Academy’s budget maximizes every dollar to provide small group instruction with expert instructors. Some unique aspects of Academy compared to the traditional model of education are as follows:
1. Academy’s instructional day has been increased by adding 20 minutes to the instruction day to allow for long, uninterrupted learning blocks.
2. One of the cornerstones of Academy is our rotating lab each afternoon, each taught by a subject specialist. The 90 minute labs provide rich, in-depth instruction and learning in Science, Computer, Art, Spanish, Writing, and Geography/history.
3. Academy is a Core Knowledge School (E.D. Hirsch) which provides richness and rigor.
4. Academy’s cross grade level grouping of students for Language Arts and Mathematics provides opportunity for students who are able to move at a faster pace to do so and those students that need to work at a slower pace to do so. Every student is challenged and has the opportunity to maximize their learning.
5. Academy views the world as our classroom. Fieldtrips include Denali, Seward Sea Life Center, Kennicott, Seldovia, Juneau, and many other amazing learning opportunities. A major difference between a traditional school and a charter school is that we maintain our own facility. This includes painting, repairing, and the overall upkeep of our buildings and campus. We recognize this is “our” school and we take ownership in making it a safe and clean environment. The funding for our beautiful building came from Direct Appropriations granted by the Legislature not a Bond using local tax payer dollars. Parents are an incredibly dynamic facet of Academy. All parents contribute to our school in a variety of ways and are creative in their participation. The parent participation requirement is a minimum of 36 hours per child or a maximum of 80 per family. Academy’s schedule, curriculum, and team approach to education has been extremely successful. Student achievement results clearly show the high level of learning that is occurring at Academy!

15/05/2024

The Academy Advisory Board Inc Raffle!

Photos from Academy Charter School's post

10/05/2024

More pictures from the awesome Kids Kupboard community service project! The Fourth Grade students were amazing! Thank you to the volunteer parents that accompanied and helped! A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Benbow and Mrs. Manley! 💜

10/05/2024

09/05/2024

Academy’s 4th-5th grade track teams are well prepared for today and tomorrow’s Track Meets! 5th grade Track meet today at PHS, 3 pm! 4th grade Track Meet, tomorrow, 3 pm at PHS. A HUGE thank you to Coach Megan Craig and her awesome volunteers!!

09/05/2024

Check out this awesome 6th grade class! It was a beautiful day to climb the Butte!

09/05/2024

4th grade had an AMAZING field trip to Ken’s Garden Center where they reviewed the water cycle and photosynthesis, learned about different types of plant food and all about good and bad bugs for plants. They had a blast with the scavenger hunt around the property. The best part was each student took home a pot of potatoes to tend to over the summer. They finished the day off at Lake Lucile Park for a picnic lunch and a game of kickball!

08/05/2024

Be on the look out! There are currently 238 creatively painted rocks around Palmer. Mrs. Grimes and Ms. Kile’s 3rd grade class, cleaned, painted and then hid the rocks all around Palmer! We know these painted rocks will be treasured and enjoyed as people find them! Well done 3rd grade!

08/05/2024

The 8th Grade students had a wonderful day hard at work building a new compost bin, weeding the beds, and getting everything ready for planting day for Grow Palmer!! Awesome job 8th Graders!

07/05/2024

Academy’s hives are back in action with a new group of honey bees! We look forward to seeing how well they do and for the future 2nd Graders to harvest the honey in the fall.

05/05/2024

World Fair 2024
5th Grade - 8th Grade

05/05/2024

-World Fair 2024 -
Kindergarten - 4th Grade

05/05/2024

The 2024 WORLD FAIR was amazing and even the weather cooperated (mostly)!

We are so impressed with and proud of the outstanding depth of learning that was clearly portrayed, and that learning was demonstrated by the eager-to-share students!

We are extremely proud of the hard work of the Academy staff! It takes talented, organized, masters of classroom management, and top-notch educators to harness that student excitement and the energy of World Fair Week! We applaud the tireless effort and work that occurs behind the scenes.

We are thankful for the wonderful families for the tremendous amount of volunteer time and energy that you generously gave to this event!

Thank you to the many dignitaries who honored us by acting as Honorable World Fair Judges!

We appreciate all of you!

04/05/2024

🎉 Calling all alumni! 🎓 Join us on May 9th from 8 am - 2 pm as we celebrate the retirement of Mr. Titus, a beloved member of our school community. Stop by to share your well wishes and appreciation with cards and tokens of gratitude. Let’s come together to honor Mr. Titus and the impact he’s made on countless lives. See you there! 🎉

02/05/2024

Academy’s World Fair takes shape! Open for viewing at 2:30 today!

01/05/2024

Today 4th grade created a stained glass piece, made scones and butter and dipped candles to go along with their Middle Ages theme for World Fair! A HUGE thank you to the wonderful volunteers!!

26/04/2024

19/04/2024

Fifth Grade dissected fetal pigs today in Science Lab! It was an outstanding experience! Everyone was impressed with the Fifth Grade students as they followed the process and procedures perfectly! We are proud of this group of students! A huge thank you to the fantastic parent volunteers that assisted and guided! 💜

17/04/2024

Third grade enjoyed a visit from Kenriiq the short-eared owl on Tuesday, as part of our mini-unit on owls! After dissecting owl pellets during our science class last Thursday, today Bird TLC brought one of their live ambassadors to share with us about owls and their body structure, diet, habitat, and general fabulousness.

11/04/2024

The annual 5th grade Science Fair was impressive! As the students from other grade levels toured the exhibits, the 5th graders answered questions about their science projects and the process they used to arrive at their findings and conclusion. We are very proud of your excellent work and scientific knowledge! Outstanding work Ms. Heppner and Mr. Nick!

10/04/2024

Here are a few more pictures from Academy’s Sixth grade’s first day in Juneau! Thank you for making us feel so welcome!

10/04/2024

Academy’s 6th grade “wowed”legislators, the Governor, and people in Juneau everywhere. During the tour of the Governor’s Mansion, Maxine, the house manager asks if anyone plays the piano. One of the students, impromptu, sits down at the Governor’s Mansion’s piano, and plays a song from memory. It was delightful! We are so proud of Academy 6th graders!!

05/04/2024

As part of the preparations for the Academy’s Sixth grade to travel to Juneau for the Government in Action 3-day field trip, the students write letters to the Valley Legislators, Attorney General, and Governor. The students include questions pertaining to the challenges these elected or appointed officials handle. Senator Hughes surprised the students by sending a video response to the Sixth graders answering the questions they asked in the letters they sent her! Thank you Senator Hughes! ♥️

04/04/2024

The Fourth grade students dissected frogs today! Thirteen parents volunteered to help with this task. The students did a fantastic job. Thank you to our amazing volunteers!

03/04/2024

🍫 Exploring fractions with Hershey's milk chocolate bars! 😋 Mrs. Grimes's 3rd-grade students had a blast learning about parts of a whole using everyone's favorite treat. Breaking down the bars into halves, quarters, and eighths helped them understand fractions in a deliciously fun way! 📚✨ ’s

02/04/2024

Spring Picture Day is Tomorrow, April 3rd.

30/03/2024

The MSBSD Honor Music Festival took place last week. We are grateful for Amber Anderson's dedication, meeting with students twice a week before school for 3 months to prepare them for this outstanding performance. Thank you Sierra Dorman for sharing these wonderful pictures with us!

29/03/2024

A remarkable day of learning, building confidence, and strengthening of community occurred yesterday during Academy’s Annual Ski Day at Alyeska! Academy’s staff deserves many kudos! Thank you to the many, many families that joined us to make this day so amazing!

27/03/2024

Check out the personalities of these rabbits! Love the art at Academy!!

24/03/2024

Check out the intensity and engagement of the 5th graders as they were planning their scripts for their podcasts about “Memories and Tips on Surviving the 5th Grade Year”.

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