Students have returned to schools in Haines and Klukwan.
The Haines Borough School District opened its doors for the 2016-2017 school year Tuesday.
Principal Rene Martin said the schools have a total K-12 enrollment of about 241 students, not including students in the home school program.
The district had budgeted for an enrollment of 239.
Haines School students adjusted to a new bell schedule on the first day. Morning classes will be the same every day, but afternoon classes will be formatted in a modified block. Martin said the bell schedule was changed to allow for easier scheduling of classes like physical education and art, which are taught at all grade levels.
Although few new things were added to the curriculum this year, Martin said staff is looking to improve on offerings like Canvas, an online program for students and teachers started last year that provides messaging, posting of assignments, sharing calendars, activities and quizzes.
Martin said teachers and students are now becoming proficient in the program and can use it to its full potential.
The Klukwan School welcomed seven students on Thursday, Aug. 18, for a first day of dancing and classwork.
Chatham School District Superintendent Bernie Grieve said he’s hoping to see enrollment go up this year. Total K-12 enrollment in Klukwan is 12 students, but several students called in sick on the first day. Six preschoolers will start Tuesday, Sept. 6, and registration is still open for four more students in that class.
Chatham lead teacher Kathryn Carl said Klukwan has a lot of outdoor and hands-on education planned for this year.
Students will continue to participate in the iNaturalist program they joined last year in collaboration with Skagway schools. Students will collect insects in the area and use iNaturalist.org to record observations, share findings and connect with professionals who can identify and categorize organisms.
New science equipment, including a microscope that connects to a computer, will allow students to project their findings on the big screen for the class to analyze. Klukwan School will also continue to teach Native culture, language, dance and history.
Klukwan School will host an archery instruction certification class for 10 participants from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 10. New teacher Jessica Tipkemper is certified to teach archery to students, but the school is looking for more instructors. Class materials will be supplied.
Bus transportation between Haines and Klukwan before and after school will be provided for all students who need it this year. New harness-like seat belts were added to the bus for the preschoolers’ and other young students’ safety.
Though local transportation is covered, Carl said long-distance travel like a students trip to Fairbanks last year as part of the iNaturalist program may not be feasible this year due to tightened budgets and recent cuts by the Alaska Legislature.
“I think it’s going to be an issue for all the schools,” Grieve said.
Grieve visited Klukwan for four days and was there to see the students on the first day of school. He tries to visit each of the five schools in the Chatham district at least once per quarter.