By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Girdwood may realize a long awaited dream—to have a local high school. After considering a model presented by the Chugach School District the past year, a group of task force members decided it was not economically feasible.
When the task force met for the first time last May, they faced the daunting question of what and where to build a new high school. However, in the end, after several public meetings and discussions with both the Anchorage School District and Chugach School District, the task force has decided to work with the public school system and eliminated the idea of building a new high school. Instead, they chose a much less expensive option, to simply set up a school in the Meadows Community Center at Our Lady’s of the Snow Church located in the Alyeska Resort overflow parking lot.
“We’re not going with the Chugach School District,” said Phil Livingston, the Girdwood High School Task Force Chair. “It looks like we’ll be going with the Girdwood Family Partnership Charter School run by the Anchorage School District. The Chugach School District was too large a project for the community at this time. They wanted to build a new building 18,000 square feet with 32,000 total built in two phases. It would have been a state-wide program. It wasn’t a good fit for us.”
Various groups made up of Girdwood parents have tried for 25 years to get a high school in Girdwood. Currently students can attend Dimond or South High School in Anchorage, but the long commute (about 40 minutes) is one of the leading factors for establishing a charter school in Girdwood.
With the anticipated residential development in Crow Creek and by the resort, the population will inevitably grow in the valley, perhaps even double over the next ten to 15 years, which means more school students of high school age will be living here.
This would not be the first school for high school students in Girdwood. A high school was started in the early 80’s, Glacier Creek Academy, which was geared towards skiers. At its peak, 35 students attended the academy, but then the recession hit in the late 80’s and enrollment dropped off, and the school closed in 1989.
The Girdwood Family Partnership Charter School, would be a correspondence based program with one teacher assisting students with their curriculum. The teacher would be available three days a week; otherwise, students would rely on parental guidance.
The curriculum would use the University of Nebraska Lincoln Extended Education Outreach program for the core courses for graduation. Students will also have to fulfill courses required by the Anchorage School District to graduate. Text books and a syllabus will be provided, but students will be able to craft a distinctive educational program with the assistants of their parents.
Students will have the option to participate in sports at a chosen high school in the district either Dimond or South, and always retain the option to attend one of the schools or take individual courses at Alaska Pacific University or King Career Center for college credits.
“A charter program can fit its students better,” said Livingston. “The Girdwood population is a much different demographic than the Anchorage School District.”
“This promotes a high school option one step at a time,” added Diana Stone Livingston, a member of the Task Force. “The future could be a charter school, and a regular high school. As a charter school, it does lend itself to students with a different agenda, but it is a publicly funded school.”
Phil Livingston stressed that the school would be parent driven and that parents would have take an active role in the school.
Serving Girdwood high school students is the primary motive for establishing a local high school, but Anchorage students may attend as well. The school may attract Anchorage students who are skiers seeking a flexible curriculum that would accommodate their schedule during the ski season.
The number of students needed to get the charter school up and running for the coming school year is 15. Parents will be able to register their children in May, but the question that still remains is just how many high school students live in Girdwood.
In the meantime, the task force and school district are waiting to see what happens and how many students sign up.
“We’re trying to determine the number of home schoolers and eligible high school students that see a charter school as an advantage,” Livingston said.
If enough interest is shown in the Girdwood Family Partnership Charter School, then it will be the first step towards building a high school in Girdwood or a K-12 school.
“She (Superintendent Carol Comeau) made it clear that at some point in time it may be possible to expand the school,” said Livingston. “While that plan develops, which could take ten years, we will do a pilot project in Girdwood for grades 9-12.”