Education

Alaska's tribal college wins federal money for students and food knowledge

Alaska's only tribal college won $352,000 from the USDA to help students stay in school and to teach Iñupiaq food systems on the North Slope.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska school tests show early gains and a one-in-five participation gap

Alaska's younger students gained ground, but one in five enrolled students had no AK STAR score. Correspondence testing barriers explain part of the gap.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 14

Anchorage's school funding gap has shrunk to about $6 million

Anchorage's school funding gap for next year has halved to about $6 million, after the Legislature capped how much the local contribution can grow.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal library grants open to qualifying Alaska Native tribes and corporations

Qualifying Alaska Native entities offering library or archival services can seek $6,000 to $150,000 from IMLS by Nov. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Migratory students lose ground moving between Alaska districts; the state's new alert is an email

Alaska says a new in-state alert tells districts when migratory students move between them. Its own 2026-27 district manuals describe no such alert.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Cook Inlet Tribal Council runs free career classes toward certification

Cook Inlet Tribal Council runs free 90-minute career classes at its Anchorage campus, each counting toward its ARCTIC Workforce Certification, with Developing a Leadership Mindset repeating at noon Sept. 22 and Sept. 29.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska Supreme Court declines emergency bid to open Fairbanks charter school

Fairbanks said no to a charter school. The state said yes anyway. The Supreme Court declined to referee, and 352 enrolled kids were left in limbo.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Jun 19

A free Juneau talk on how a manuscript becomes a book

Two editors from the press that publishes the University of Alaska's books will explain how a manuscript becomes a book, at a free Juneau talk Saturday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska could lose $80 million in school money over a two-point miss

Alaska could lose $80 million in federal school money over a funding-equity failure it missed by less than two points, and partly triggered itself.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Every number in Dunleavy's annual literacy proclamation has fallen since 2024

Every figure in the governor's annual adult literacy proclamation has fallen since 2024, and the proclamation doesn't say why.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Parents warn Mat-Su that cutting school nurses puts children at risk

Parents and staff told the Mat-Su school board that cutting nurses puts children at risk, as a Teeland Middle School nurse prepares to leave.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 26

Three Mat-Su school roofs are failing, and the money may take years

Three Mat-Su school roofs are failing, and fixing them may take more than one budget cycle. The district's deferred repair backlog stands at $411 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 26

Assembly members seek equal vote on joint school rightsizing panel

Three Anchorage Assembly members want a real vote on how the city closes schools, not the non-voting seat the School Board offered, as consolidation looms.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Two closed Anchorage school buildings head back to municipal hands

Two closed Anchorage schools, Abbott Loop and Campbell STEM, are set to return to the municipality, moving their fate from the School Board to the Assembly.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A federal rule would ease buying Alaska seafood for school meals

More than half of Alaska's districts already serve local seafood, mostly through donations and grants. A federal rule would let them just buy it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Bristol Bay students can apply for a December leadership forum

Bristol Bay high school students have until Oct. 9 to apply for a youth leadership forum in Anchorage in December.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Bristol Bay Native Corporation is taking pitches for its December leadership forum

A new state program is lifting Alaska's worst-in-the-nation aid filing rate

Alaska seniors who worked with a new state advising program filed for federal aid at 60 percent, well above the state's last-in-the-nation rate of 35 percent.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Parent tells Mat-Su officials bus cancellations fall to parents

A parent told Mat-Su officials that repeated bus cancellations are forcing families to arrange their own rides, calling it unacceptable after five years of a Durham contract.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

State review of Mt. Edgecumbe wraps up, recommendations to come

A state review of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, prompted by safety complaints, wraps up Wednesday, but families won't see its recommendations until later.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska takes public input Wednesday on child care facility operating rules

Alaska's child care office takes public input Wednesday on operating rules for licensed facilities, seeking feedback from providers and families on what works and what needs to change.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Alaska takes input on extra child-care help for kids with disabilities

Kodiak district asks school board to weigh closing East Elementary in 2027

Kodiak may close East Elementary in 2027. Five weeks before proposing that, the district asked the state for $5.75 million to renovate the building.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

BBNC offers CDL training in Kenai for shareholders this fall

BBNC is offering commercial driver's license training in Kenai this fall for its Alaska-resident shareholders, spouses and descendants. Enrollment is open now.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tlingit & Haida sought $8.4 million for child care after the landslides and floods, and got $1.1 million

Tlingit & Haida received $1.15 million in federal child care recovery money for six Southeast Alaska communities, about one-seventh of the $8.4 million the tribe requested.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

BBNC Dillingham IT apprenticeship applications close Friday

BBNC is hiring one IT apprentice in Dillingham, applications close Friday, Sept. 4. The one-year role includes CompTIA certifications and requires BBNC or Choggiung shareholder status.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kenai parks staff helped the middle school start pickleball in gym class

Kenai parks staff spent Thursday helping the middle school start pickleball in gym class. The school has paddles, nets and one court taped to the floor.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tanana Chiefs holds first culture camp for K-6 students

Tanana Chiefs Conference held its first culture camp for K-6 students in Fairbanks, teaching Athabascan languages, potlatch dancing and traditional skills, with plans to repeat annually.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Free school supplies and dinner at Nome's Back-to-School Bash

Nome families got free backpacks, school supplies and pizza at a community Back-to-School Bash — a welcome hand in a year of tight budgets and $10 milk.

by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Alaska's youngest students are improving in math and reading. Older grades aren't.

Alaska's youngest students are gaining in math and reading, but older grades have stalled — and most students still aren't testing proficient in either.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

University of Alaska draws $8.7 million Education Department payment running through 2031

The University of Alaska will receive $8.69 million in federal money through 2031, and the award record does not say what it is for.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

He fought the fire that destroyed his Kaktovik school. Now he's helping to rebuild it.

Kaktovik crane operator Roy Robert Fischer-Akootchook, who fought the 2020 school fire, now operates equipment on its rebuild, with the new gym open since December 2025.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska raised the age of consent, and school districts have new duties

Alaska raised the age of consent to 18 in July. School districts now must report such conduct to police, notify parents, and file with the state.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

UAF launches a fellowship to grow Alaska Native leaders in food and agriculture

UAF is launching a program to grow Alaska Native leaders in food, farming and natural resources — fields where Native people are badly underrepresented.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska schools warned on parental consent for surveys and student records

Alaska schools could risk federal funding if they survey students on sensitive topics without written parental consent, or withhold records parents can see.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska says school improvement grant reviews are delayed by staffing gaps

Federal money for Alaska's lowest-performing schools is stuck. The state office that reviews the applications is short-staffed, and deadlines have not moved.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Chugachmiut's Sugt'stun language game gets new gameplay footage

Nunaka means my village in Sugt'stun. It is also a free game teaching the language to children in a region where fluent speakers are dwindling.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Districts learned about $115 million after school had already started

Alaska school districts learned they were getting $115 million the day after school started, because the money depended on oil revenue counted Aug. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage school district proposes splitting $32 million in one-time state money

Anchorage schools will split $32 million in one-time state money, spending more than half this year and saving the rest to shrink a $40 million deficit expected next summer.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage schools will open a new listening effort with a $42 million shortfall

Anchorage band teacher tells school board he now teaches 330 students a day

Anchorage band teacher Dan Whitfield teaches 330 students daily after the district cut a part-time director position, leaving classes of 45 to 83 students with no jazz band or extra help.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska districts have three weeks to apply for hunter education money

Alaska school districts have until Sept. 18 to apply for hunter education grants of up to $50,000, with $500,000 available statewide.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su assembly member puts possible school closures on Sept. 8 joint agenda

Mat-Su Assembly and School Board will discuss possible school closures Sept. 8 after enrollment dropped 2,153 students since 2018.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read