OPINION: Academies will provide Anchorage students with vital skills

Academies of Anchorage will provide students with the life and career skills to create a brighter future

The Anchorage School District began to explore the idea of implementing a high school academy model about six years ago. This concept has been proven in school districts across the world to increase graduation rates, better prepare students for college and the workforce and ensure all students have the same access to resources that will prepare them for success after graduation. We are so pleased that, after years of planning, the Academies of Anchorage have officially been adopted.

The Academies will allow students access to rigorous new electives that will inspire their thinking and help them envision their futures — futures we can only imagine as the world of work changes so rapidly! As parents and district staff members, we long for our students to be excited about their education and see purpose and relevance in all that they do. Those of us who have been fully engaged over the past months and years know that the Academies will be transformative for high school students in the district.

As the ASD employees selected to be academy coaches, and who have worked for a year on this plan, we would like to share why we believe the Academies of Anchorage is the right path for our district.

Let us provide some clarity on a few key items:

• New schedule: There will be no change to the six-period schedule next school year. Potential schedule adjustment discussions for 2025-26 will continue through this next school year. An updated Academy schedule will give students the opportunity to take more Advanced Placement, fine arts or other elective classes, and provide access to more specialized support for classes — whether that’s support for a student who needs help mastering algebra or additional classroom time to teach gifted students advanced calculus and biology concepts. In fact, depending on the schedule adjustment that is adopted, the new Academies career and technical education (CTE) class will be one elective class per semester in a student’s schedule and will allow students to graduate with up to eight additional classes in their high school career — a major advantage when applying to competitive schools.

• Replaced coursework: Ancient Civilizations, the class that will be replaced by the Freshman Academy Career Exploration course for the upcoming year, is not a required course. It never has been. The class will still be available in the future as an option for students and the content will continue to be covered in World History.

• Rooted in community feedback: Grassroots community engagement has driven our curriculum choices. Our proposed career pathways include law, health care, business, engineering, education, a variety of trades and more. These are the most popular careers our students and parents are interested in — we surveyed almost 10,000 of them! These pathways also directly correlate to career opportunities and growing industries right here in Alaska. Focusing on careers in our community will mean students will have access to real professionals and real work experiences. We want to prepare our students not just for a job after high school, but for a career.

• Equity in access: King Tech is a popular, effective program with fantastic outcomes that are consistent with the Academy model. However, credit requirements and limited program space are barriers to more students having the opportunity to participate. King Tech will be an integral part of the Academies of Anchorage, and the expansion of CTE programs across the district will create equity in access to this type of education for all students.

• Improving college and career opportunities: We have heard the concerns from families who are certain their student is college bound, and do not see the value of additional CTE coursework. It is important to note that the Academy model will likely improve chances of admission for college-bound students while also improving the college and career opportunities for the 60% of students for whom college is not (yet) considered as a possible path.

• College preparedness: There are concerns that academies will be vocational/technical education-driven, forcing all students into trades and removing rigorous academic coursework. This could not be further from the truth. CTE is not the same thing as the vo-tech of yesteryear but rather contextualized learning of academic content. Many CTE pathways are expressly designed to support students who are college-bound. Our engineering and health science pathways help contextualize learning from rigorous math and science courses to help prepare students who plan to study nursing, medicine and engineering disciplines in college. Additionally, language arts, math, science and social studies will always be the focus of a high school education, as these classes are required for graduation and college preparedness remains foundational. Access to AP/International Baccalaureate coursework and even dual-credit opportunities will be enhanced with a broadened schedule and collaboration with our local universities. Additionally, access to global electives like music, art and foreign language are included and, in many cases, even expanded. This model provides our students with more opportunities, not less.

Through these pathways, students can begin to consider what career they might be interested in long before being financially invested in a college major. Hands-on experience will provide professional skills and give every student the opportunity to take away something positive from the curriculum, even if they discover it is not the correct path for them.

Allowing students choice and a clearer future focus will help them connect more strongly to their education. These are exciting, motivating times to be involved in reimagining what our district can provide. If our core values truly include a belief in every student’s potential, a culture of high expectations, and responsiveness to an ever-changing world, the Academies of Anchorage are a path toward fulfillment.

This commentary was collaboratively authored by Anchorage School District academy coaches: Tarna Armstrong at West, Melissa Carey at Service, Maureen Cronin at Bettye Davis East, Amy Habberstad at South, Leah Kellerby at Bartlett, Tony Lewis at Dimond, Kirby Senden at Eagle River and Adam Wartman at Chugiak.

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