Tyler Pollock
ED 244-02
Dr. Guerriero
12 April 2011
School Analysis
South Anchorage High School is part of the Anchorage School District in Anchorage,
Alaska. South Anchorage HS serves students in grades 9-12 with a comprehensive course
curriculum including many AP classes. The Mission Statement of South Anchorage HS is
“South Anchorage High School is a dynamic learning community with high expectations;
encouraging everyone to learn, achieve and succeed.” South’s motto is “Inspiring a lifetime
quest for excellence.” It is clear from their mission statement and motto that the teachers and
administration consider it a priority that students not only achieve success at South but also life
after high school. South’s main goal is to educate everyone who steps foot in the building so that
they will be prepared for their futures. Whether the curriculum reflects this goal will be
discussed later.
Demographics
South Anchorage High School is home to 1,643 of the 49,592 high school students enrolled in
the Anchorage School District. The student body is made up of kids from all different ethnic
backgrounds including: white, black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native
American/Alaska Native. While all of these ethnicities are represented they are not represented
equally. Of the 1,643 students enrolled at South, 1,207 were white. This makes up 73.4% This
number certainly reflects a certain culture present at South Anchorage HS. The dominant culture
in the school would be that of the white students as students from other ethnicities each
contribute less than 8% of enrollment (Second largest group was Asian at 7.1%).
There are 104 Economically Disadvantaged students at South. These students comprise only
6.3% of the student population. What this shows is that there are very, very few economically
disadvantaged students at South.
South High School is home to 44 LEP students or students with limited English proficiency.
These students go through a state and district designed track of ESL or English as a Second
Language courses in not only English, but all other core classes such as social studies and
science. There are different levels of ESL English ranging from newcomer to advanced. This
shows that South High School, Anchorage School District and the State of Alaska are dedicated
to a multiculturalistic setup for non-English speakers. The students take class in their primary
language and ease into full English class. This system emphasizes working with ESL students so
that they can become more successful than they would in a total immersion setting.
Teachers
According to the Anchorage School District 2009-2010 School Report Card for South
Anchorage High School, 99% of classes at the school were taught by Highly Qualified teachers.
This means that 99% of classes are taught by a teacher who has either a bachelor’s or master’s
degree. And, of the 86 teachers who are employed at South Anchorage HS, all of them are fully
licensed while 4 are board certified. It appears from this data that the quality of teachers at South
is quite high, which would provide for a quality education for the students enrolled.
Technology
South Anchorage High School uses a vast amount of technology as tool to help encourage
learning. The school has a school-wide online network that is open to all students, teachers and
administrators. There are computers, both in a lab and laptops, printers and scanners which
allow all students a chance to use a computer in order to complete school work. The school also
uses a program called Zangle. This program performs many administrative tasks such as
enrollment, scheduling classes, checking grades and marking attendance. The school provides
training for all teachers so that they will know how to use this program. All of this technology
used by South Anchorage High School helps to maintain order in school and provide for an
easier experience for administrators, teachers and students. When people don’t have to worry
about non-classroom related issues, they can focus more time and energy on what is most
important – be it teaching or learning. If someone at South has a problem with any of the
technology, there is a website run by Mr. Tryon that gives directions and hints so that the
technology can be fully utilized by everyone. By providing so many utilities to students, they
are fulfilling their mission statement’s goal of everyone achieving academic success.
Finances
South Anchorage High School hasn’t provided much information regarding its financial
situation. However, what is provided are the budgets for the past three years. The budget for the
2008-09 school year was $11,989,329, for 2009-10 was $11,671,608 and for 2010-11 is
$11,098,614. We can infer from this data that the school is trying to cut costs because it doesn’t
have enough to support all the services and programs it wishes. Individual students are suffering
from this situation as well. The per-student expenditure has decreased by $542 in the past three
years, from $7,297 in 2008-09 to $6,755 in 2010-11. The student body is becoming larger than
what the school building is built to hold. In 2009-10 the student body was just over maximum
capacity, about 101%. This is not a problem yet, but if the student population increases much,
there will not be room for new students. The school will have to find some money in order to
make additions to the school to accommodate more students, which can be very costly.
Courses
As stated in the introduction to this analysis, South Anchorage High School offers a wide variety
of comprehensive courses to its students including 17 AP courses. The courses for core subjects
are divided into regular and honors courses for students who show strength in that particular
subject. Outside of the core subjects, (math, science, social studies and English) South offers
courses in other practical subjects including: architecture, business, home ec., music, PE, theater
and 9 languages. Students at South are offered courses in Russian, Japanese and 2 Native
Alaskan languages (Tlingit and Yup’ik) which are not usually offered to high school students in
other states. These languages, however, could be quite useful to people in Alaska as these
languages are very commonly spoken by immigrants and tourists. Students will be able to
communicate better with the people in their communities because of the unique opportunities
provided by the language department at South HS.
When it comes to core classes, the process is very similar to many other high schools in the U.S.
Students must take 2.5 credits of Math and 4 credits of Language Arts, Science and Social
Studies. There are different standard tracks that students take through their core classes. By
offering tracks, students are able to learn at their own pace. They are also able to focus more
intensely on the subjects they wish to pursue after graduation from high school.
From the information provided in the program of studies, it is easy to say that the course options
live up to the school’s Mission Statement. Students with talents in all areas can explore and
develop those talents with the help of the wide range of subject matter.
Co-Curricular Activities
South Anchorage High School, through the programs provided by the Anchorage School
District, provides students with almost 20 different programs of Alternative Programs or
Schools. One of the main alternative options to regular school is the King Career Center. The
King Career Center provides an environment where students earn high school academic credit,
while at the same time working at an apprenticeship in a technical field. Students at the King
Career Center learn practical life skills that will be of great use after graduation. The King
Career Center is a great option for students who aren’t necessarily good at academic subjects. It
provides these students with an option to learn subjects in which they are interested. The skills
they learn at KCC prepare students for real life situations and professions that they will
encounter in the future. So, again true to the mission statement, South is providing education for
all types of students.
Another extremely useful co-curricular program is the MyHigh program. This program allows
juniors and seniors to take classes online. This can help solve some problems a student may
have with scheduling or the classroom setting, or provide an opportunity for a student to take a
course in a subject that interests him but for which he didn’t have room in his class schedule.
This program is great. It allows students to learn in an environment that may help them learn
better. For example, some people are night owls and do their best work and learn best at night.
The availability of online classes helps students in this sort of situation.
Extra-Curricular Activities
South offers 20 interscholastic sports for boys and girls and 30 clubs and organizations. The
Wolverines, as the teams from South are called, compete in the usual American high school
sports as well as XC Skiing for both boys and girls and Riflery. Clubs at South vary greatly by
theme. From band to the mountain bike club and Battle of the Books to Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, there is a club for students of all interests. These extra-curriculars are a great source of
learning whether it be learning social skills or self-reflection.
NCLB – AYP Proficiency/HSGQE Results
According to the No Child Left Behind Act, students in schools must meet certain proficiency
levels. These levels are recorded as the Adequate Yearly Progress for the school. The students
at South Anchorage High School easily met the required proficiency levels for all socioeconomic categories except one. Students who have limited English proficiency failed to meet
the required level (Only 47.2% of the 60.9% required). When analyzing this fact, however, it
makes sense that students in the process of learning the English language were not proficient in a
test which is administered in the English language. What is evident from South’s report card is
that the school is doing extremely well when it comes to equipping students with enough
knowledge that they are adequately proficient in the main academic subjects.
Students in Alaska must pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination or HSGQE
before they can graduate and receive their diplomas. At South, 10th grade students take the
HSGQE for the first, and hopefully, only time. Last year in 2009-2010, the percentages of
passing 10th grade students were 95.25% in Reading, 86.47% in Writing and 92.08% in Math
compared to 83.95%, 72.99% and 78.95% respectively for the entire district.
It is clear from
this data that the teachers at South are preparing their students very well for graduation and the
future. The 88.51% graduation rate shows that students are being taught the necessities for their
futures and were given a place to “learn, achieve and succeed,” as the mission statement
proclaims.