Save Tudor.
The Anchorage School District has recommended Tudor Elementary be permanently closed.
WE CAN STOP THEM.
Our Cause
We are dedicated to preserving the rich educational legacy of Tudor Elementary. Our efforts are focused on creating awareness, mobilizing support, and collaborating with stakeholders to find sustainable solutions for the school's future. Our goal is to make a lasting difference for the students and the community they are part of.
Why Tudor?
"Rightsizing" ASD Explained.
On Friday, November 1 the Anchorage School District released a list of 7 elementary schools they are proposing be closed over the next 3 years in order to "Rightsize" ASD. The rationale is that by consolidating programs and staff to better reflect the enrollment numbers in our district, they will save roughly $300,000-800,000 per school closed.
If this plan is approved by the school board on December 17, Tudor Elementary would be closed permanently at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. A complete list of the schools slated for closure can be found on ASD's website.
ASD used scored schools according to an internal rubric, and chose 7 of the lowest scoring schools. The factors cited for Tudor were:
1. Staffing Effectiveness
2. Cost Effectiveness
3. Growth Potential
What happens to Tudor?
The Students
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179 students who attend the neighborhood school will be sent to Lake Otis Elementary nearly 2 miles away.
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124 Montessori students will be merged with Denali Montessori in downtown Anchorage.
BOTH of those moves OVERCROWD Lake Otis Elementary & Denali Montessori by at least a handful of students based on enrollment projections as of 9/30/2024. Currently, 6 of our classrooms are Montessori, and Denali only has 2 empty classrooms in their building. Meaning class sizes will necessarily have to be larger to accommodate our program. Moreover, a very significant portion of Tudor's 124 Montessori students LIVE in the Tudor school zone. Meaning if even half of those Montessori students do not transfer to Denali due to a lack of busing service, Lake Otis Elementary would be overcrowded by an entire classroom of students.
The Staff
Staff has been told they would all have a job within ASD, and would be given first preference to transfer with their respective students to Lake Otis and Denali Montessori. However, questions remain about what would happen to positions such as custodial, school nurse, music, P.E., and administrative staff, since consolidating schools would inevitably reduce the need for multiple positions.
Moreover, initially, Montessori were staff were told they would be allowed to move initially with their current class. In clarification, the district has now said that they would move only to the same building as their class. Classrooms will be broken up and integrated into their new school with new teachers. This is a unique problem and destabilizing force, given that Montessori teachers remain with their students for a 3 year grade band. Year-over-year teacher turnover is disruptive to the effectiveness of a. Montessori classroom and negatively impacts student academic outcomes.
The Building
If you thought closing Tudor would mean closing the building to save costs, you thought wrong.
Tudor will be repurposed for Whaley School & Outreach to move in. Whaley School is a separate day school (grades 6-12) designed to meet the needs of students whose behaviors mandate a more restrictive environment than a neighborhood school setting can provide. Students enroll at Whaley School based on their IEP requiring placement at a separate day school due to their severe emotional/behavioral needs. Outreach is a program housed in a classroom at Whaley School for middle and high school students with an IEP who have been long term suspended or expelled from the Anchorage School District. The program allows a student to continue to participate in the general curriculum (although in a different setting), and to progress toward meeting the goals in the student's IEP while he or she is completing requirements for reinstatement in the district.
This proposed move will displace 300 students for another group of students, with the added feature of many more buses coming through the neighborhood and concerns that a high security educational facility will close off the school and its beloved facilities (such as the playground, sledding hill, school-to-trail system, and facility rentals) to the local neighborhood.
Get Involved
57
years of history as an educational center for Anchorage's students.
69%
Of our building is full. There is NO room for ALL of our staff and students at the 2 schools ASD has proposed sending Tudor students to.
300+
Students impacted by potential school closure
Action Plan
Our action plan outlines the steps we are taking to advocate for the preservation of Tudor Elementary. It includes details on community engagement, awareness campaigns, and collaboration with educational authorities. Download the action plan to learn more about our strategies and how you can contribute to our cause.