One of the things we strongly value and strive to nurture at PNA is the sense of community.  While the term community is often referred to a group of people living in the same place or having the same common characteristic, the Oxford dictionary also defines community...

You might have hear the words "growth mindset" in your conversations with your second grader this week. We began exploring the work of Carol Dweck, a world-renowned Stanford University psychologist. Dweck took decades of research on achievement and success and...

We've had a great start to our year in second grade in the last 8 days.  Students were excited and ready to be back and to explore our new classroom.  Here are some quick glimpses of some of what we did as we started to settle into a positive learning community. PNA...

As we approach the end to this school year, students are looking forward to a break from school and sun-filled days full of fun and play.  Alaska offers a bounty of amazing things to do in the summer and students need this time to get outdoors, enjoy the fresh air and...

Spring Trips are a much anticipated tradition at PNA.  From our youngest students to our world ready 8th graders, students of all ages take a culminating field trip at the end of each year ranging in distance and duration.  While these trips are designed to tie into...

Merriam-Webster defines resilience as "the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” While this is the actual definition, it doesn't take into account what else is actually entailed by one who is resilient.  People who can bounce back from...

The last parent gathering of the year for the second graders happened this past week.  Parents joined us for a yummy taco bar lunch and then took on the role of the student as their second graders taught them how to write haikus. ​   We are currently working in...

The 2nd grade annual Wax Museum was held as an exhibit as part of our first school Science Party this week.  Students look forward to this project each year where they are able to choose a person of importance, study and learn about them, and then portray them as an...

A question that we often ask ourselves at PNA is how to better serve our students' academic needs.  One way we identify areas for improvement in our instruction and curriculum is to study the results of the yearly ERB test results. The administration of the ERB test...

​Here at PNA all of our students are engaged in Project Based Learning.  These experiences are an intricate blend of curricular content, meaningful activities and opportunities for the students to develop personal connections within their own learning.  The Buck...