Denali Montessori PTSA

The school building houses the Montessori Program which includes both neighborhood students and students accepted through the Anchorage School District lottery, two special education classrooms for children with intensive needs, and various resources such as special education, gifted education (Ignite), speech, migrant education preschool, and physical and occupational therapy. Denali also has a school counselor and utilizes the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), which helps develop student mediators to help problem-solve. School activities (assemblies, after-school clubs, multi-cultural activities, spelling bees, etc.) include all students.

Two before-school and after-school programs operate separately in the building, and require a payment of fees. Campfire offers a before-school and after-school program on-site. In addition, the Denali Community Schools Program, which is sponsored by the PTSA, offers various classes including Spanish, Chinese, and Computer Lab.

The Montessori, special education, and preschool programs are all administered by Principal Ruth Dene. The support staff (school nurse, counselor, librarian, psychologist, etc.) offer services to all students. The Montessori program is projected to have approximately 400 children enrolled in 20 classrooms. There is one preschool classroom, three kindergarten classrooms, eight primary classrooms (combining grades 1, 2 and 3), six intermediate classrooms (combining grades 4, 5 and 6), and two intensive needs classrooms.

Parents play a primary role in the success of the Montessori program. Because Montessori is a highly individualized learning method, it is exceptionally demanding for the teacher. The program relies on parent volunteers to help in the classrooms. To be successful, Denali relies on each and every family to contribute to the program through volunteer hours and/or financial support.