We have four kids, three of which would be considered "school age", ranging from K - 2nd grade. Our fourth will probably be right on the line of being a little too young for PreK next year. I have researched several districts and schools that have Pre-K programs, and others who start at kindergarten. Does anyone have experience with any of the Pre-K programs in some of the rural areas? We are focusing on teaching in the bush, as we would like to have our kids at the same school/building we are in. As for housing, we would obviously have to find a district that was able to lease a 3 bedroom to us.
Hello,
I'm pretty sure someone else can post a more concrete guide to Pre-K education in Alaska than I can. Pre-kindergarten / pre-school funding in Alaska is a fuzzy thing that has been accurately described as a patchwork quilt.
Some have actual pre-school programs where the kids are with Alaska certified teachers endorsed for Pre-K / Early Childhood Education (ECE). However, some have partnerships with the Head Start Program - a federally funded program through DHSS that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Most of "rural" is "poor", so most Rural Alaska villages have Head Start programs that are run through the local Alaska Native Tribal entity. Those entities vary by region of Alaska, and vary in their style of implementation - program philosophy, curriculum, level of training for staff members. In general, the Head Start Program does not require certified educators, and provides training for para-professionals from the villages in the region in order to staff their programs. The names are different in each region. Some use their own buildings, some lease space, some are located within the K-12 school building, but not funded by the school district. Here is a list of Head Start programs by affiliation and name, and links to more detailed information about the villages they serve:
Alaska Head Start Programshttp://akheadstart.org/programs.htmlNow, here is where it gets tricky. Some districts do have a state-funded Pre-kindergarten programs in some of their village schools, and Head Start Programs in others in the same school district. Those programs may or may not be physically located in the school. Furthermore, eligibility varies. Where Alaska school district Pre-kindergarten programs accept anyone, there is a funding-based cap on the number of students served in some villages. And although teachers kids would be considered "poor", they can be served by the local Head Start if there is room. This means some villages with large pre-school age populations have waiting lists. Some teachers would prefer a certified teacher, but others may value their ability to include their child in Head Start in some villages. It just varies by teacher, and also by program. If the school you are considering working at does not have a PK program, I'd ask the district if teachers in that community have been happy using Head Start services.
So, you may ask, what's a teacher with young children to do when looking for village to live and work in that DOES have Pre-Kindergarten program with a certified teacher? It's difficult, but not impossible, to get an idea of which school district villages have a Pre-K program. First of all, there was a state "Pilot Program" for six districts in 2009. Of these districts, two were road system (Anchorage / Juneau), and four were rural: Nome, Bering Strait (BSSD), Lower Kuskokwim (LKSD), and Yukon-Koyukuk (YKSD. The results were very positive, and there is an annual scramble for funds under a competitive grant called the Alaska Pre-Kindergarten Program run by EED. Many of these districts view Pre-K as essential, and now use either state foundation funding dollars, or "Moore" funding to keep a programs going.
An education equity suit against the state commonly known as the Moore Case was settled in 2012. Part of the settlement mandated that Alaska fund "two-year kindergarten" in the 40 rural communities with the lowest scoring test results. Those are "Moore" funded Pre-K programs, essentially, and change from year-to-year. State funding for kindergarten has gone from "not at all" at statehood, to an early-entry statute that allowed children under five to attend kindergarten if they are prepared to enter into first grade the next year. At one time many districts used the early-entry provision to obtain funding for four-year olds as a "two-year kindergarten program". This was, in essence, an unofficial pre-school program that many rural Alaska districts took advantage of because they could. Then, in 2003, EED issued a clarification that the early-entry provision was only for four-year-olds ready to begin public school, and the additional funding was eliminated. Now, there is case-by-case "early entry" exemption that varies by district, but is not widely used (see below).
Sadly, there is NOT a comprehensive list of programs by village or district. I've looked in other years to answer this question, and checked again today. It's hunt and seek. To check if the villages you are considering have a Pre-K program (run by the school district) simply check the Alaska EED Public Schools Database by District, and drill down to the school information for each village. It will specify the "lowest grade" served, and show the school year the data was collected for...typically the previous school year:
Alaska Public Schools Databasehttp://education.alaska.gov/DOE_Rolodex/SchoolCalendar/Home/DistrictsChoose district you want to check:

Click on the village school you want to check:

Check the "lowest grade" information (K = Kindergarten, PK = Pre-Kindergarten):

School age in Alaska is another issue to be wary of your sources on. Kindergarten is not within the age of mandatory attendance:
http://education.alaska.gov/faq.html#A1Alaska state law guarantees a tuition-free education through twelfth grade to all children between the ages of 6 and 20. The law also requires children to attend school between the ages of 7 and 16, and may require attendance beginning at age 6 if a child has been enrolled in first grade at a public school for more than 60 days.
Some widely cited sources say that Kindergarten students must turn five (5) by August 15. Despite that being written into Alaska Statute, the Alaska Department of Education issues an eligibility cutoff of "five before September 1". The age and date cutoff recognized by every school district I checked with mirrors this, and is five years old by September 1....because that is the age that state funding specifies.

Here is the actual statute from the State of Alaska website:
AS 14.03.080. Right to attend schoolhttp://tinyurl.com/kphojchThis defines Kindergarten age as follows:
"(d) A child who is five years of age
before August 15 following the beginning of the school year, and who is under school age, may enter a public school kindergarten."
Alaska EED uses the September 1 date, I believe, because of the unduly convoluted wording of the sentence, "following the beginning of the school year". School in Alaska does not usually start prior to the August 15 date. So, in the EED OASIS (school funding formula) training sessions for the current school year, the program manager says:

Also, some (but not all) school districts allow students younger than the Kindergarten cutoff to enter school, but only if they demonstrate "readiness" to enter 1st grade the year after. In other words, a district school board approves a rubric / testing process for determining which students who would normally be too young may qualify for "early entry". It is in their policy, but approved by the state funding agency in Juneau. This can be somewhat different by district, and can also have political implications in some communities. Children of teachers are often further ahead of children in rural, poor communities, and therefore tend to be "over represented" in rural school district "early entry" stats. Make sure if you end up in a district with an early entry option that you tread lightly, and do everything by the book just in case it ever comes up at an AEC meeting.

Note that this tangled bundle of related issues serve as an ongoing source of debate in Alaska. The state has not even applied for most of the federal pre-kindergarten funding programs that have been started in recent years. There have been several pushes for optional, but universal eligibility and funding for Pre-K programs in Alaska by members of the legislature. If you would like to keep abreast of the developments and the debate this legislative session, here are some links:
http://www.alaskacommons.com/2015/01/08/house-democrats-renew-push-pre-k/http://www.adn.com/article/20141016/alaska-must-stop-passing-early-childhood-education-fundsHope this helps,
John