Top 6 Best Special Needs Schools in Anchorage, Alaska (2026)

The Alaska Native Cultural Charter School (ANCCS) was founded in 2007 by members of the Anchorage community with a mission to build student excellence through traditional cultural learning. It is a Title 1 public charter school within the Anchorage School District serving Pre-K through 8th grade, and it is governed by an Academic Policy Committee elected by parents and school staff alongside the principal. The academic day is built on at least two hours of Common Core language arts instruction and at least one hour of Common Core math, plus Anchorage School District social studies, health, and science curriculum. Layered on top is a cultural continuum that gives every grade level its own focus, moving from Alaska Native art, dance, and storytelling in preschool through Yup'ik and Cup'ik, Unangax and Sugpiaq, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and Eyak, Athabascan, Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik, and on to Alaska Native government, issues, and literature in the middle grades. Coursework is organized around four quarterly themes: Living in Place, Language and Communication, Culture and Expression, and Tribe and Community. Enrollment is open to all students in the Anchorage School District through the district lottery, which provides equal opportunity regardless of race, gender, learning ability, or economic status, and no student is denied participation because of a learning disability or special need. There are no tuition or enrollment fees. Families should note that the school does not provide transportation, so parents arrange their own rides or join the carpool group.

• Public charter school (Title 1)
• Pre-K
• Elementary
• Middle School

The Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing provides Pre-K through 12th grade educational options for deaf and hard of hearing students. A bilingual, bicultural model supports the development of American Sign Language and English, with services and placement shaped through each student’s IEP. Students may learn in DHH self-contained classrooms where American Sign Language is the primary mode of communication for core academics, or in general education classrooms with an educational interpreter and specialist support. Services may include audiology, ASL development, listening and spoken language support, speech-language therapy, counseling, and interpreting for school activities. Programs are based primarily at Russian Jack Elementary, Clark Middle School, and Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School. Secondary students can build advocacy, career-planning, work, independent-living, and community skills through Transition Readiness, with vocational coursework available at King Tech High School. Families can access sign language classes, outreach, and an online interpreter-request system for school activities.

• Public state school for deaf and hard of hearing students
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Pre-K
• Elementary

Anchorage Waldorf School serves children from toddlerhood through eighth grade. On our Baxter Road campus, we use the Waldorf approach to connect academics with art, movement, outdoor learning and hands-on work. Our grade-school students study a broad curriculum while younger children learn through play and routine. Visit us to explore the right entry point, tuition and whether the daily approach fits your family.

• Private nonprofit independent Waldorf (Steiner) school
• Financial aid
• Toddler
• Preschool

Established in 2003, Frontier Charter School is a parent-directed K-12 program serving students who reside in the Anchorage School District. Families design the education that fits their child, supported by generous funding, academic advising, and flexible learning options that range from Anchorage School District classes and vendor-led courses to online opportunities. Frontier funds one of the highest allotments in Alaska, at $3,500 for grades K-8 and $4,300 for grades 9-12, which families direct toward curriculum, instructional vendors, music, fine arts, physical education, and university coursework. Three setups are supported: traditional homeschooling using the Frontier Learning Profile to understand how a child learns, blended learning with part-time classes at colleges, local public schools, or small homeschool groups, and a traveling learner path built on correspondence study for student athletes and families with flexible lifestyles. Students can take classes or play sports through Anchorage School District schools, use NCAA-approved curriculum, and earn an Anchorage School District high school diploma. Frontier has a dedicated special education staff member and a separate IEP support advisor on the team, and has funded structured dyslexia intervention including the Barton program for enrolled students. Frontier is a Purple Star School and supports military families new to Anchorage, with a military liaison on staff. A second location serves families in Eagle River.

• Public charter school with parent-directed homeschool support
• Dyslexia
• Financial aid
• K-12

PACE Statewide Homeschool is a free public homeschool program of the Craig City School District, open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade anywhere in Alaska. Parents choose curriculum with help from state-certified contact teachers, and each full-time student receives a yearly allotment: $2,200 for K to 2, $2,400 for grades 3 to 8 and $2,600 for high school. It pays for core subjects and can reimburse electives such as gymnastics lessons, though religious materials are excluded. Our Anchorage Learning Center is on the second floor of the Sunshine Plaza Building in midtown, near Alaska Pacific University. Three contact teachers, a special education coordinator and two administrative assistants work there. Families browse curriculum samples, pick up donated books and materials, and younger siblings play with LEGOs while parents meet with staff. Most months bring a workshop, activity or field trip, from the Musk Ox Farm to a tour of a downtown fire station. A full-time special education teacher coordinates services and works with families under IDEA and ADA. Our school counselor helps high school students with graduation progress, credit recovery, scholarships and college or career planning.

• Public statewide homeschool program (K-12)
• Homeschool support
• Parent-chosen curriculum
• Accredited

Whaley School is an Anchorage School District separate day school for students whose behaviors require a more structured environment than a neighborhood school can provide. Students are placed at Whaley through their Individual Education Plan because of severe emotional and behavioral needs, and the program covers instruction in academics along with vocational, behavioral, and social-emotional skills. The school runs on a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework organized into preventative and restorative systems. Preventative supports include a school-wide token economy through PBIS Rewards, break and hot passes, and direct teaching of self-regulation and co-regulation. Restorative supports include the Reset Room, structured behavior interventions, and Whaley Trackers, a data system where student information is recorded at least every 15 minutes so case managers, BCBAs, and school psychologists can spot patterns and build functional behavior assessments. School social workers provide individual and group counseling covering anger management, problem-solving, interpersonal conflict, grief and loss, substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, and career planning, plus family liaison work with Anchorage community agencies. Whaley runs bell schedules for elementary, middle, high school, and Life Skills classrooms, and the campus also houses the district's Outreach alternative placement program for students in grades 6 through 12 who have been long-term suspended or expelled. Throughout, staff work toward transitioning students successfully back to their neighborhood school.

• Public separate day school for special education
• Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities
• Elementary
• Middle School