Fairbanks Montessori School

Ladd K-8 School (Home of the Ladd Leopards) is a public school in Fairbanks, Alaska, operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. Once known as Ladd Elementary, it has moved to a K-8 model serving students from kindergarten through 8th grade, plus a pre-kindergarten program for ages 3 to 5. About 61% of students are military-connected through nearby Fort Wainwright, with the rest coming from Fairbanks neighborhoods. The school offers a pre-k program for students working on kindergarten readiness skills, with needs identified through the district's Child Find screening process for communication, learning, or skill development. Special education staff at Ladd, the principal, and related-services providers form the team that plans supports for eligible students. A dedicated school counselor supports students' social and emotional needs. Grades 6 to 8 are open to students across the district through the Fairbanks North Star Borough K-8 lottery, while K-5 serves the neighborhood attendance area. As a public school, there is no tuition. Families register through the district enrollment system.

Boreal Sun Charter School provides kindergarten through eighth grade students with a cross-curricular, arts-integrated program inspired by the philosophy of Waldorf Education. Alaska state standards are met with significant attention given to the developmental model of the unfolding child. Teachers work to reach the whole child by cultivating each student's creative, intellectual, emotional, physical, and social capacities, and core themes are experienced through multiple modalities. Subjects are studied in depth over multi-week lesson blocks, with all academic disciplines addressed through a common theme. Students make their own lesson books, world language instruction (currently Spanish) begins in first grade, and handwork, music, drawing, painting, and drama are woven through core academics. Technology use is limited, particularly in the elementary years. Kindergarten is play-based, with a rich tactile environment, seasonal stories, nature walks, and natural materials. Class teachers loop with the same group of students through grades 1-5 and again through 6-8, building long relationships that support both academics and social and emotional wellbeing. Community is the foundation of the school, with seasonal gatherings, assemblies, quarterly parent evenings, and family volunteering. The school opened its doors in August 2017 after being approved by the State of Alaska's Department of Education in December 2016, and it operates in a renovated former church building in the Bjerremark Subdivision. Admission requires attending an orientation, then applying through the district's online lottery portal.

Chinook Montessori Charter School opened in 1996 with 75 students in an old school building on Fort Wainwright, and since 2002 it has filled a building designed for it at International Street and 30th Avenue in Fairbanks. Within the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, we operate as a public charter with no tuition and teach kindergarten to 8th grade. Admission is by lottery after a required family orientation. Classrooms are multi-age: Novices in kindergarten, Apprentices in grades 1 to 3, and Pioneers in grades 4 to 6. Children work with hands-on Montessori materials at their own pace under a trained teacher. Students in grades 4 to 8 take on community service, and 8th graders complete a one-week apprenticeship with a local business and a service project before graduation, where each Pioneer class sews a quilt for every graduate. We do not run sports teams or competitive activities. Instead, physical choices such as basketball skills and juggling are part of morning work time, parent-led after-school studios fill the afternoons, and the playground includes a soccer field and basketball and volleyball courts. Families commit to at least 15 volunteer hours each trimester.