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What tradition at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
582
Elementary
DISTRICT 316 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020018000094
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School
2424 East Dowling Rd, Anchorage, AK 99507 · (907) 742-7500 · Anchorage Municipality
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL582 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 94% of Alaska public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alaska public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
169 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 78 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 56 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 69 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 55 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 48 | 8% |
This year's kindergarten class (72) is 50% larger than its 8th grade class (48).
Student demographics
79%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
64.2%
AK avg 36.1% . +4.8pp since 2023
Math
65.7%
AK avg 34.6% . +0.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 64 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.2% | 65.7% |
| 2023-24 | 59.4% | 64.8% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AK schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
63.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.4%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+20.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 43% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 20 points, placing it in Alaska's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Northern Lights ABC K-8 School
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School's state test result (63.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Lights ABC K-8 School this school | 582 | 29.0% | 63.5% |
| Scenic Park Elementary Anchorage | 386 | 38.9% | 52.3% |
| Sand Lake Elementary Anchorage | 367 | 32.4% | 48.5% |
| Rogers Park Elementary Anchorage | 354 | 35.6% | 66.0% |
| Kasuun Elementary Anchorage | 343 | 50.4% | 29.8% |
| Trailside Elementary Anchorage | 364 | 23.4% | 53.9% |
Matched among Alaska elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Northern Lights ABC K-8 School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Anchorage Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 63.5% | #10 of 134 | #6 of 55 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.7% | #11 of 150 ▼ 1 | #5 of 62 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.2% | #5 of 150 ▲ 5 | #2 of 62 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 582 | #3 of 169 | #1 of 62 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.9:1 | #114 of 125 | #50 of 56 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 78.7% | #30 of 125 | #27 of 56 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.0% | #110 of 142 | #40 of 57 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.3% | #101 of 115 | #50 of 53 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
582
+16 (+3%) vs 2020
+61% since 1990-91, when it was 361
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
was 17.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 582 | 30.8 | 18.9:1 | 29% (169) |
| 2023-24 | 572 | 31.6 | 18.1:1 | 30% (171) |
| 2022-23 | 569 | 30 | 19.0:1 | 26% (147) |
| 2020-21 | 566 | 32 | 17.7:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 628 | 29.6 | 21.3:1 | 20% (127) |
| 2015-16 | 628 | 29 | 21.7:1 | 19% (120) |
| 2010-11 | 617 | 28 | 22.0:1 | 17% (102) |
| 2000-01 | 612 | 25 | 24.5:1 | 4% (22) |
| 1990-91 | 361 | 15 | 24.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northern Lights ABC K-8 School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (628 to 582); teachers up 4% (29.6 to 30.8).
About Northern Lights ABC K-8 School
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School is a large elementary school in Alaska, with an address in Anchorage. The school serves 582 students in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25. For comparison, elementary schools in Alaska average about 277 students.
Anchorage School District serves 40,587 students across 92 schools.
White students form the largest group at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School, 31% of enrollment. Next come 26% Asian, 16% multiracial, 12% Hispanic, and 9% Black. That compares with about 57% White among all Anchorage Municipality residents. The chance that two students picked at random at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 79%.
Federal staffing data show 30.8 full-time-equivalent teachers at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School and a ratio of 18.9:1. That ratio is over the 15.3:1 average for elementary schools in Alaska. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 29% of students. On average, public schools in Anchorage Municipality report 49%.
Measured against Alaska public elementary schools, Northern Lights ABC K-8 School receives an A. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
In Alaska, Northern Lights ABC K-8 School is one of the top 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 63.5% compared with a predicted 43.4%.
County data help place the school in context: in Anchorage Municipality, median household income is about $103,284, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Northern Lights ABC K-8 School is among the 99 public schools in Anchorage Municipality.
Of nearby public schools, Rilke Schule Charter School is the closest, at about 0.5 miles. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. In a group of 5 nearby schools with scores, Northern Lights ABC K-8 School ranks 1st on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Northern Lights ABC K-8 School as City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The number of students grew from 566 to 582 over 4 years. The number of students per teacher rose from 17.7 to 18.9 over 4 years.
Topics for discussion here include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Anchorage Municipality at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
288,976
Census ACS
Median income
$103,284
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
99
41,241 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Anchorage School District
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,636 students
- Service High SchoolHigh · 1,518 students
- Bartlett High SchoolCombined · 1,431 students
- Dimond High SchoolHigh · 1,373 students
- South Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,239 students
Other schools in Anchorage
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,636 students
- Service High SchoolHigh · 1,518 students
- Bartlett High SchoolCombined · 1,431 students
- Dimond High SchoolHigh · 1,373 students
- South Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,239 students
Nearby schools
- Rilke Schule Charter School0.5 mi · 485
- Polaris K-12 School0.6 mi · 483
- Tudor Elementary0.8 mi · 303
- Kasuun Elementary1.0 mi · 343
- Taku Elementary1.3 mi · 258
- S.A.V.E. High School1.3 mi · 156
Frequently asked questions
About Northern Lights ABC K-8 SchoolHow many students attend Northern Lights ABC K-8 School?
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School enrolls approximately 582 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Northern Lights ABC K-8 School serve?
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School?
Approximately 18.9:1 students per teacher at Northern Lights ABC K-8 School.
How diverse is Northern Lights ABC K-8 School?
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School reports a student body of 31% White, 12% Hispanic, 9% Black, 26% Asian, 16% Two or more.
Is Northern Lights ABC K-8 School public or private?
Northern Lights ABC K-8 School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Anchorage School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.