PNA’s curriculum, and the way it is incorporated into the classroom, helps to develop individual character and self-awareness. PNA students have the courage to be themselves. Students’ average test score achievement places them in the top 10% in the country. It prepares them for being exceptional students in high school and college. More importantly, the education at PNA better prepares students to excel as generous and productive throughout the rest of their lives.

Research indicates that small school size is as high a predictor of student success as small class size. Here, too, PNA is a leader. Even as our current 100 student enrollment grows to 150 over the next few years, PNA will remain an intimate learning community where all children are known and supported by the adults in the school.

PNA is quite young, founded in 1996, but our average teacher has 14 years of classroom experience. Nearly half of them hold advanced degrees. Teachers at PNA really care about their students and provide them with the best possible education – a curriculum that is rich, varied and imaginative. The high degree of collegiality, teamwork, and esprit d’ corps among teachers, students, administrators and involved parents helps to create a seamless web of support and quality education. (see the PNA webpage “Faculty” for more details)

PNA students are happy at school. The intellectual engagement, the supportive community, and the atmosphere of respect result in a school experience that satisfies emotionally and socially as well as academically. The love of learning leads to higher achievement and an enhanced sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.

PNA parents are tremendously involved in their children’s education, as well as in the life of the school community. Parents describe feeling “invited” rather than “pressured” to be involved. Our school is a friendly and down-to-earth place where students enjoy engaging socially with adults. The opportunities for parent involvement are as varied as our families.

PNA also engages with the broader community. Through regular community service projects associated with classroom study, students learn the value and feel the satisfaction of contributing to the greater good. Whether visiting a social service agency or cleaning up a stream, students and parents are improving the quality of life in Anchorage and beyond. These activities help to provide a broader meaning and purpose to the school community.

That our students regularly engage with parents and the community creates a sense of togetherness, of being a family. The atmosphere at PNA is one of caring, where our actions and relationships matter.

At PNA, the arts are a highlight for our students. Performing arts are especially popular. Our Winter Concert and Spring Musical include every child in the school and bring the community together in celebration of the arts. The annual Brown Bag Concerts provide students with an additional opportunity to perform before their peers.

An outstanding visual arts program enables students from Early Kindergarten through Eighth Grade to enjoy drawing, water color painting, oil painting, print making, sculpture, jewelry making, pottery and more. An ongoing exploration of art history is incorporated into the program and supports the school’s social studies curriculum.

PNA’s approach to the arts is one more way that students experience school as fun, learn to take risks and discover that participation is rewarding.