Extended Learning Program

*Beginning with the 2026 - 2027 SY, the Extended Learning Program and coaching team will be based out of the Teaching & Learning Department. 

ELP Coaches facilitate the identification and academic support of advanced learners in grades 1 - 5. Additional talent development is provided by partnering with general education classroom teachers  to model and co-teach enrichment lessons. 

ELP Coach Assignments 

Melissa Cantrell - North Pole & Ticasuk Brown
melissa.cantrell@k12northstar.org  
(907) 452-2000, x11140 

Patrick Cromer - Arctic Light & Ladd
patrick.cromer@k12northstar.org 
(907) 452-2000, x11374

Karen Dullen - Hunter & Woodriver
karen.dullen@k12northstar.org
(907) 452-2000, x11202

Melissa Masheff - Anderson-Crawford & Denali
melissa.masheff@k12northstar.org
(907) 452-2000, x11371

Kim Wallingford - University Park & Weller
kim.wallingford@k12northstar.org
(907) 452-2000, x11369

Jaime Witte - Barnette Magnet & Anne Wien
jaime.witte@k12northstar.org
(907) 452-2000, x11373

Grades 1 - 2: ELP Coaches collaborate, coteach, and model high-engagement lessons in the general education classrooms once a quarter.

Grade 3: ELP Coaches provide high-engagement lessons in the general education classroom during first semester. At the beginning of the second semester, all third grade students are screened to determine if additional ELP support may be offered. Qualified students will have the option of participating in pull-out enrichment services during second semester. 

Grades 4 - 5: ELP Coaches provide pull-out enrichment services that support the learning plans of identified students. General classroom teachers are invited to work with ELP Coaches to support in-class projects and enrichment lessons. 

Beginning in 2027, the Extended Learning Program will use the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) screener. 

District-wide screening for all third grade students will take place in January 2027. Families will be notified by their local school prior to their individual testing dates.

Parents/guardians will be provided with assessment scores and an explanation of the results. 

Students ranking at or above the 94th percentile will receive a permission to test form. Families and teachers may request additional evaluations if they believe a student qualifies for program services. 

Students in grades 3 - 5 must meet or exceed the qualification requirements in at least two out of three categories: Cognitive, Achievement, and Creativity. Students earn points on the Eligibility Matrix based on test scores at the 90th, or higher, percentile.

Cognitive Tests

• Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT) 
• Naglieri Non-Verbal Test (NNAT3)

Achievement Tests

• NWEA Map
• AK Star
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement - Any combination of Math, Reading, or Language

Creativity Test

• Torrance Test of Creative Thinking - Figural

Students who have been tested and who did not qualify for ELP services, but who do exhibit characteristics of the advanced learner, may be recommended for the Alternative Pathways process by their classroom teacher. 

Classroom teachers are required to complete the Renzulli scales for review by an ELP Coach. 

The art of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations Peoples is traditionally used to identify one's history, family, and responsibility within the community. I felt it to be a perfect medium of expression for the Extended Learning Community.

I chose three symbols for this work to represent the personalities, skills, and aspirations of the teachers, students, and families who make up the FNSBSD Extended Learning Program. These symbols, chosen for their importance in cultures throughout the world, are crane, sun, and wolf.

Within this picture, crane is the largest of the entities. Crane transitions between worlds; moving from air, to land, to water, with ease. As ELP teachers, our job must be to assist these young peoples' transitions among their worlds: communities, schools, and families. Some will make the transitions with ease, others make them with great difficulty, but all will need the self-knowledge of crane to succeed.

Sun symbolizes life, growth, and creative power. Each ray of light illuminates the surrounding area giving birth to understanding and sparking creativity. Sun can also be headstrong and impulsive, each of which can add to our strengths as well as take away from them. Sun nestles among the protection of crane's feathers bringing balance and self-knowledge.

Wolf rides the wing of crane. He is the teacher. We are all teachers as well as students, learning and building on one another's strengths. To fluctuate between teacher and student with agility gives us the balance of independence. This is our goal as teachers or students. Intelligence and inspiration are also areas of influence designated by wolf.

These symbols are placed within a circle. The circle symbolizes the connections that bind us all together. We are all dependent upon one another for our strength, understanding and growth.

~ Karen Williams-Clarkson

For my wonderful students, their families, and my peers.