Significant Changes to High-School Treks Coming this Fall
By Anna Somers- CRR Staff
At the Copper River School District’s February 4 board meeting, board members unanimously voted to approve a calendar that will massively overhaul the treks schedule for high-schoolers.
Since the 2015-16 school year, high-school students in the district have followed a variable-term schedule, with four to six weeks of core classes (“basecamp”) followed by two weeks of intensive electives known as treks. On trek weeks, students attend one long morning class and one long afternoon class, lasting about two and a half hours each.
Trek classes can be in subjects like personal finance (a graduation requirement), but they also provide opportunities for students to take hands-on electives such as theater or auto shop.
The 2025-26 academic calendar proposed and approved by the school board will no longer have specific weeks set aside for basecamp and treks. Students will still have opportunities to take different electives. Subjects that could benefit from more class time like auto shop or family and consumer science may be scheduled as back-to-back periods, but students will have the same schedule from week to week and take the same core classes and electives daily.
When treks were first introduced in the CRSD high schools in the fall of 2015, one of the benefits highlighted on an explanatory video on the CRSD YouTube channel was the ability to make sure that students were enrolled in all the core academic courses they needed to fulfill graduation requirements while still being able to select electives that fit their own interests.
With the variable-term schedule, for example, a student wouldn’t have to decide between enrolling in Algebra I or Aviation. They would take Algebra I every day during basecamp weeks, then during the two-week trek periods, they would have approximately two and a half hours a day in Aviation and a two-and-a-half-hour period in a second elective of their choosing.
In a presentation to the board, Glenallen Principal Ben Dolgner highlighted some of the problems that this variable-term schedule has caused in the high school.
During trek periods, students have two weeks where they aren’t doing their regular core classes, like math or English, which build on past learning. With winter and spring breaks, core class interruptions have been even longer. This disruption to the schedule can result in more time being placed on review instead of moving ahead in academic subjects.
Having a variable schedule can also impact students participating in work study or taking courses at Prince William Sound College, as job and college schedules remain the same whether or not the high school is on a trek or basecamp rotation.
Because of the unique schedule offered with treks, combined with state requirements for how much class time equals one credit, high-school students only receive half a credit for each trek class they take. This could cause problems for students who are struggling to fulfill graduation requirements since they are committing to a trek class for a full year while only getting a semester’s worth of credit.
Dolgner also discussed the impact of absences during trek periods. Because treks are concentrated into two-week intensives, if a student misses one day of class, they miss 10% of their learning for that trek period. A prolonged illness or short family trip resulting in multi-day absences is significantly more disruptive during trek periods and can result in a student falling unreasonably behind.
Based on student surveys and comments by the student representatives present at Tuesday’s board meeting, some treks are difficult to focus on for two and a half hours a day. Many students would prefer attending a shorter class every day than an intensive two-week period with only two subjects being taught.
On the other hand, treks have provided high-school students in the district opportunities for courses of study that might not have been available otherwise. This is especially true for students in Kenny Lake, many of whom are bussed into Glennallen on trek weeks so that they can take advantage of class offerings that aren’t offered at their local school.
Specific consideration for students outside Glennallen were brought up by board member Mark Somerville Tuesday night, who stated he has “serious concerns” about not providing the same elective opportunities to students in Kenny Lake and Slana, and that these are challenges to the proposed schedule change he would like to see addressed. He was especially concerned about making Glennallen’s facilities for shop and other career training courses available to all students.
School District Superintendent Theresa Laville stated that providing Kenny Lake and Slana students with good elective options will be one of her priorities.
In a phone interview, Kenny Lake’s Head Teacher Shawna Goodwin stated there are 13 high-school students attending Kenny Lake. The majority (eight) of these students have been attending treks in Glennallen. Those who remain in Kenny Lake have the option for outdoor shooting sports, a model UN class, or the chance to participate in Glennallen treks via Zoom without having to travel.
In a student survey, only 32% of Kenny Lake students indicated they were in favor of moving away from the variable-term schedule.
In Tuesday’s board meeting, Kenny Lake and Slana Schools student representative Sylvia Nelson said she had “mixed thoughts” about the proposed schedule change, and that she could see pros and cons on both sides of the debate.
According to Nelson, a shorter class period is beneficial since focusing on one subject for over two hours a day can be challenging. However, Nelson mentioned that many of her classmates like the opportunity to travel and take advantage of the wider option of courses offered at a larger school like Glennallen.
Unfortunately, travel logistics is one of the main hurdles of the variable-term schedule. Kenny Lake students attending treks in Glennallen can spend up to four or five hours a day on busses, especially if they live in communities like Strelna or Chitina, where they have a long bus ride just to get to Kenny Lake then another 45-minutes or longer from Kenny Lake to Glennallen.
In addition to simply the amount of time students spend on the buses in this scenario are questions about how Glennallen students spend their school time while they wait for their peers to arrive. Currently the morning trek doesn’t start until an hour after the school day officially begins in order to accommodate the schedules of students bussed in from other regions.
Although Kenny Lake students were predominantly in favor of preserving treks and keeping the chance to travel to Glennallen, Goodwin told the board that 69% of parents surveyed were in favor of the proposed calendar changes, where students would have the same schedule and remain at Kenny Lake every day.
In a phone interview, Goodwin mentioned that parents had safety concerns, especially in winter months with their children on the road for hours a day. The trek schedule is also disruptive for families who have some children attending treks in Glennallen and some children still in Kenny Lake, as well as families who live beyond the Kenny Lake community. When students finish treks in Glennallen, they are driven back to Kenny Lake in a school van and are picked up by their parents from the school, whereas on basecamp weeks students can ride the bus all the way home.
The change to the variable-term schedule may also have an impact on homeschoolers in the Copper River School District. In an interview with Mark Proch, Upstream’s lead teacher, he explained that high-school students who are currently enrolled in Upstream Learning have the chance to participate in treks at the Glennallen School. Theater and shop have been popular electives in the past, as well as certain classes that require hands-on learning like aviation or family and consumer science.
In some cases, having treks on a variable schedule can give homeschooling families more flexibility, as it can be easier to travel or plan around a schedule that requires students to be at school in two-week blocks instead of every day at the same time for an entire semester.
On the other hand, having two weeks with a drastically different schedule can be disruptive to homeschool students engaging in home learning, taking online classes, working outside jobs, etc.
Proch stated that at the most recent Advisory School Board Meeting, the schedule change was discussed and Upstream parents decided that in the end it didn’t impact most homeschooling families in the CRSD in a significant way, especially as fewer than ten Upstream students this year have elected to take treks at the school.
The board will continue to discuss the specifics of the new calendar over the next few months. The superintendent and leadership team will meet in April to work on finalizing plans for next year.
Disclosure: Anna Somers' husband teaches middle school in Glennallen and her children are either CRSD students or Upstream Learning graduates. Anna also works occasionally for CRSD as a substitute teacher.