Handful of Valley schools now closed until next week

PALMER — The closure of a handful of Valley schools has been extended until at least Tuesday, according to the latest information provided by the Mat-Su Borough School District.

Big Lake Elementary, Dena’ina Elementary, Goose Bay Elementary, Redington, Wasilla Middle and Wasilla High are now closed to staff until Monday and students Tuesday.

District officials still have not determined when Colony High, Colony Middle, Finger Lake Elementary, Houston High, Knik Elementary and Mat-Su Central will be approved to reopen.

About two-dozen district schools will reopen to staff Wednesday and students Thursday.

“The staff will be returning one day prior to the students to allow them to clean, get organized, plan,” district superintendent Dr. Monica Goyette said Monday.

That list includes Academy Charter, American Charter Academy, Birchtree Charter, Burchell High, Butte Elementary, Mat-Su Career Tech, Cottonwood Creek Elementary, Fronteras, Iditarod, Machetanz Elementary, Mat-Su Day School, Mat-Su Middle College, Palmer High, Palmer Junior Middle, Pioneer Peak, Shaw Elementary, Sherrod Elementary, Snowshoe Elementary, Sutton Elementary, Swanson Elementary, Tanaina Elementary, Teeland Middle, Twindly Bridge Charter and Valley Pathways

Goyette urges the public to pay close attention to the list which is available on its website, matsuk12.us.

“It changes very rapidly,” Goyette said.

All extracurricular activities remain canceled until school is back in session.

“Student activities resume when academics resume,” Goyette said.

Glacier View, Trapper Creek Elementary, Talkeetna Elementary, Susitna Valley High School, Willow Elementary and Beryozova were open Monday.

Houston Middle School will most likely be closed for the remainder of the school year, Goyette said Monday afternoon.

This news comes after days of evaluating the damage caused in local schools by the powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 that rocked Southcentral Alaska.

“The school that received the most amount of damage was Houston Middle School,” Goyette said as she addressed the public Monday afternoon in a video on the district’s Facebook page.

Goyette said district officials are still sorting details of the plan for Houston Middle students for the remainder of the school year.

“Our best plan right now is to try to relocate portables and allow them to integrate into Houston High School so we can keep the school communities together,” Goyette said.

Contact Frontiersman editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.