Mat-Su Central School gearing up for another year

WASILLA—The world has changed a lot since 1972 and so has homeschool in the Mat-Su Valley. Mat-Su Central School principal John Brown and his colleagues are preparing for another school year, eager to see what personalized choices students will make.

“I mean really, this is lifelong learning at its best,” Brown said.

Mat-Su Central is a K-12 public school for homeschool students with on and off site teachers, activities and resources, including a library.

Brown has been Mat-Su Central’s principal for the last 12 years. He’s been teaching in the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District since 1989.

“Most of my experience has been multi-age education so for me getting into this kind of program is kind of natural,” Brown said.

Gena Chastain, Mat-Su central school community liaison said that flexibly is key for the homeschool experience, especially at their school. She said it’s about meeting students where they’re at so they can choose their own path.

Chastain said that “choice” is a huge driver for student success. She said it encourages them to invest in their education and life direction. Students can co-enroll in other schools or take classes based on their work schedule.

Brown said the school has a wide variety of activities, courses, clubs, trips, and programs to choose from, like an “a la carte menu.”

Chastain oversees a lot of the local field trips across Alaska. Students also venture outside the state. A group went down to Washington DC last year.

Mat-Su Central started as The Correspondence Study School in 1972 in downtown Palmer. It moved and outgrew several locations before finally setting roots at its current location on Railroad Avenue in Wasilla.

The school has grown immensely since 1972. According to their website, it’s now the largest school in the district.

Brown said that he took the principal position around the transitional stage from Correspondence Central about 12 years ago.

“It was pretty flat… but our kids and parents, they really wanted more. They wanted other things that kids at other schools got to do… They wanted a mascot so we rebranded as the Mat-Su Central School Ravens. We just kind of reinvented the school based on the needs of our families,” Brown said.

Brown said they’re constantly evolving and the families play a major role in how the school will look in the future.

“They’re doing the heavy lifting,” Brown said.

As technology advances at an exponential rate in an ever changing world, Chastain stressed the importance of practical and adaptive learning.

“I think preparing our children to be universal learners so that they can learn anything, anywhere, anytime prepares them for the future,” Chastain said.

There’s of course, a lot of online learning available. Brown said that technology has allowed more ease of access to personalized learning. He noted that there’s still a lot of social interaction and “face to face” learning cannot be replaced. He said this “blended model” of learning is all based on what the student needs.

Homeschool isn’t for everyone but more people are getting normalized to the idea, according to Brown. He said that overall enrollment and graduation rates spiked after they switched from Correspondence to Central. The numbers keep rising.

There’s still a lingering stigma surrounding homeschool, according to Brown. He said there’s still people who think homeschool equates to socially inept students but that is far from the truth.

“The title homeschool I think, is very limiting and I think it does a disservice to the wonderful things that are happening,” Brown said.

The public is invited to take a tour of Mat-Su Central to explore MSCS onsite courses, program offerings, resources, activities, calendar, educational equipment, curriculum, technology and accounting. There will also be time set aside for Q&A.

Tour dates and times:

Dates: Wednesdays: July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21, 28, September 4, 11, 18

Time: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Dates: Tuesdays: August 6 and 13

Time: 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Mat-Su Central also has Palmer campus located at 742 South Alaska Street.

Palmer Campus tour dates:

Dates: July 26, August 9, August 16, September 6

Time: 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Tour registration is at the front office of each campus. For questions regarding the tours, contact Mrs. Susan Nelson at 907-352-7450.

Enrollment is open year round but students need to be registered by a certain timeframe to acquire allotments from the state.

Mat-Su Central is located at 600 East Railroad Avenue, Wasilla. For more information, call: 907-352-7450 or visit their website at: matsucentral.org

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com