Serving 400 students in grades K-6, Anchorage’s Muldoon Elementary School is a culturally diverse school that receives Title 1 supplementary funding to improve academic achievement for low-income students. To qualify for the Title 1 program, schools must have a certain percentage of students in their attendance area who qualify for free or reduced lunch.
“Many families whose kids attend Muldoon Elementary are struggling to get by,” CIRI Community Relations Manager Rachel Batres said. “There’s a sizable homeless population, many single-parent families and nearly 100 languages spoken. Lots of parents work multiple jobs just trying to make ends meet; they don’t have the time to dedicate to something like PTA, which relies on parent involvement.”
Ten years ago, CIRI stepped in to serve Muldoon Elementary as a school business partner. “We really upped our involvement the last three years by doing things like providing prizes for the school spelling bee and defraying the cost of school field trips and student activity fees,” Batres said.
In appreciation of their efforts, CIRI honored the 60-member Muldoon Elementary staff with an Appreciation Week, held May 2-6 at the school. Each day staff received a special treat:
- Monday, May 2 – full catered breakfast
- Tuesday, May 3 – chair massages
- Wednesday, May 4 – gift bags with coffee cards, mugs and CIRI items
- Thursday, May 5 – catered taco bar lunch
On Friday, May 6, CIRI directors wrote individual notes of thanks to the Muldoon Elementary staff.
“We sent the notes to everyone – not only teachers, but teachers’ aides, kitchen staff and administrative assistants,” Batres said. “We got the most incredible appreciative responses back. CIRI so appreciates the commitment these men and women have made to our youth.”
