Welcome, and thank you for choosing asd!  

Anchorage School District's (ASD) New Educator Symposium (NES) will be held at Begich Middle School. ALL new AEA hires will attend Day One at Begich Middle School. Depending on your content area and grade level, you may receive training at different school sites on other days of ASD NES. Detailed schedules will be uploaded as soon as we have them.  

The New Educator Symposium sessions are developed from feedback provided by educators and administrators.  Some sessions will be general and for all new-to-ASD educators; other breakout sessions will be more specialized depending on your content area. All new educators will receive orientation on Anchorage Education Association (AEA) and Public Education Health Trust (PEHT), Payroll, Benefits, ASD employee platforms and applications, technology, district programs that serve new educators, and training to prepare educators to teach ASD's curriculum.

All new ASD employees that fall under the Anchorage Education Association (AEA) bargaining unit attend New Educator Symposium. This includes nurses, counselors, librarians, and all related service employees. Educators that have experience from other districts still attend to learn about ASD's systems, curriculum, and initiatives. 

If you previously worked for ASD under the AEA bargaining unit and are returning to the district -- welcome back! We strongly encourage you to attend. If your time away from ASD was brief (less than three years ago), some sessions might be more important for you to attend than others. Please reach out to ProfessionalLearning@asdk12.org for a recommendation. 

Long term substitutes and contracted employees that are approved to attend the New Educator Symposium will be contacted via email. Check in with your school principal or email ProfessionalLearning@asdk12.org with any questions. 

New-to-ASD educators are compensated for participating in the New Educator Symposium and paid a flat rate of $217 per day of their attendance. This is not a per-diem rate. Please make sure you follow the instructions for signing in each day so that we are able to confirm your attendance and compensate you accordingly. 

While attendance at the New Educator Symposium is not mandatory, we strongly encourage you to participate. This paid professional learning opportunity ($217/day) offers invaluable in-person connections, collaboration, and real-time support that cannot be fully replicated online. Throughout the week, you’ll receive essential information and guidance on key areas such as Payroll and Benefits, PEHT (Health Insurance), Talent Management, the AEA (Teachers’ Union), District Technology, Curriculum and Instruction, and Classroom Management—all designed to help you start your year with confidence.

Please bring your district-issued laptop, note-taking supplies, water bottle, snacks, and layered clothing (temperatures in the school sites can be variable).  

Haven’t picked up your device yet? Reserve yours using this link: AEA New Hire Laptop PICKUP 2025

To fully engage with NES content and digital tools, it’s highly recommended that you pick up your laptop before the event. Early pickup ensures you're ready to participate and reduces stress on Day 1.

A limited number of devices will be available onsite, but priority is for those whose travel plans or circumstances made early pickup impossible. We appreciate your effort to complete this step ahead of time!

The New Educator Giveaway will offer new and lightly used supplies to help our new educators get their rooms ready for the year. The New Educator Giveaway room will be located in rooms B115, B116, B117 and available throughout the duration of NES. 

Information provided by presenters at NES can be found in the ASD Elementary Portal and ASD Secondary Portal in Canvas. Scroll to the bottom and you will see a folder titled "New Educator Symposium Resources". Then, click "Presentation Slides". If you have any trouble locating the information, email ProfessionalLearning@asdk12.org.

Please leave your feedback for the New Educator Symposium by filling out this brief FORM.  We truly appreciate all feedback as we continue to improve our support for new educators joining TEAM ASD. If you would like someone from the Professional Learning team to reach out to you, email ProfessionalLearning@asdk12.org 

These are optional professional learning opportunities in our district. 

Good Teaching Institute 2025: July 31 and August 1 @ Service High School  The deadline to register for GTI 2025 is July 27 at 11:59 p.m.

District Professional Learning Opportunities

Out of District Professional Learning Opportunities