Conferences and Academies

Sharpen your skills and connect with colleagues to reach new heights as an effective board member. AASB offers a wide variety of training sessions, workshops and events throughout the year that are targeted to the needs of school boards.

Held each November in Anchorage, AASB’s Annual Conference is the premier training and networking event for Alaska school boards. This multi-day gathering brings together board members and superintendents from across the state to strengthen boardsmanship, tackle pressing education issues, and conduct important association business. The program includes inspiring keynote speakers, hands-on training and breakout sessions, networking events, an Awards celebration, elections for the AASB Board of Directors, and the adoption of “Where We Stand”, AASB’s resolutions guiding our advocacy.

AASB’s first Annual Conference was held in 1953, and we celebrated the 70th Anniversary of this impactful conference in 2023!

Held three times a year — Fall, Winter, and Spring — these Boardsmanship Academies offer board members an opportunity to hone boardsmanship skills and expand their knowledge of issues affecting students and schools in Alaska. Academy topics range from school law, school finance, policy development, curriculum, early learning, personnel, lobbying, equity, CTE, legislative priorities, distance education, and more.

The Fall Boardsmanship Academy alternates its location between Anchorage and Fairbanks each year. It has a rotating curriculum of boardsmanship topics such as school finance, board standards, school law, budgets, meeting conduct, administrator training, teacher retention and several other timely topics.

In conjunction with this academy, AASB offers the Executive Administrative Assistants Training tailored for district Administrative Assistants, covering a range of topics that include policy, managing personnel files, Robert’s Rules, and more!

The Winter Boardsmanship Academy, a two-day session held in Anchorage in mid-December, focuses on issues like school law, equity, culturally responsive education, and policy, to name a few topics. The 2019 Winter Boardsmanship Academy featured the first-ever School Law Day and Equity Day.

In late March or early April, the Spring Boardsmanship Academy covers a rotating list of subjects such as board and superintendent relations, community engagement, and board self-evaluation, to name a few.

Held at the start of the legislative session (February) in Juneau, the Legislative Fly-in equips board members with the basics of the legislative process and helps districts connect with their legislative delegation. In addition to meeting with legislators, board members learn about legislation that will impact their district, issues influencing education in Alaska and the nation, effective advocacy skills, successes of other districts across the state, and more. The other half of this event is the Leadership Academy, focusing on how to be more effective leaders on their boards.

This two-day workshop, held every October, brings together maintenance directors and employees to share and gain knowledge about the vital role facilities maintenance plays in managing an effective learning environment for students. Topics include school energy use, safety, preventative maintenance, tips on going green, round table discussions, and more!

AASB’s Statewide Charter School Academy is a training for charter school principals and Academic Policy Committee (APC) members, and the only dedicated conference for Alaska Charter School leaders! This academy is designed to support APC members in working together with their school and district to promote educational excellence while connecting and learning from charter schools around the state.