Pearl Creek STEAM School

07/31/2026

A difficult update from Pearl Creek STEAM.

After months of preparation, it has become clear that opening Pearl Creek STEAM for the 2026–27 school year would require a significant change in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s (FNSBSD) approach. While we remain a State-approved public charter school, continued FNSBSD delays have made opening this fall 2026 no longer realistic. Although this is deeply disappointing, our commitment to Fairbanks families and public education remains unchanged.

We are incredibly grateful for this growing community. Hundreds of families, educators, Alaska Native leaders, community partners, and volunteers have come together to build Pearl Creek STEAM, and we hope you’ll continue this journey with us.

Throughout the coming year we will stay connected through school and family activities, giving children opportunities to explore STEAM and strengthen our community while families meet one another and continue building Pearl Creek STEAM.

We will continue working toward opening our doors in Fall 2027 and hope to welcome your family when that day arrives.

To help us plan for next year, please fill out this online form:

Form Link: https://gforms.app/r/RCI4yU1

Thank you again for believing in our vision. We look forward to staying connected throughout the year.

💙🧡💙🧡

07/16/2026

💛 Serving Fairbanks Families 💛

Today, in partnership with Alaska Communications, we provided the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living with brand-new backpacks and school supplies 📚 to help children start the school year with confidence.

Thank you, IAC, for the incredible work you do for Fairbanks families. 🐧🎒

Living our values.
Compassionate. Inspired. Involved.

There is something powerful about a child walking into a new school year with a new backpack on their shoulders, knowing they have what they need to begin.

Today, we’re filled with gratitude for Alaska Communications (ACS), Pearl Creek STEAM School, and Jennifer Redmond for donating 18 brand-new backpacks filled with school supplies for the children staying in IAC’s emergency shelter.

For families rebuilding their lives after abuse, these backpacks are more than notebooks and pencils. They represent the reminder that this community believes in them and their future.

Thank you for investing in hope and helping children start the school year feeling prepared and supported. Acts of generosity like this remind our families—and all of us—that healing happens in community. 💜

07/02/2026

It’s official! Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School has a home! 🏫

Tonight the FNSB Assembly voted 6-2 to approve leasing 700 Auburn Drive to PCSC.

Thank you to our assembly members, everyone who testified and wrote emails, volunteered, and supported this ordinance! This is a huge milestone for the students, teachers, families, and hundreds of community members behind this school.

We are one step closer to opening our school focused in outdoor STEAM learning in the boreal forest of Fairbanks.

06/20/2026

Join us is celebrating Juneteenth locally!

For children to understand our world and move through it in a good and right way toward a bright future they must learn our history. Black history is American history, and we believe that is true every single day of the year.

Happy Juneteenth!

06/19/2026

🧡 Pearl Creek STEAM Opening Status Update 💙

The Alaska Supreme Court has agreed to an emergency review of the recent decision denying our request to open immediately. We are hopeful we will have an answer from Alaska’s highest court early next week.

Thank you for sticking with us through this long and complicated journey. We know the uncertainty is hard, and we are working around the clock to do everything possible for the children, families, and educators who believe in this school.

No matter what comes next, we are incredibly grateful for this community and the love, encouragement, and support you continue to show.

We love you Pearl Creek. 🫶🧡💙

06/11/2026

📣Pearl Creek STEAM Enrollment Update!🚨

Enrollment placement emails have been sent out. If you applied for enrollment, please check your inbox and respond to confirm your placement by June 12th at 11:59 PM.

If you submitted an application but did not receive an email, please reach out to [email protected].

Thank you Pearl Creek STEAM families and supporters for being a part of this next step. We can’t wait to watch our inaugural class walk through the doors this fall! 💙🧡

06/10/2026

Enrollment is wrapping up! Students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade should have received emails, and 6th grader emails will be going out tonight and tomorrow!

Thank you to our hard working volunteers for composing 352 individual emails and keeping parents informed.

Hey puffin community! If you applied to attend Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School, emails are being sent!

Fairbanks is so excited for this incredible school we had more applicants than spots available, and as a consequence ran the state law required lottery.

We want to encourage those parents whose children did not get a spot but rather are on the waitlist to keep an eye for future communications. We have some spots set aside for staff children that will not all be filled, and as things progress it is normal for spots to open up.

It is important to remember that at this time the District has stated they are not willing to let us open, despite the State decision and statute saying they “shall operate” the school. We still have a motion before the court asking them to force the district to follow state law and open the school. This means we are still waiting for critical things like the ability to hire teachers. We need this cooperation in order to open this fall, and will keep you updated as the case progresses.

Our curriculum, events, outdoor campus are open to all students no matter where they attend school! We wish we could fit everyone into our school, and while we acknowledge that is not possible yet, everyone can be part of our educational community.

06/09/2026

Hey puffin community! If you applied to attend Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School, emails are being sent!

Fairbanks is so excited for this incredible school we had more applicants than spots available, and as a consequence ran the state law required lottery.

We want to encourage those parents whose children did not get a spot but rather are on the waitlist to keep an eye for future communications. We have some spots set aside for staff children that will not all be filled, and as things progress it is normal for spots to open up.

It is important to remember that at this time the District has stated they are not willing to let us open, despite the State decision and statute saying they “shall operate” the school. We still have a motion before the court asking them to force the district to follow state law and open the school. This means we are still waiting for critical things like the ability to hire teachers. We need this cooperation in order to open this fall, and will keep you updated as the case progresses.

Our curriculum, events, outdoor campus are open to all students no matter where they attend school! We wish we could fit everyone into our school, and while we acknowledge that is not possible yet, everyone can be part of our educational community.

06/05/2026

Application for enrollment for Pearl Creek STEAM Charter closed June 1st.

We received more applications than available seats and will be conducting a lottery for placement. Please review the graphic below for an overview of the lottery process.

If you submitted an application, you should have received a verification email this week. These emails were sent to make sure each student’s information was entered correctly before running the enrollment lottery. If you applied and did not receive a verification email this week, please reach out to [email protected].

The lottery will be conducted over the weekend and families should expect to receive notifications of placement on Monday.

Thank you to everyone who applied, we are excited to take this next step towards opening PCSC this fall!

06/01/2026

💙🧡What to expect as a Pearl Creek puffin? Learning with values - 🧡💙

Decolonizing education is the process of dismantling the colonial structures, mindsets, and biases embedded in our education system that perpetuate inequality and prioritize dominant Western perspectives. It involves challenging the limitations of curricula, educator training, and assessment methods to include Indigenous knowledge, true histories, to ultimately foster more equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive practices for ALL students and communities.

We are seeking to grow a STEAM school educated to perpetual evolution toward better ways of education kids.

📣 June 1 is the Last Day to Apply to Pearl Creek STEAM for the 2026-2027 school year! www.pearlcreeksteamschool.com