Steller Secondary School - Student Demographics and Government

Student Demographics and Government

Steller accepts students in grades 7-12 from anywhere in the Municipality of Anchorage through a lottery process. However, their student population is almost always maintained at under 300 students. Steller's governmental system is based on the advisory group, where each classroom teacher is assigned a group of 20-30 students. This advisory group elects one representative from each grade group (7-8 and 9-12) to the Operational Group, which deals with the day-to-day school issues, as well as the student funds.

In addition, a member of the advisory group (traditionally the high school (9-12) representative) is also a member of the Advisory Board, which handles larger issues, such as the school's philosophy, policies and bylaws. The Steller Advisory Board is notable because it has real power to change the workings of the school, from changing classroom hours, to eliminating the grading system (which has been considered, but never adopted). As a public school, Steller's policies must stay within the requirements of the Anchorage School District (or at least "below the radar" otherwise), but everything else is open to discussion and modification by the Advisory Board. On all committees where voting is involved, students always have a larger number of potential votes than staff or parents.