Knik Charter School

Knik Charter School is a small alternative school in Wasilla, Alaska, serving 189 students across grades PK-12 within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, one of the stronger districts in the state. The school shares an address with the much smaller Knik Charter Correspondence School, but Knik Charter School itself is the larger, more traditionally staffed program of the two. With only 189 students spread across so many grade levels, individual classes and graduation cohorts tend to be very small, so sharp year-to-year swings in test scores or graduation rates should be interpreted cautiously.

Science is Knik's clear academic standout. In the most recent testing year, 62.2% of students scored proficient in science, well above the district's 51.0% and the state's 37.8%. Reading and math are weaker: ELA proficiency is 33.6% and math is 32.4%, both below the district averages of 41.5% and 42.0%, though roughly in line with state averages. Both subjects have improved steadily over the last several years. Grade-level results, however, show soft spots in the upper elementary and middle school years: 4th-grade math sits at just 21.1%, and 7th-grade math is the lowest reported score at 17.7%, despite 3rd-grade math being a bright spot at 57.1%.

Compared with nearby alternative schools, Knik falls in the middle of the pack. It trails American Charter Academy by a wide margin—that similar-sized school posts 68.5% ELA and 75.5% math proficiency—and it also lags the large correspondence programs Mat-Su Central School and Twindly Bridge Charter School in reading and math, even though Knik's science results beat Mat-Su Central's. Knik outperforms Valley Pathways and Mat-Su Day School, which serve different, often higher-needs populations. Graduation data at Knik is volatile and should be read cautiously: it reported 100% rates in 2022-23 and 2023-24 but 0.0% in 2024-25, likely because very few students make up each graduation cohort rather than because of a dramatic real-world change. Altogether, Knik is a small school with a genuine science strength, rising reading and math scores, and some middle-grade dips worth closer attention.