Unalaska City School District

Dear Parents and Guardians:

The Unalaska City School District's administration and staff would like to take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to you for the 2007-2008 school year.

We are excited about the quality of new administrators and teachers we have joining our outstanding staff of professional educators this school year. In administrative positions we have John Conwell as the new superintendent of Unalaska City School District, Glenn Cole as the Junior High/High School Principal, and Heather Jones as the Elementary School Principal. New teachers joining the district are as follows: Heather Hawkins will be teaching 4th grade, Marti Rookala will be the Special Education teacher in the Elementary School, Patricia Ellis and Aura Beatty will join us as ESL teachers, Dawn Cole will be the new Alternative Education teacher, Katie Wolf will be teaching 5th grade, and Jessica Wilson will be teaching 7th - 9th grade Language Arts. We would like to invite you to meet our new staff members at Back to School Night on September 5, 2007, from 6-8 p.m.

We are looking forward to the beginning of a new school year, and we invite you to visit your child's classroom anytime. We are committed to making your child's experience at Unalaska schools exciting and successful and to help all students achieve their highest individual academic potential. We believe we can accomplish these goals by working together with each of you and the community.

Please read the attached information sheet containing specific information on school policy, procedures, and important dates. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Again, thank you for supporting education here in Unalaska, and we look forward to seeing you and your children very soon.

Sincerely,

Back to School Information
2007 - 2008

* Back to School Night - September 5, 2007

o Eagle's View Elementary Back - to - School Orientation (PS - 4th grades): Orientation meeting in the Eagle's View Multipurpose room at 6:00 p.m. with classroom visits to follow.
o Unalaska City School Back - to - School Orientation (5th - 12th grades): Orientation meeting in the auditorium at 7:00 p.m. with classroom visits to follow.

* Student and Parent Handbook, 2007 - 2008

o Please review with your child the student and parent handbook. This handbook contains valuable information for you and your child! Each student in grades 5th - 12th grade will receive a copy of this handbook in his or her daily planner. All students will be responsible for the content of these student/parent handbooks.

* Attendance

o Alaska State Law governs requirements for student attendance in public school.
" Alaska State Law requires mandatory attendance for all children ages 7- 16 years of age. Students must be 5 years old by September 1st, 2007, to be eligible for kindergarten class.
" Students must be 6 years old by September 1st, 2007, to be eligible for first grade.
o Poor attendance and tardiness is detrimental to your child's performance in school and may result in lower achievement scores and possible loss of credit. Please review your Unalaska City School Student / Parent Handbook, pages 12- 14 for specifics on attendance policy.

* Preschool/Pre-Kindergarten Program

o UCSD provides an excellent preschool/pre-kindergarten program. Registration forms are available at the High School Office.

* School Day

o The school day for all grades at Unalaska City Schools begins at 8:30 a.m.. School buildings are open at 7:45 a.m. each school day. Please do not drop off your child before the buildings are open!
o School Dismissal times are as follows:
" Morning Kindergarten: 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. No afternoon bus provided.
" Afternoon Kindergarten: 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. No morning bus provided.
" Grades 1 - 4: 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Daily bus service provided.
" Grades 5 - l2th: 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Daily bus service provided.
" Grades K - 4th: On Wednesdays of each week, students will be released at 2:05 p.m.
" Grades 5 - l2: On Wednesdays of each week, students will be released at 2:15 p.m. The Unalaska Teaching staff utilizes this time on Wednesday afternoons for professional development and common planning time.

* Immunization

o All preschool and kindergarten students must have their immunizations up to date by the first day of school to be enrolled. Please bring your child's immunization card when registering him/her for school. If you need to update your child's immunization, please call the clinic at 581-1202 for an appointment with the public health nurse. The public health nurse is scheduled to be in Unalaska on August 23, 2007.
o For students transferring from another school, please bring their immunization card when registering. If you do not have an immunization card, we can request it from the student's previous school if you provide us with a fax number.
o All students must have begun the Hepatitis A and B shot series by the first day of school to be admitted, or plan to begin the series during the public health nurse's fall visit. The five shot series must be completed within 6 months.
o Students in Kindergarten, 7th grade, and new to the district must have a tuberculosis test. The school nurse, Wendy Hladick, will arrange for these tests.
o The school nurse is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Unalaska School and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Eagle's View Elementary School. Please note that the nurse is not available on Wednesdays at either school.

* Hot Meal Program

o UCSD has a breakfast and hot lunch program. Parents are asked to open an account by making a payment at the school office if they wish for their child/children to participate in the breakfast and/or hot lunch programs. Once an account is opened, students are issued a card, which is scanned at the point of sale each day. Students with negative account balances may be denied a meal. Please pay accounts in advance and call the school anytime for an account balance. The cost for replacing a lunch card is $5 dollars.

o Meal prices are as follow:

Grades K-6 Grades 7-12
Breakfast $1.25 $1.80
Lunch $2.50 $3.00
Salad Bar (Grades 5-12 also) $3.00
Combined lunch with salad $5.50
Milk w/o meal or extra $.55 $.55

* Free or Reduced Lunch Program

o Low-income families may be eligible for the free or reduced lunch program. If you think you might qualify for this program, please complete and sign the application to the school office as soon as possible. Students are charged for meals until the application is approved and those meals are not counted as free or reduced, and no refund is given.

* School Pictures

o All school pictures will be taken during the week of October 8-12, 2007. This includes class pictures, group pictures, club pictures, team pictures, family, etc. There will be no retakes this year! Please watch for flyers and picture packets that will be sent home with your child.