Unalaska City School District

UCSD District Office will be CLOSED July 3rd @ 12:00 and all day July 4th. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Notice: The UCSD school board and superintendent will be participating in a AASB/ACSA virtual meeting to learn more about the Dept. of Education's (DEEDS) proposed regulation changes that have the potential to drastically limit financial contributions currently classified as 'outside the cap'. This proposed regulation is currently open for public comment to the AK State Board of Education through July 23rd.

We will meet at 12:00 pm, Tuesday, July 1st, in the Supt. Office.

The meeting is open.

UCSD staff and students collected approximately 100 bags of trash as part of the Unalaska Community Clean-up! Classes, teams and individuals contributed their time and love for our beautiful area. Raider Pride!!!

UCSD would like families who travel to other parts of Alaska, or other states, during the summer to know that their students can receive meals at sites that operate the Summer Food Service Program. See flyer for more information.

Dear Families, UCS has early release on the last day of school! (2:15 on May 29th) Have a wonderful summer!

The 6th annual Unalaska City School Parade of Graduates will begin Thursday May 22nd at 6:00 P.M. at Eagle's View Elementary and end at Safeway. Graduates should be at EVE by 5:30 P.M. to line up. Please come out to wave at the graduates of the class of 2025.

You're invited to the Unalaska City School Class of 2025 Graduation on Friday, May 24th at 5:00 p.m. Join us in celebrating this special milestone for our graduating seniors.

Awards night is tomorrow night in the big gym at UCSD. Come by for cake and celebrate our students achievements this year. Cake is served at 6:00 and the awards will start at 6:30.

Dear Unalaska City School Community, This week, we honor the remarkable educators who shape the heart and soul of our school. Our teachers bring skill, care, and unwavering commitment to their work every day. They provide personalized support to each student—adapting instruction, building relationships, and creating safe, inclusive classrooms where all learners can grow. Teaching is complex and demanding work. As we near the end of the school year, the challenges only grow—balancing instruction, student needs, transitions, and year-end responsibilities. Yet our teachers continue to show up with professionalism, compassion, and resolve. Please take a moment this week to thank a teacher. Whether it’s a note, a kind word, or a simple acknowledgment, your appreciation means more than you know. Carly

UCSD is so lucky to have each and everyone of our staff! If you see a paraprofessional, librarian, teacher, custodian, office clerk, maintenance or tech person, district-office personnel , principal, substitute, driver or one of our food service folks, please show them your appreciation. Our student success is in their hands every day and I can't think of better hands to trust. Thank you UCSD Staff!

UCSD student transportation is beginning to load students for first routes home. Thank you.

UCSD student transportation routes will be running approximately 20 min late so that we can finish enjoying the Multicultural Festival.

All UCSD students k-12 will be dismissed from the high school tomorrow (Friday) following the Multicultural Day performance. Eagle's View office will be closed after 12:30. Any changes in pickup for Eagle's View students after 12:30 will need to be made by calling the high school office at 907-581-1222. Any student going to Friday Splash will be escorted to the pool by UCSD staff following the performance. Any Eagle's View parent that plans to pick up their child before or after the Multicultural Day performance will need to sign out their child with their teacher. Student transportation will be available and will run the normal routes following the performance.

Please welcome our UCS 2025-26 new Principal, Mr. Mark Alston. Following is an introduction letter from him to all of you. Hello UCSD Family, I hope you’re enjoying your school year! I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and give you some important information about the start of the 2025-2026 school year. My name is Mark Alston, and I am honored and excited to serve as the new principal at Unalaska Jr/Sr High School. I have been a K-12 principal in the Bering Strait School District (at Martin L. Olson School) prior to that, I was an Assistant Principal in the Lexington City School District, Lexington, SC, and Dean of Students in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools District, Charlotte, NC. Most of my Administrative experience has been at the high school level and I absolutely love working with all-aged students. There is no better job in the world, than being a school principal. Personally, I served 23 years in the United States Army. I am married with two children. Tonya, my wife and I have been married for 3 years. We have two sons and one daughter between us. As a family, we love spending time exploring, traveling, and entertaining. Professionally, after earning a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education Specialty Mathematics from Grand Canyon University, 2009. I have spent the last 16 years serving in various teaching and leadership capacities in education. While teaching, I earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University in 2015. I am passionate about finding ways to individualize instruction for students. I promote a culture of learning that gets students excited about learning new things and encourages them to engage with other students. I believe that a culturally responsive, best practices learning environment helps remove barriers to learning, and that is what I will strive to create at Unalaska Jr/Sr High School. I made this move to UCSD because I know that I can help make a positive difference here and provide stability in leadership. I am committed to the community and plan to be here for years to come. I am a supportive leader who will listen to the needs of students, families, staff members, and stakeholders. I will use my leadership skills to help accomplish the goals that we create together. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be coming to Unalaska and to get started in August/September. Please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. I will be here to support your students and family in any way I can. Let’s see just how high we can go! Respectfully, Mark Alston, Principal Unalaska City School current #: (706) 726-4186

The Student Government students and advisors returned this morning from the spring AASG conference. Unalaska was well represented.

Day 3. The NYO team finished 3rd overall with 32 points. Kristal placed 2nd in seal hop, Gian Placed 3rd in seal hop, Lucy placed 4th in AK high kick, and Aaron placed 5th in stick pull. Good job Raiders.

Day 2 results NYO. New state record by Anatoly in One Arm Reach. Lucy placed 4th in Scissor Broad Jump, and Sonny placed 5th in Eskimo Stick pull. Games are streamed through Bering Straight School District on NFHS network.

If you aren't following our NYO student athletes, you MUST! Lots of successes. I won't list here, as I am afraid I will miss some. An Unalaska pride moment, though, was listening to Alaska News Source this morning, as Unalaska boys' athletes were the main focus. It highlights Deklan, Rafael and Kaidon with an interview that said so much. Kaidon Parker's words, "Unalaska is just a hardworking town. ... Everyone want to push their hardest. A town that likes to grind and gets things done." Watch the full newscast here (min 22 is the NYO section). Go to videos on demand and select Morning Edition II for today. https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/livestream/ With great appreciation to Unalaska families, our coaches, teachers and more ... we are growing amazing students!

Here is a brief recap of Day 1 at NYO. Rafael won the Toe Kick, Deklan won the Wrist Carry, and Kaidon won the AK High Kick. The games are also streamed through Bering Strait School District's live stream. Tomorrow events begin around 10am with scissor broad jump.

Rafael takes 1st in Toe Kick at state-wide NYO tournament!