School board to meet
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets at 7 p.m. in the borough building at 148 N. Binkley Street in Soldotna (unless otherwise noted). For more information, call 907-714-8888 or visit http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/board.aspx?id=28035. The agenda and packet items are posted on Wednesday afternoon prior to the date of the Board Meeting.
Persons with disabilities who need accommodations to participate at School Board meetings should contact Debbie Tressler at 907-714-8836 or email dtressleratkpbsd.k12.ak.us no later than three business days before the meeting date. The board will meet:
■ April 14;
■ May 5 (at Seward High School);
■ June 2;
■ June 3 (Board Planning Session).
Career and Tech training offered
KPBSD Career and Tech Department is offering free after school academies to train students in the Welding, Construction and Medical Field.
There will be a summer construction academy at the Workforce Development Center (located behind KCHS). Students will be constructing a greenhouse and a shed. Class days will be May 28-30 and June 2-6 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Also offered this summer is an Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) academy. Dates and times TBA. This course will cover all areas required to receive certification as an Emergency Medical Technician. The last week of class will be for review and the final exam. If you pass the exam you’ll receive your certification and an ETT patch.
Any high school student is able to participate in any of our academies. If a student successfully completes the 60 hour academy they will receive one-half practical art credit.
To sign up go to http://onestop.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/ or for more information call Debbie Pearson at 283-2145 or students can see there counselor.
Funding for the Alaska Construction Academies comes from a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development and the Alaska Youth First Program.
Visit the Study
The Study will be holding Kindergarten Visitation for next year’s incoming Kindergartners and Pre-K students from 1-2 p.m. on May 16. Students can participate in an hour of school while parents register.
Connections Home-school
Dates To Remember:
■ April 28-29 — Safe Sitter Class 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
■ April 28–May 16 — Ed Performance Testing for 6th, 7th and 8th
■ April 29 — Connections Talent Show; Alaska Construction Career Days at Soldotna Sports Center – Registration Required and Students in Grades 9-12 Can Apply
■ April 30 — Last Day To Turn In Connections Reimbursement Forms (date subject to change)
■ May 1-16 — AIMS/CBM Testing K-5 – Call to set up appointment
■ May 1 — Kenai Fjords Marine Science Field Trip
■ May 6-7 — Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Overnight Field Trip to Petersen Bay Field Station
■ May 6 — Salmon Celebration
■ May 16 — Kenai River Clean Up Day 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Seniors: turn in semester reports and return all equipment
■ May 19 — 2nd Semester grade report Due and High School Eligibility Due
■ May 22 — Connections Graduation Day
Safe Sitter Course — There is another safe sitter class offered April 28-29 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This class is very informative and offers hands on training for general care to emergency care. Preparing our children for what to do in case of an emergency is so important. Children need to be between the ages of 11 & 13 to attend. Each class has room for 13 students. The cost is $50 and may be reimbursable by Connections. Each child will receive a backpack with tools that they will know how to use upon completion of the class. For more information go to www.safesitter.org or www.cpgh.org click on quick links, go to community programs and click on safe sitter. Please register early to attend. For more information please contact Marcia Knowlton 598-0950(Instructor/Parent contact) or Sheila or Roberta 714-4775(Hospital contacts). Please feel free to invite other homeschool families who are not currently with Connections.
Salmon Celebration — The “Salmon Celebration” will be held at Johnson Lake State Campground in Kasilof on May 6. Grades K-3 are invited to attend from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and Grades 4-6 should attend between 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. It takes about 1 1/2-2 hours to do all the activities. For more information see the attached flyer. Please remember that all Connections students need to have a parent in attendance. Great lunch locations can be found throughout the campground!
Kenai River Kids Clean Up Day on May 16 — Mingle with other homeschool students/families, get outside to enjoy the springtime weather, and get an overwhelming feeling of pride that you helped improve your beautiful river community! If you are interested in participating, please contact Mark Wackler (mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us). Lunch is provided for all participants and we’d love to see you there! Below is a tentative time-line for the day along with the primary clean up locations we have selected. We will be using three primary clean up locations:
■ Isaac Walton in Sterling
■ Swiftwater Park in Soldotna
■ Centennial Park in Soldotna
Each student will be given their own trash bag and label. Awards will be given to the class or classes that collect the most trash. General awards will also be presented to all the students that participate.
Time-Line: May, 16
■ 10 a.m. — Meet at Pre-Selected River Location and have a brief orientation, safety talk, life jacket and bag distribution
■ 10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. — Commence clean up: Guides/Students will spread out and collect trash
■ 12:15-12:45 p.m. — Lunch
■ 12:45-1:15 p.m. Final Trash collection, all bags labeled, depart
Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science
Monday — 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Our 5th and 6th graders who are transferring to KMS next year will be visiting KMS
Tuesday — 6-7:30 p.m. Digital Media Class in the library with Office Prins. He will introduce parents to the importance of media safety and what to look for in your media.
Wednesday — D.A.R.E for the 5th / 6th grade classes
Thursday — 1-3:30 p.m. Kindergarteners will be walking with Mr. Dan to the Creek and the mouth of the Kenai River.
Friday — 3-3:45 p.m. Volunteer Appreciation Assembly. Everyone who has volunteered in any way this year is invited to attend as the whole school recognizes and honors you. Volunteers Color Our World!; 5:30-10:30 p.m. After Testing Fun Night for all current enrolled 3rd -6th graders. Permission slips are required. This event is a fundraiser to support 2 staff members, Mrs. Renner and Ms. Collier, as they are faced with medical issues. All donations are greatly appreciated!
Reminders
■ We would like to thank all of our parents who donated snacks for our SBA testing days. We have some amazing parents in our school and are very thankful for each and every one of you.
■ Student Placement forms are available in the circular magazine file in the entry. They are due back to the office by May 9. This form is one of the considerations looked at when building class lists.
■ Spring picture packets and / or proofs are expected to arrive in 2 weeks.
■ If you are able to volunteer for the Bike Rodeo on May 12, please let nurse Mary Lou know.
■ Year-end “Being There” trips are getting scheduled now. If you plan on volunteering for any trip, please make sure that you have the volunteer requirements done 48 hours prior to the trip.
■ The Life Skill we are focusing on this week is Trustworthiness: To act in a manner that makes one worthy of trust and confidence.
PTA
PTA is now accepting nominations for the 2014/2015 PTA Board. For more information contact the PTA at ksaspta@gmail.com.
The end of the year BBQ with the firefighters is May 16 at 6 p.m. Volunteers will be needed. There is no school carnival this year.
Kalifornsky Beach Elementary
A student in Mr. Daniels’s class was honored at last Monday’s School Board Meeting for her forensics performance! In addition, there was a student representative from 4th grade that presented our 4th grade Recycle Project this year. Way to go kids! Our foster grandparents, Grandma Brenda and Grandma Dee were honored at the meeting for their outstanding commitment to our children as literacy volunteers at K-Beach Elementary.
Students in Mr. Daniels’s class will also receive a presentation from the Division of Forestry this week. The presentation will include Fire Wise information as well as a tour of a fire engine! A big welcome to our Artist In Residence Liz! Liz will teach us some finer points of creating art during her visit. Jump Rope For Heart will happen next week as well as Junior Achievement. It’s a busy time in Mr. Daniels’s Class!
Monday — 5th and 6th grade visitation to Kenai Middle School
Mountain View Elementary
The 4th & 5th grade concert will be at the KCHS auditorium on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Mountain View Elementary early Kindergarten registration for the 2014-2015 school year open is now open. Students must be 5 years old by Sept. 1. Registration forms may be picked up at the Mountain View Office. Kindergarten Parent Orientation will be on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Mountain View Library. Registered students will be invited to visit a Kindergarten classroom on April 29.
The Site Council will be meeting on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Staff Lounge. Agenda items include FY’15 Planning and the Title 1 Parent Activity Report.
Parent input forms for student placement for the 2014-2015 school year are available now at the office. Your thoughts regarding your students strengths and needs is extremely helpful in developing classroom assignments. For parent input to be considered in the placement process this form needs to be returned to the office no later than May 2.
Congratulations to Haven Walluk for receiving the “Masonic Student of the Year” award for Mountain View.
Pre-orders for the Mt. View yearbook are now being accepted. Order forms were sent home last week and are also available at the office.
Interviews for the new Assistant Principal will be held on April 29, starting at 4 p.m. in the Mt. View Library.
Nikiski Middle-High
The Spring Scholastic ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ Book Fair will be held in the NMHS Library starting Tuesday. It will run for two weeks ending May 3.
The Fair will be open during both lunches and right after school.
It will also be open before and after the Hello Dolly Musical Theater Show the weekends of April 25 and 26 and May 2 and 3.
Tuesday — Middle School Mass Choir Concert at Soldotna High School Auditorium at 6 p.m.
Thursday — Junior Parent Night at 6 p.m. in the library. Contact Tasha Thompson for more information.
Friday and Saturday — High School Track Meet at Skyview Invite.
Friday — Middle School Track Meet at Homer Middle at 3 p.m.; Girls Varsity Soccer at Seward at 3 p.m.; Boys Varsity Soccer at Seward at 5 p.m.
Hello Dolly! Friday and Saturday at Nikiski Middle High School Auditorium. $10 for adults. $5 for students.
April 28-30 — Cheer Tryouts! See Ms. Boyle for more information.
This summer there is an Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) academy. This academy will take place at Nikiski High School from June 4-25, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. This course will cover all areas required to receive certification as an Emergency Medical Technician. The last week of class will be for review and the final exam. If you pass the exam you’ll receive your certification and an ETT patch. To sign up students can see their counselor, call Debbie Pearson at 283-2145 or go to http://onestop.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/.
Nikiski North Star Elementary
Kindergarten registration and orientation will be held on Wednesday at NNS. You may chose to attend at 9:30–10:30 a.m. or 1–2 p.m. If your child will be five years old by Sept. 1, bring them along to have some fun while you enroll them at Nikiski North Star! Please remember to bring immunization records, birth certificate and any legal custody papers. For more information, please call the school office at 776-2600.
Three of our classes have art work hanging in the state capitol in Juneau! Speaker of the House, Mike Chenault, tweeted about their artwork that will be on display through the month of April. The students are in the classes of Mrs. Settlemyer, Mrs. Redfern and Mrs. Heath.
Deadline for registration for the Hershey Track and Field Meet is this Friday. The track meet will be held at Nikiski High School on May 16. Boys and girls ages 9 – 14 are welcome to participate. Volunteers are needed and asked to call Tammy at 776-8800 with any questions.
Redoubt Elementary
Each spring we provide parents the opportunity to provide input into the classroom placement of their child for the following school year. This input can be very helpful to the school staff when placing students into classes. Placement decisions for each student will be finalized by Mr. Pothast, classroom teachers and the school’s Intervention Team. If you have questions about the placement process, please see Mr. Pothast. So that your input may be considered during the placement process, input forms are available at the school web site and at the school office. Forms must be returned to the school office no later than Friday at 4 p.m. Forms returned after that date will not able to be considered in the placement process.
All volunteers must be registered with the school district prior to volunteering in classrooms/driving on field trips. Field trip drivers must complete a driver form and submit required documentation when driving on school related field trips. Please contact the school office for additional information or go to http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/ click on volunteer link and follow the instructions.
Redoubt Elementary 2014/2015 Preschool applications may be picked up at the school office. Children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1.
Screening for this program will be held at the Soldotna Public Library on April 29. In order to be considered, a child must be 4 years on Sept. 1 and have a completed application returned to Redoubt Elementary. Screenings will be scheduled after applications are brought to the school. For information please call 260-4300.
Spring Book Fair — April 28–May 2. Buy one book and get the other book free.
Last week’s Box Tops for Education winners were, Ryatt Weed, Kenny Mize, Lexie Wells & Zeek Miiler. Keep turning those Box Tops for Education.
Redoubt Art Show — A collection of artwork created by student at Redoubt will be displayed through the month of April at Kaladi Brothers on Kobuk in Soldotna.
River City Academy
Future Problem Solving is a program developed 40 years ago to help kids think creatively and out of the box. Students from all over Alaska, all over the united States, and all over the world compete using a six step problem solving technique. On April 14 and 15, the State Bowl was held in Soldotna. While over seventy teams from each division (5th and 6th grade Juniors, 7th – 9th grade Middles, and 10th-12th grade Seniors) participated in the program, only the top five from each division were invited to the State Bowl. This year, teams from Cordova, Sitka, Fairbanks, Kenai, and Soldotna along with students from Hong Kong, China participated. Students were presented with a future scene in which Beijing, China was struggling with pollution and gridlock to its transportation systems. The Senior River City Academy team consisting of Rachael Todd, Misha James-Ravin, Logan Trigg and Morgan Stoddard took first place in the presentation of Action Plans. Rachael Todd placed third in Senior Scenario writing. Congratulations to these hard working and high achieving students!
Next Saturday School is set for April 26, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and will focus on math
New student shadow day will be May 6 7:50 a.m.-12:10 p.m. Incoming new students for next year are invited to join us for the morning to see what life is like at RCA. Please call the school to sign up.
New building orientation will be May 7 5:30-7:30 p.m. at SMS. This invite is open to all students and parents, including those planning to attend next year.
Skyview High
Super Activity day Thursday (no 6th hour)
Interested in careers in Alaska’s dynamic construction industry? Skyview will be taking a bus over to the Soldotna Sports Center to experience the construction trades first-hand on April 29. Apprenticeship programs and industry representatives from Alaska will give you the opportunity to learn about exciting, high paying jobs in the booming construction trades. Experience demonstrations and hands-on activities in heavy equipment operation, painting, welding and much more. Pick up a permission slip from Wes Andrews or Emily Cotton.
Skyview students; get your musical and/or artistic talents flowing. The last Skyview annual Talent Show will be held April 30 in the commons. If you wish to participate, you need to fill out the audition form and turn it in by April 29. The forms are on the back of Mrs. Raemaeker ’s door (B205) or in the office. They need to be turned into either Mrs. Raemaeker or the office. The auditions will be Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. for the live performance portions of the show. Prizes will be awarded. If you are entering an art piece, fill out the form and submit it to Mrs. Taylor and/or Mrs. Raemaeker.
Skyview’s last Academic and Senior’s Awards night will be May 6 at 7 p.m. in the commons. Seniors need to submit scholarship award information to Mrs. Madden by May 2 in order to be included in the program.
Soldotna High
The KPBSD 25th Annual Student Art Show, Visual Feast, was a success for Soldotna High School! For the 2013-2014 school year, the following students took home awards:
Kaitlyn Groleske – Best of Show (Mixed Media) & 1st in Acrylic/Oil Painting; Claire Kincaid & Hannah Selden – Honorable Mention in Acrylic/Oil Painting; Xochi Harbison – 2nd in Watercolor Painting; Daisy Nelson – Honorable Mention in Sculpture; Nicholas Truesdell – 2nd in Open; Tyson Smith – 1st in Functional Ceramics; Jacob Ansel – 2nd in Functional Ceramics; Makayla Derkevorkian – 2nd in Mixed Media; Ryan Moeglein – 2nd in Photography
Congratulations to Meggean Bos. Her proposal she sent in to American Association of Family and Consumer Science teacher’s national conference, So Many Apps – So Little Time!, has been selected for Putting Research Into Practice!
Graduation is May 19 at 7 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
Higher Expectations Greater Success Parent Guide (Alaska Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics) is now available at the front office. Alaska’s standards in English and math set high expectations for students from kindergarten to grade 12. Students who meet these goals will be ready for success after high school-whether it is in the military, on the job, or in a union apprenticeship, technical school, or college. Your schools will decide how to meet the standards through a local curriculum and teaching methods that respect your community’s cultures.
There are two ways to order a transcript. Each way serves a different purpose.
If you need a transcript sent to a college or NCAA or a similar agency, then you will need to log on to: www.parchment.com to order transcripts to be sent. The request is then forwarded to SoHi. After processing, it then goes through cyberspace… rather than the US mail… to get to its destination, which is much faster! All transcripts that are headed for NCAA, colleges, etc. have to be processed this way!
A final transcript is one that shows your second semester grades… If you order your transcript when we are in second semester, you will need to make sure you choose “next grading period” when you go on to Parchment… that way your transcript request will wait until the grades are in at the end of the year before it is sent.
Soldotna Middle
Monday — Final Site Council Meeting at Soldotna Middle School Staff Lounge at 4 p.m.
Tuesday — Mass Choir hosted by Soldotna Middle School at Soldotna High School. All day event. Concert in Soldotna High School Auditorium at 6 p.m.
Thursday — Kenai Invitational track meet at Kenai at 3 p.m.
Many students have outstanding fees. Please check PowerSchool to see if your student has an unpaid balance – all fees are payable by cash or check to the front office. Please contact Mrs. Kircher at 260-2500 if you have any questions.
Spartan Student Council is looking for artistic representations of Soldotna Middle School history in any medium. Creations will be on display during the Spartan History Celebration happening in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Art Showcase on May 1 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you are interested in contributing, please see Mrs. Pothast for more details. Submissions are due by 2:15 p.m. on April 25.
Congratulations to the Citizens of the Fourth Quarter – Asia Angeles Hanson, Kellie Arthur, Garryn Baker, Levi Benner, Carsen Brown, Anthony Carrasco, Caroline Cho, Tanner Craig, Preston Doucet, Titan Farrell, Joseph Fiebelkorn, Mykenna Foster, Brenner Furlong, Victoria Giles, Laurel Glaves, Cheyenne Groff, Cody Hemphill, Cameron Knowlton, Serena Larrow, Justin Lavender, Myra Love, Sarah McConnell, Sean McMullen, Carlin Meyer, Chloe Newby, Natalia O’Toole, Portia Padilla, Nathaniel Patat, Brianna Peters, Wessley Petrovich, John Mark Pothast, Cody Quelland, Delaney Risley, Jaeger Smith, Kyla Smith, Jode Sparks, Shannon Spence, Allison Towell, Alexander VanDeGrift, Koby Vinson, Andreah Walker, Thomas Wells.
Wings Christian Academy
This week at Wings, the students are feeling relief after a week of testing. However, the end of school is drawing nigh as the graduates work to get their last few grades in! There is officially 4 more weeks of school left until graduation! Today is their last school holiday for the year and the students will return back to school on Tuesday. Keep up the good work! You’re almost done!
Thursday is the last volleyball home game of the season and begins at 1 p.m. The volleyball tournament will take place at Wings on March 2. The team did very well at their last game and won the match against the WHCS Archers! They’ve been practicing hard and hope to also do well in the tournament.
In other news, the students recently participated in “Quiz-ems” where they tested their knowledge from previous chapel services. Zane James won for the 1st-6th grade division and Tyler Ophus won for the 7th-12th grade division. Way to go!
