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 kpbsd.k12.ak.us. 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 the School Board meetings should contact Debbie Tressler at 907-714-8836 or email dtressler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us no later than three business days before the meeting date. The board will meet:
■ Oct. 20;
■ Nov. 3;
■ Dec. 1;
■ Jan. 12;
■ Feb. 2;
■ March 2;
■ April 6;
■ May 4 (at Seward High School);
■ June 1;
■ June 2 (Board planning session).
Holidays and vacation days scheduled
■ Nov. 27 and 28 — Thanksgiving;
■ Dec. 22-Jan. 2 — Winter vacation;
■ Jan. 19 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day;
■ March 9-13 — Spring Break;
■ April 3 — Good Friday.
Early release dates for KPBSD schools
Six times throughout the academic year, schools will meet the minimum day so that teachers may have approximately 90 minutes of additional time to work on improvement strategies. On these early release dates, schools will end 90 minutes earlier. Bus transportation will be adjusted by 90 minutes. Upcoming early release dates are:
■ Oct. 29;
■ Nov. 26;
■ Feb. 4;
■ March 27;
■ May 1.
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 welding academy this fall at the Workforce Development Center (located behind KCHS). The students will be building a snowmobile trailer. Class days will run Sept. 23-Dec. 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-5p.m.
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 a 1/2 of a practical art credit.
To sign up students can see their counselor, call Debbie Pearson at 283-2145 or go to onestop.kpbsd.k12.ak.us.
Funding for the Alaska Construction Academies comes from a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and The Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development.
Screenings for infants and preschoolers
The KPBSD Child Find Program and SeaView Infant Learning will be offering free screenings for children 5 years old and younger during the Cooper Landing Community Health Fair. The screening will be on Oct. 4 from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Cooper Landing School. We will screen your child’s early development, motor skills, speech, early learning concepts, vision and hearing.
The Study offers tutoring
The Study wants to wish everyone an amazing 2014-2015 school year. The Study is an accredited learning center that partners with the KPBSD, Home School Entities and Private Schools. We offer private tutoring in all subject matters — music including: voice, guitar and piano; courses for credit, including: algebra 1 and 2, Spanish, Alaska studies, geometry, high school art, as well as “all day” kindergarten and pre-k. The Study also offers a SAT Prep course. Check us out on the web at thestudysoldotna.com or call us at 907-262-6227.”
Teen writers sought
The Clarion is seeking students in grades nine through 12 from central peninsula high schools interested in writing for its Verbatim column.
The column is designed to let teens voice their opinions on topics that affect their daily life, such as home, family, school, peers, social pressures, etc. Columns are 300-500 words in length.
Students interested in writing should submit a sample column for consideration by 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. Submissions must include first and last name, school, grade, mailing address and contact phone number.
Submissions should be emailed to schools@peninsulacarion.com. For more information, call Will Morrow at 907-335-1251.
Connections Home-school
Dates to remember
■ Monday and Tuesday to Oct. 7 and 8 — Brown Bag Learning Lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday 12:10-1:10 p.m. for Students K–third grade
■ Wednesday — Movie: Dolphin Tale 2 at noon
■ Sept. 29 and 30 — Safe Sitter Class
Brown Bag Learning Lunch for Students K-third grade: Miss Shelli is hosting a special brown bag learning lunch on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from Sept. 16–Oct. 8, at the Soldotna Connections Office, from 12:10-1:10 p.m. An RSVP is required so please reserve your spot ASAP. The first five RSVPS will receive a mystery prize! This is planned for students, parents are welcome to drop their student off or stay. If you have any questions or ideas please email or call the Soldotna Connections Office 714-8880. sfurlong@kpbsd.k12.ak.us Please note: This special learning time is open to all K-third students. Bring a piece of completed school work to share and a piece to work on. Pack a light lunch to nosh while we learn and share together. (Miss Shelli always has extra.)
Dolphin Tale 2 Movie at Orca Theater on K-Beach at noon on Wednesday. Cost is $5 per person. Connections has another fun activity for families! The event is open to anyone and everyone! Bring your friends, family, other homeschool families to enjoy the activity. Please pay at the Connections office by noon on Monday (cash or checks made out to Orca Theater) We must have at least 50 participants in order for the event to take place. Tickets will be sold at the door if there is space available (193 max).
Safe Sitter Course — Do your children babysit siblings or other children? Connections and Central Peninsula General Hospital are partnering together to offer the Safe Sitter class for homeschoolers. This nationally recognized class is a great way to prepare our children to care for each other as well as become certified to babysit other children. This is a two day class and will be offered Sept. 29 and 30 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.. Safe Sitter® (created by pediatrician Patricia A. Keener, M.D.)can teach you the skills to do it well! Children need to be between the ages of 11 and 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 tosafesitter.org or cpgh.org click on quick links, go to community programs and click on safe sitter. Please register by Friday to attend. For more information, or help registering, 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. We look forward to hearing from you as space is limited. Please register with the Hospital Cashier to reserve your child’s seat today!
IDEA Home-school
IDEA Homeschool is open for enrollment! Stop by the office or call for more information. Enrollments can be completed onlineideafamilies.org . IDEA has several activities coming up! There is a family picnic on Friday at Soldotna Creek Park from noon-2 p.m. IDEA will provide hot dogs, condiments and water. Families are welcome to come and celebrate the beginning of the new school year. Bring a side dish to share! There is a field trip to the Museum of Science and Nature in Anchorage on Oct. 3. The office is open to browse curriculum, fill out enrollment papers, chat with staff, or fill out ILP’s, which are due. These are only a few of the great opportunities at IDEA. Check out our website for more information!
Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science
■ Monday — APC work session at 4 p.m. to discuss enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year, including what grade levels to offer
■ Thursday — APC special meeting at 4 p.m. to vote on Enrollment for 2015-2016 and what grades levels will be offered for that school year
■ Friday — The APC ballots for the special election will be mailed, one per household
Reminders
■ The Life Skill we are focusing on this week is Personal Best: To do one’s best given the circumstances and available resources.
■ Volunteer training is now online! If you would like to volunteer at Kaleidoscope or on a Study Trip, you will need to complete an online district background check and complete volunteer training. Go to kaleidoscope.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/volunteers. The background check can take up to 2 weeks to be approved.
■ Please call school by 2:30 p.m. if you need to make a change to your child’s after school plan
Kalifornsky Beach Elementary
Friday is School Picture Day. Sibling photos will be from 11:30a.m.-noon.
Mr. Daniels’s class will be working on the Wind Gizmo project. It’s an engineering challenge that is school district sponsored. The goal is to create a vehicle that uses only wind to move. The winners of the class competition may move on to the school and district competitions. Good luck junior engineers!
Kenai Alternative High
M & M Students of the week who were recognized for Motivation & Maturity were: Devin Hoffman, Tommy Nicholson, Keenan Segura and Tia Bodley.
Students recognized for their good citizenship were: Cody Vaught, Cameron Bovee and Tommy Nicholson.
First rotation ends on Oct. 3 and the second rotation begins Oct. 6. Students interested in attending KAHS for the second rotation are asked to call the school at 907-335-2870 to schedule an appointment.
Kenai Central High
Homecoming week — Monday will be class colors day. Tuesday we expect lots of hippies dressed in tie-dye running around! Wednesday is senior citizen Day so don’t forget your slippers and reading glasses! Thursday is Super Hero Day and Friday is our Spirit Day — everyone will be in red, black, and white.
Lunchtime activities take place every day this week during lunch. Each class is busy with its float decorations and looking forward to our parade on Friday. Homecoming royalty will be announced at the pep assembly Thursday afternoon.
The Homecoming Parade starts behind Arby’s at 6 p.m. Friday and ends about 6:30p.m. in the high school front parking lot. We’ve got some pretty creative floats this year, so you won’t want to miss this parade! Immediately following the parade will be our Powder Puff football game and bonfire which features fun contests, and of course, a big fire.
Watch the Homecoming Football games Saturday afternoon — JV plays at 11 a.m. and varsity plays at 2 p.m. Be sure to be there to cheer the Kenai Kardinals to victory! All KCHS alumni out there grab those old letterman jackets and put on Kardinal colors to come out and cheer on the KCHS football team!
The Martin Scholarship Barbecue will also be happening on Saturday during the football games so come eat some excellent food and contribute to a great cause!
Our Homecoming festivities end with our “Mardi Gras” Homecoming Dance, Saturday night from 8–11 p.m. in the auditorium commons at the high school.
A big thanks to all of the parents and community members for helping us make Homecoming Week a success. To help with float or hallway decoration judging, be on parade patrol, or to donate anything as a prize, please call us at 907-283-7524.
Catch the Homecoming Spirit and come join us for our festivities!
Kenai Middle
Congratulations to our Character Counts winners- Paulyne Catacutan and Tyler Neill.
There is a lot going on this week at Kenai Middle! Be sure to come out to support your fellow students at the sporting events happening in town this week! Go Kossacks!
Nurse Dixie is conducting a Mass Health Screening for vision and hearing as well as TB Testing for seventh graders on Sept. 22.
Coach Johnson’s “B” soccer team will travel to Chapman to compete on Monday at 3 p.m.
The Rolph/ Beck 6th grade team will take a trip to Exit Glacier on Tuesday and the Fischer/ Bressler team will go on Friday.
Tuesday is the 1st round of Soccer Boroughs.
The Cross Country Borough Meet will be held at Skyview on Friday, beginning at 3 p.m.
Soccer Borough Finals will begin at 10:00 am on Saturday at Nikiski.
Sixth grade students are continuing with their swimming unit. Be sure to call ahead if you are picking up a sixth grade student early.
Mountain View Elementary
Monday — Picture day. Picture packets were sent home last week and are also available at the office. Orders may also be placed online at mylifetouch.com.
Miss Fischer is inviting Mountain View families to “Get Up and Move!” on Friday from 5:30–7 p.m. This is a new event giving families an opportunity to participate in moving and learning about the importance of healthy bodies by walking/running around our “track.” Students will earn a chain and pendants/beads. We will also pizza for sale! We hope to see you here!
We will have a volunteer orientation on Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. If you would like to volunteer in your child’s classroom or participate in a classroom field trip, please plan to attend one of these orientation sessions. All volunteers are required to pass a background check through the KPBSD website. Volunteers are very important and appreciated here at Mountain View Elementary!
Nikiski Middle-High
■ Monday — C Team Football at Nikiski vs. SoHi at 3 p.m.
■ Tuesday — Middle School Borough Soccer at Nikiski at 3:30 p.m.; Volleyball at Nikiski vs. Homer C Team at 4 p.m., JV at 5 p.m., Varsity at 6:30 p.m.
■ Thursday — Powder Puff Game at 5:30 p.m.
■ Friday — Middle School Cross Country Boroughs at Skyview Middle School at 3 p.m.; Football at Nikiski vs. Barrow at 5 p.m. Bonfire to follow ending at 10 p.m.
■ Saturday — High School Cross Country Running Regions at Kodiak; Homecoming Dance at 8: p.m.–midnight. Cost is $8 per person or $15 a couple. Pictures will be taken by Kelly Reilly Photography. Order forms are available at the office.
Homecoming!
Homecoming week is Monday — Saturday
■ Monday — Pajama day
■ Tuesday — Fictional character day or class color day: seniors — purple, juniors — blue, sophomores — fuchsia or pink, freshmen — green
■ Wednesday — Western day
■ Thursday — Nerdy neon day
■ Friday — Spirit day
Nikiski North Star Elementary
Picture retake day will be on Thursday in the library.
We welcome all parents and guardians to become members of the NNS PTA. This year’s PTA board consists of: Samantha Playle, President; Emily Brigham, Vice President; Michelle Maguire, Secretary and Jennifer Chamberlain, Treasurer. The PTA teacher reps this year are Michelle Burnett, Emily Mayberry and Brianna Redfern. In order to vote on PTA issues you must be a PTA member. Forms are available to print off on Facebook or you can ask any of the board members for assistance. Meetings will be monthly and announced when a specific time and date is set. The annual Fall carnival will be held in October and if you are interested in volunteering, please contact a PTA board member. For more information please call the office at 776-2600.
Redoubt Elementary
■ Sept. 23 — School pictures: siblings 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., retakes Oct. 29. Order packets will be sent home with students prior to picture day.
■ Oct. 1 — Drop date for Free and Reduced Lunches. New applications must be submitted prior to Oct. 1 to avoid a lapse in benefits.; Walk Your Child to School Day — Meet at the Catholic Church on Fireweed and Redoubt at 7:45 a.m. Snacks will be served and prizes awarded at the church between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. before departing to walk to Redoubt. Soldotna Montessori and Soldotna Elementary will be joining us for this fun family event. All students must be accompanied by an adult.
■ Oct. 11 — Redoubt Elementary 4th Annual Fun Run will be held to raise money for the sixth grade field trip to Peterson Bay. Walkers and runners must register. Registration forms are available at the school office. Registration/Check-in and Bib Pick-Up will be 9-9:45 a.m. with the run starting at 10 a.m.
■ Oct. 16 — Fun Fest
It is important that your child arrives at school on time every day. Students should come to school nourished and rested. Please try to avoid picking up your child early unless it is absolutely necessary. It is interruptive to teachers and students when we have to call students out of the classroom during school hours. Many teachers are giving important information and instructions to students at the end of the school day. Thank you for your help in making sure that your child is given the best opportunity for a quality education.
Box Tops winners last week were; Gage Trent and Jesse Allen. Keep those Box Tops for education coming, weekly drawings are held so don’t forget to have your child put their name on the back of each Box Top.
School fundraiser — Great American Opportunities — Starts Sept. 30, packets and information will be sent home with students. Completed order forms and money are due back by Oct. 14.
Redoubt staff and students would like to take this opportunity to welcome Naomi Parrish, fifth grade teacher and Rebecca Cole, first grade teacher, Redoubt’s newest additions. We are excited to have them join our Redoubt family.
Skyview Middle
2014-2015 Yearbooks on sale! Price is $30 before Oct. 31. Personalization available on front cover for an additional $5. Order forms are available at the Front Office.
The Skyview Middle School Student Council is facilitating our Six Minute Snack program. Any student who is hungry can pick up a free granola bar snack during our extended passing period each day. Donations of granola bars or funds to help purchase those items are needed. Many thanks to our adult and student volunteers, as well as our community donors who support this program. If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please contact Mrs. Pothast at spothast@kpbsd.k12.ak.us or call 260-2500.
Important — Current contact information is essential for effective communication with parents/guardians during the school day. If a student has a change in address or phone number, please contact the Front Office to update. Thank you!
Final week for Soccer and Cross Country! Good luck to all teams!
■ Tuesday — First Round of Borough Soccer Tournament
■ Friday — Cross Country Borough Meet at Skyview Middle at 3 p.m.
■ Saturday — Finals of Borough Soccer Tournament at Nikiski at 10 a.m.
Intramural Basketball begins on Oct. 6.
Soldotna Elementary
This year SOEL has decided to mix things up a bit with a new fundraiser. We are excited to be offering discount cards which will produce a higher per-item return to our school. Each card is sold for $20 and has the unlimited potential for savings at participating local businesses. Monies earned from this fundraiser will help support a visiting artist-in-residence and to purchase technology for our classrooms. This year our artist is Eddie Woods, a drummer and storyteller. All our children will get the opportunity to learn and experience his amazing talents and craft. If you pre-ordered cards, they can be picked up at the office.
Like us on Facebook: Soldotna Elementary and the parents’ pack
National Custodian’s Day is Wednesday, October 1st. We are so thankful for our amazing custodial staff! Not only are they capable and diligent in their work, but they are some of the finest people you could ever meet. Thank you Miss Renee, Miss Mercedes, Mr. Ted, and Mr. Bob for all your kindness and the cleanliness of our school!
Every week we have a box top drawing, and the winner receives a fruit bar. One box top is worth 10 cents to our school, and I know it doesn’t sound like much. Consider that we have over 300 students, and if all the parents are saving box tops, that adds up to a considerable amount of money. You don’t have to have children who attend our school to collect box tops for us. We are equal opportunity box tops collectors. Feel free to bring your box tops to our office any school day.
This week is School Picture Day! Wednesday is the day. Also Hat Day is Friday.
Sign up or renew your Club Card today! Your participation can mean hundreds of dollars for our school! Go to escrip.com/safeway and follow the instructions to sign up.
It’s free and easy. If you are already participating, you must renew to keep earning for our school. Go to escrip.com and click on “Yes! Renew.” Effective November 1, 2013, you may earn from Safeway using any form of payment EXCEPT credit cards. See their website for details-escrip.com/safewaystores/safeway/details.jsp.
Want to get rid of your aluminum cans? Just crush and bag them and bring them to us, and we will happily deliver them to the landfill. We are encouraging everyone to recycle those cans and SOEL will receive a check. Last year we won second place in the Medium School Division and received a check for $602.
Soldotna High
On Oct. 8, Juniors and Seniors will have the opportunity to visit two college campuses. The SoHi counseling department will be taking a bus of 40 students up to Anchorage to tour the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and Alaska Pacific University (APU). The cost of the trip is $5 per student and both breakfast and lunch will be provided. The bus will leave at 6 a.m. and return at approximately 5:30 p.m. For more information please contact our College and Career Guide, Emily Knight, at 907-260-7083.
We are collecting pictures to get a jump start for graduation. For the senior video, we are looking for school activities (sports, academics, etc.). We also need baby pictures/senior pictures for the slide show. The best format is to scan them and send to dgordon@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
The Library Media Center is open until 5 p.m. Monday–Friday and most Saturdays 8-11:30 a.m. Tutoring is available. If you would like your student to take a bus home at 4:15 p.m. (Monday through Friday only) please contact Tamra Wear at 260.7036 or twear@kpbsd.k12.ak.us to talk about route availability. Note: there are NO buses running yet at the 4:15 p.m. time slot.
ATOSS tutoring will start in the Library on August 25th and run until May 4 from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Pool Schedule:
■ Morning lap swim 5:30-7:30 a.m. Monday-Friday
■ Evening lap swim 6-7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday
■ Evening Open swim 7-8:45 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Sport Calendar — arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=21192
SoHi will be locking the Parking lot entrance Door during the following hours:
■ 7:40 a.m.-11:55 a.m.
■ 12:30 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
Also note that during school hours the only open door will be the Front Entrance Commons/Flag Pole doors. The above is to improve our overall school security.
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: 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!
Final transcripts! 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 Prep
Native Youth Leadership Club in Room 10 the first and third Wednesday of every month.
Poetry Out Loud meetings in Room 10 the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.
After School Tutoring Monday through Thursday 2:15-3 p.m.
Robotics Meeting Monday through Thursday 5:30–7 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30-4 p.m.
Wednesday — The Manhattan School of Music Filed trip for all team 2 members is from 9:30-10:30 in the choir room. This presentation is titled Thunder Drums — how early music was a form of communication not just entertainment.
Homecoming Week Sept. 22-27
Assemblies each day at SoHi. Students who ride the bus will board at SoHi this week. Students who are picked up by parents can be picked up at SoPrep at 2:25 p.m.
■ Monday — PJs day
■ Tuesday — Superhero day and Peach Fuzz Volleyball at 6:30 p.m.
■ Wednesday — Freshman color day — green
■ Thursday — Twin day
■ Friday — Spirit day: Purple, blue and white. Bonfire from 8-10 p.m. at Soldotna Regional Sports Complex
■ Saturday — Football 11 p.m. and 2 p.m. and Dance from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Cost $15 per person. There will be a photographer for picture purchases.
Please check Soldotna Prep’s school web page soldotnaprep.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/ daily for important information.
Tustumena Elementary
Sept. 29 — Site Council Meeting at 4 p.m.
Oct. 16 — Picture Retakes
Oct. 21 — PTO Meeting at 4 p.m.
Oct. 21 and 22 — Lynx Track Activity
Oct. 27 — Site Council Meeting at 4 p.m.
Oct. 29 — Early Release at 2:05 p.m.
Oct. 30 and 31 — Parent Teacher Conferences; Trunk or Treat from 5-7 p.m.
Oct. 31 — Halloween Carnival from 6-8 p.m.
Wings Christian Academy
This week at Wings, the Bike-a-thon was rescheduled for this Monday due to the weather. If the weather is still not cooperating, the students will participate in Bike-a-thon festivities inside the gym. This alsomeans the T-shirt contest and date to turn in pledge sheets is extended until then. The winners of the “Clean Desk of the Week Award” last week are Ethan Berga and Sara Brubaker. Good job!
Upcoming news: Students will be participating in a field trip to Bear Creek Weir near Seward on Sept. 29. Dress code is PE clothes and rubber boots or shoes that can get wet. We will leave from Wings Christian Academy around 9 a.m. Student need to bring a sack lunch and a warm coat. Permission slips for the trip will be sent home in the Communication Envelope this week.
