Immersion Education – Teaching academic content in another language

Hello Fronteras Families!

What a fabulous week together! We hope everyone has had a comfortable start to the new school year! The students have jumped in and are demonstrating wonderful social and academic skills! Way to go families!

Our 1st semester ALICE drill is next Wednesday at 8:30am. Please do not let this discourage you from volunteering that day. We will take good care of you! ALICE stands for ALERT, LOCKDOWN, INFORM, COUNTER, EVACUATE. While it is only a drill, staff and students behave as if we have a real emergency. I put an imaginary intruder (or two) somewhere in the school. Staff must decide if they can safely evacuate or should remain in place and get ready to counter or evacuate should the opportunity arise. All guests/visitors in the building during our drill will participate and be guided to a safe area or will evacuate, depending on their location inside the school. You can learn more about ALICE by visiting www.alicetraining.com

By clicking this link, https://www.matsuk12.us/Page/41887 you will see this year’s school goal and the steps completed so far. When you have a moment, please stop into school and check out the graph of responses displayed outside our Spanish Tutors’ office. In the spring we’ll ask for your thoughts and suggestions to improve our process.

We wish everyone a wonderful weekend! See you at the front doors on Monday! Remember to wear your favorite NFL team clothing or colors every Monday through January 27th! Every Wednesday is Fronteras Wear, and every Friday is RED (Remember Everyone Deployed) Friday! Please share your thoughts for spirit Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Please take a moment to read our Student Ambassadors’ introduction letter included in this newsletter. Eighth graders Kaia & Karsyn have an important role this year as the student voice of Fronteras. In addition to developing fundraisers, school spirit days, community service projects, and speaking at school and community events, they will assist with school tours in the spring for interested families.

Most Sincerely,

Mrs. Hutchins

“Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

In order to minimize the high volume of calls into the classrooms for early student pick up, we are making three (3) times during the school day available for early pick up. The times that we will interrupt student learning and instruction include:

· 9:00-9:15am

· 11:00-11:30am

· 1:30-1:45pm

Please make an effort to schedule appointments or family outings so pick-up falls within one of the three available times. This includes phone calls to your student as well. Students will return your call during one of their breaks. Student learning is jeopardized, focus is lost, and instruction stops each time the office calls in for a student.

In addition, it is not necessary to call the school when you are running late, morning or afternoon. We welcome all kiddos as they arrive and students are safe and supervised until picked up in the afternoons.

Please note - Students who are ill will be resting in the nurse’s office and may be picked up at any time during the school day.

Thank you for understanding and helping us keep instruction and learning uninterrupted!

• In both the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up, please pull all the way forward along the sidewalk
• No Top Ramen at lunch unless precooked and stored in a thermos. Top Ramen takes too long to microwave causing safety issues and not allowing enough time for your child to eat their lunch
• Students need to bring a labeled water bottle every day to school
• If there is any schedule change to your child's afternoon dismissal, including someone else other than you picking up your child, please use School Dismissal Manager by 2:00pm
• The front office is extremely busy from 2:20 to 2:40 everyday during dismissal. If you have a need and it's not an emergency, please stop by or contact the front office after 2:45

Welcome to the new school year! I am looking forward to working with you and your child, and I’m pleased to announce our school will be participating in the Healthy Futures Challenge this year. The contest will run for three months, September-November. What is Healthy Futures? Founded by concerned parents, Healthy Futures is a statewide, grassroots movement to help youth build positive, lifelong physical fitness habits through two core programs: the Healthy Futures Activity Log Challenge and the promotion of youth attendance at local recreational events. Why Healthy Futures? Kids are not as active as they should be. They need daily vigorous physical activity to build strength, endurance, healthy muscles, and bones or they may face tough problems like obesity, diabetes, and lower self-esteem. At Fronteras, we are committed to helping students develop the skills, knowledge and desire they need in order to be physically active now and for the rest of their lives. Parents and the community also play a critical role in the solution for healthier, active children by providing motivation, encouragement, and daily opportunities for recreation beyond the classroom. How does your child participate in Healthy Futures? With your assistance, your child records physical activity on the Healthy Futures Activity Log. Qualifying logs must show at least 60 minutes of physical activity during a day, for at least 15 days of the month. Students can now count their active time during PE class and recess. While it is healthiest for physical activity to be distributed throughout the month, the 15 days can occur in any pattern during the month and count toward a qualifying log. The good news is that your students can spread out their 60 minutes of activity during the day. They can even break it up into smaller chunks of time during the day — as small as 10 minutes at a time of moderate to vigorous effort. For example, it could be 20 minutes of active time during PE class, 20 minutes during recess, and 20 minutes of playing tag with their friends after school. On a weekend, it could be a 60-minute hike with their family. This helps children get closer to the national recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity every day for the best health. Students turn in completed logs to me [with your signature if teacher requires] in exchange for exciting prizes, including the chance for one student from each school to win a grand prize if they complete all three logs in a Challenge. Incentives. In addition to being happier and healthier, students are rewarded for participating in Healthy Futures. The contest will run for the months of [insert names of months]. In exchange for turning in a completed log each month, students will receive a small prize and will be entered for a grand prize drawing at the end of the school year. This is a wonderful program that is sure to benefit your child and our school. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I’ve attached some ideas for activities the whole family can enjoy; there are many possibilities and also more on the resource link.

Qualifying logs must show at least 60 minutes of physical activity during a day, for at least 15 days of the month. Students can count their active time during PE class (50 minutes of class every 3rd day) and recess. This helps students get closer to the national recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity every day for good health. Due October 2nd- Please turn into Sra. Hill

For more family activity ideas, visit www.playeveryday.alaska.gov and our family resources page http://healthyfuturesak.org/the-challenge/family-resources

Some ideas include: Jump Rope, Walking the neighborhood, Roller skating, Tag Games, Visit a park, Swimming ,Dancing, Ice Skating, Hiking, Biking, After school sports teams/classes

Physical Education is welcoming any donations of gently used children's shoes/adult sizes for middle school. Thank you for remembering to wear your gym shoes to keep our gym floor in great condition. Please see Sra. Hill for any questions.

Attention all Library Volunteers! New and returning volunteers are invited to meet for a Library Meeting on Wednesday, September 18th at 2:35pm in the Fronteras library where we will discuss "all things library", matching volunteers to the schedule and training opportunities. If you are unable to attend but still would like to volunteer to help out in the library please email Jodie Escot at jodieescot@gmail.com

BP 5144.1 C. 2. Attendance

Studies have shown that student attendance at school is directly related to student success. Parents, students, and schools need to work together to promote attendance and success. In order to effectuate positive results and good communication, an automated telephone call will be made to the parents when a student is absent; a written notice will be mailed to the parents after five days of absence. After nine days of absenteeism, the student’s absences will be considered habitual and another written notice will be mailed to the parents. In cases of habitually truant students, a referral may be made to the Office of Children’s Services. After ten cumulative absences in a semester an administrative, parent, and student conference is required. Schools are encouraged to have positive incentive programs to reward good attendance by students and staff. Parents are encouraged to take an active role in student attendance and to alert the school when their child is to be absent. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements to keep up with schoolwork when he or she is absent from school.

Students in grades K-5 who attend a minimum of 3.5 hours, regardless of the time of the day, are present for a full day. Students who attend less than 3.5 hours, regardless of the time of the day, are present for a half day.

A student is considered tardy 5 minutes after the start of elementary school and after the bell rings for each class in middle and high school.

High school and middle school absences are to be recorded for each class period on the district’s student information system by the teacher.