The Weekly Penguin

Thanks all for another great week! Here is our first Sunday Penguin.

This is a re-statement of last week's top message: All students must be in possession of their IDs any time they are on campus. They may wear them (the best way), or have them in a pocket, wallet, backpack, purse, etc. The procedure we are implementing for students arriving late to school is to present both their ID and a copy of their current class schedule at the buzzer door. This schedule can be either a paper printout or from their active login to the StudentVUE app (not a screenshot). This again is for campus security. It is time-consuming and an inconvenience. The point: get to school on time. This procedure can be avoided if arriving on time. The lines for late students from both UHS and RHS went around the admin building on multiple days this week. We will begin tracking tardies in the next week or so, please be respectful of your teachers who show up on time to teach you!

If you need to still get your student ID you may do so before school, during lunch, or after school. If you arrive late and have not yet gotten your ID you will likely be directed to the finance office to get it. See you tomorrow!

AP exams and registration

Athletics update

Attendance procedures

Campus security: drop-off and pick-up procedures

Campus security: on-campus procedures

CANVAS access for parents

CCCC (College, Career, and Counseling Center) update

Counseling team and assignments

Parent cohort meetings!

ParentVUE access

Rincon/University clubs

UHSPA - mid-August update

Yearbook and retake info

This week, teachers and counselors reviewed information on AP Exam Registration. Students have a copy, you can review it here. Take a moment to complete the 2025 AP Registration Understanding & Agreements Form . Please note that you must complete it even if you are not registering for any exams. This is also the method by which you indicate a need for a fee waiver.

Fall Sports season is here! Get your season pass for $30 in the finance office. This ticket allows you to get into all home game event excepting post-season competition/play. All proceeds generated from purchasing this pass stay at the school.

• If you wish to participate in a winter or spring sport you can get your athletic packets done NOW. This will save time during the rush to get these done right before a season starts. Stop by Ms. Bull Calf's desk in the UHS admin office to pick up and drop off packets, or if you have questions.
• Cross Country athletes: meet in front of the Amphi (Languages) Building at 3:30pm. Talk to Coach about Wednesday schedule.
• Swim athletes: meet by the Arcadia gate at 3:20 pm, a bus will take you to the Catalina HS pool.
• Girls volleyball athletes: meet in the South gym at 3:30 pm - tryouts start Monday!
• New Football athletes: please speak to Mr. LaVetter in the Athletics Office or email Lance.LaVetter@tusd1.org

To excuse a student’s absence or tardy

If your student will be absent or tardy, this year you will have 3 ways of reporting it. You will need to have the student’s name, date of birth and the reason they will be out.

• Go to your ParentVue account, select attendance from the menu on the left and click on the box “report absence”. This is the fastest way.
• You can email universityattendance@tusd1.org or laura.feigenbaum@tusd1.org.
• Call the attendance line at 520-232-5902. If you are unable to reach a person, please leave only ONE message.

Our office staff will retrieve your information from one of the methods above as quickly as possible during office hours. Your information may not be entered prior to you receiving our automated attendance call. Please refer to your Parent Vue account after 3:00 p.m the same day to verify that the absence/tardy has been updated. If it has not been recorded, please email universityattendance@tusd1.org to fix. Please be aware that the highest call volume is between 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Student’s leaving early

If you are aware that your student will need to leave early, you have some options:

• You can send a note with the student and have them come to the attendance office before school starts and we will issue a pass.
• You can either email or give us a call directly. We will issue the pass for the student to leave their class at the time requested. Please give us at least 15 minutes to complete this process if calling in.
• If you need to come in, we will be happy to get your student for you upon your arrival, be aware that it may take additional time this way so please plan accordingly.
• For added security, you will need to show your photo ID in two areas on campus, at the front security gate and ALSO in the Attendance Office. Your student WILL NOT be released without proper identification. ANY parent, guardian, or person on emergency contact listed in the original student’s registration for the current school year can sign-out your student.

We WILL NOT accept calls, emails or in person requests for students to leave early after 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, or after 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Students MUST sign-out and receive a pass from the attendance office prior to leaving campus.

***We are continuing to see a number of traffic violations, and TPD officers are now patrolling the school and surrounding areas during high volume times. Please stay safe! Follow our procedures!

Student pick-up and drop-off will occur on Arcadia Ave, on the east side of the school. Arcadia Ave can be accessed from either 5th St to the north of the school, or Broadway Blvd to the south of the school, all just east of Swan Rd. The entrance to the school is the southernmost purple rolling gate with the white security guard booth alongside, as indicated below. You may also drop of students along Arcadia Ave by pulling into the bays, which are designated for parent drop-off and pick-up. Please do not seek other entrances, driveways, drop-off or pick-up locations, such as the curb in front of the admin building (it is marked for law enforcement and district vehicles). We know some of you get here particularly early or have done things a specific way in the past, but please follow these procedures. See the maps below for access and routes. (RUHS school access map, and RUHS dropoff, pickup map)

Students may park in one of two designated areas depending on the specific permit you applied for and were provided. See the maps below for access locations. (RUHS south student parking, RUHS north student parking). Students note: the north lot is primarily reserved for faculty and staff. Park only in the locations outlined by the red rectangles and only if you have a permit specifically for the north lot.

Please follow all traffic laws and safety procedures above and beyond what you might plan for. The safety of our students, staff, and families is paramount and we CANNOT put that at risk by speeding, double- and triple-parking, stopping in main throughways/streets, pulling into public bas bays, pulling into bike lanes, or otherwise driving unsafely or stopping anywhere other than designated areas. Tucson Police will have intermittent patrol around the school but tickets/fines/paper arrests are the norm procedurally. Please be safe.

Arriving late to school

All exterior gates to the school except the main gate at the guard shack on Arcadia Ave will be closed no later than 10 minutes after the tardy bell. The Penguin gate leading to the interior of campus next tot health office will be closed right at the tardy bell. All students arriving late will then need to be dropped off OUTSIDE the main gate and check in with security before entering campus. Students will then go to the buzzer door next to the administration building to be let in after verifying their identification (see student IDs below). Students will then head to their respective attendance office to sign in and get a tardy slip to get into class. This is not an excused tardy if there was no call in previous to arrival. Students will not enter the school through any other gate, fence, door, or other entrance aside from the buzzer door when arriving late to school.

Items for student pickup

Any items brought to the school for student pickup (i.e. forgotten school materials such as musical instruments, school devices, athletic equipment, etc.) must be dropped off with the security monitor at the main gate. We will ensure all items are brought to students. The following are items which will not be delivered:

• Cash money
• Food (with exceptions for students who forgot their lunch and have specific dietary restrictions)
• Flowers/balloons

No food delivery

Students are not allowed to order food through delivery services of any kind to be delivered to the school. Any deliveries arriving for students will be turned away at the students' expense.

University High School utilizes CANVAS for its classroom curriculum. Here are the instructions for parent access to your student's CANVAS classrooms. Contact Mr. Nieves at Kevin.NievesPichardo@tusd1.org if you have any questions or difficulties getting your parent CANVAS access set up.

Junior/Senior counselors will visit the senior English classrooms this week to review ECAPs and provide time to work on them and ask questions. Seniors, your ECAP is due on Tuesday, 9/3 – remember that this is a state graduation requirement! Check in with your counselor on Mon/Tues for assistance – we are excited to read your ECAPs and work with you on your post-secondary planning!

SENIORS: Join the instate university info sessions & workshops to complete your general instate college applications and gather information on the Honors Colleges before your ECAP is due on September 3rd! We had our first one with the University of Arizona on 8/13 with excellent attendance! PLEASE NOTE: ASU will be coming THIS MONDAY, 8/19 – see updated handout below.

JUNIORS: Join the UHS Counseling team for our quarterly College-Ready Seminars focusing on how juniors can prepare for applying to college. Each quarter we will focus on a different topic to assist juniors & families in their college planning by breaking down the process and helping you work smarter, not harder! We highly encourage all junior students and families to attend each quarter so they are best prepared for next year.

[Q1] College Admissions Testing – September 10

[Q2] Building Your College List – November 19

[Q3] Financing College – February 4

[Q4] Planning & Preparing for the College Application Process – April 15

All seminars take place on Zoom starting at 6:00 pm. See attachment before for more info.

ALL STUDENTS:

Many colleges and university representatives visit UHS each year, primarily in the fall semester, to share admissions and application information. Unless noted otherwise, all grades are welcome to attend these visits. While we try to schedule visits when class is not in session, sometimes they do fall during class time. When you sign up for a visit, you will receive an email confirmation that can be used as your pass to leave class to attend the visit; however, you have to clear it with your teacher prior to missing any class for a visit! Students can review the current schedule and sign up for visits here: CCCC (tusd1.org) (go to the College & Career section, then look at the info under College Visits)

Doorway to College Foundation is offering a PSAT/SAT Test Prep Seminar, to be held in person at UHS on Wednesday, 9/18/24 and Thursday, 9/19/24 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. See attachment before for more info.

Scholarship assistance available to students with demonstrated financial need – please contact Ms. Villagio – amy.villagio2@tusd1.org

Amy Villagio

Department chair

Counselor grades 11/12

Last names A-L

email Ms. Villagio

Max Encinas

Counselor grades 11/12

Last names M-Z

email Mr. Encinas

Sam Matz

Counselor grades 9/10

Last names A-L

email Mr. Matz

Kate Brownstone

Counselor grades 9/10

Last names M-Z

email Ms. Brownstone

Marcos Flores

504 coordinator, testing coordinator

email Mr. Flores

Katrina Messing

Recruitment and Retention Coordinator

email Ms. Messing

Megan Palos

College and Career Coordinator

email Ms. Palos

Kirsten Pelot

MTSS Coordinator

email Ms. Pelot

The last two parent cohort meetings will be on Zoom, starting at 6pm according to the dates below (no password needed):

Monday, August 19 - 11th grade parent cohort meeting

- Meeting ID: 827 7236 8971

Tuesday, August 20 - 12th grade parent cohort meeting

- Meeting ID: 819 1041 0456

We will introduce the administration and counseling teams, have a presentation from the Parent Association, and any class-specific information. We'll see you then!

TUSD has a tutorial on how to access ParentVUE, which you will need to see your student's schedule, complete registration, and see other pertinent information. Learn what you need to know about accessing ParentVUE.

Our annual Clubs Spreadsheet is here and growing fast! After 2 weeks we've already chartered 46 clubs - holy smokes. This list will continually be updated, so check back for updates as more clubs are added!

08.18.24 RUHS clubs.xlsx

We have almost made it to the end of the first week of school! Wanted to let everyone know about our upcoming meeting and provide thanks to all the parents that supported our back to school teacher supply drive!

Make sure to join us for our first meeting on August 20 at 6PM in the RUHS Library. Future meetings will be on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. This meeting will focus on welcoming underclass parents to the UHSPA since the meeting will be at the same time as the senior cohort Zoom meeting.

Our UHS families have been amazingly supportive of our classroom supply drive. The Wishlist will stay open to reflect current classroom requests. Check out our Amazon Wishlist to support our most recent classroom needs.

** Sign Up for Remind- text [student grad year code] to 81010 ([student grad year code]: @uhspa2025, @uhspa2026, @uhspa2027, or @uhspa2028) ** Subscribe for communications from UHSPA **

Yearbook and Picture Retake Info

The yearbook is discounted to our cost ($65) for a limited time. To make sure to get the lowest price, please purchase your yearbook soon. The link for purchase is https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/ and our school code is 15096125.

Underclassmen and Underclassmen Parents:

Those of you who have already purchased your Lifetouch pictures for this school year, THANK YOU! If you are hoping to order pictures, you still can! Parents should have received an email from Lifetouch and students were delivered a photo proof in their third period class this week. Both have additional information for ordering, including discount codes.

Due to the half-day Sept 20th, UNDERCLASSMEN picture retakes have been rescheduled to WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 18TH.

1. If you missed the initial picture day during registration, you do not need to schedule an appointment. A yearbook staff member will deliver you a pass the day of Sept. 18th. You will not be out of class for more than 15 minutes.

2. If you would like to take advantage of retakes because you are unhappy with the first picture, please schedule an appointment on the following link: https://calendly.com/patricia-wheeler-dgm/photo-retake-signup-uhs-yearbook

Seniors and Senior Parents:

1. The senior ads (yearbook tributes) will be available for sale by the third week of August.

2. If you have already signed up for your yearbook photo session, THANK YOU so much! It helps our yearbook staff tremendously that you completed this important task for the senior section.

3. If you have NOT signed up for your senior yearbook photo session yet, please see below:

If you are taking your yearbook photo through Silhouette, please SIGN UP soon! Those images need to be taken by late October. https://www.silhouettephoto.com/

If you would like to take advantage of the on-campus Prestige senior photo option or would like to take advantage of their retake option, they will be back on campus Oct. 1st and 2nd. The signup for those dates will be ready in a few weeks.

Thank you for helping yearbook staff complete the portraits section of the yearbook!

Please email Ms. Wheeler with any questions you may have about the yearbook or yearbook photos. Patricia.wheeler@tusd1.org