The Weekly Penguin

Great first two days back! I love the energy our teachers are putting into the classroom, and our students are wonderful. Some are their usual exuberant selves, and others are just trying to figure out high school. We have students from large, public middle and K-8 schools, and students who are the only ones from their class of 12 8th graders at their charter school. We have students who live three houses down from the school, and at least one coming from as far as Rio Rico! We are looking forward to our first full week next week.

Today we witnessed a few traffic concerns which we are worried will escalate. Part of me wants to be sarcastic, but I will opt for direct: DO follow all traffic laws and rules both around and within the campus. DO NOT:

• Stop on 5th St or Arcadia St in the middle of moving traffic to pick up or drop off your student.
• Double- or triple-park. I took the photo below of Arcadia today after school.
• Come to school early to park along the curb of the auditorium/administration building. These are designated lanes for emergency responders, NOT a parent pick up location.
• Speed through the parking lot or drive against the direction of traffic flow at any time. We had our first fender-bender because of this exact thing. No one was hurt and it is repairable damage, but it happened.

We will manage and guide traffic before and after school for the first few days, but we implore you not to endanger the lives around you, or be prepared to earn a citation from TPD as they know to patrol during these high volume times.

Presentation over, I promise. Please read everything below for continued info and new items. Cheers!

School contact info:

University High School

421 N. Arcadia Ave., Tucson, AZ 85711

Email: uhs@tusd1.org

Website: uhs.tusd1.org

Phone: 520.232.5900

Facebook: University High School

2024-2025 RUHS bell schedule

Attendance procedures

***Campus security: drop-off and pick-up procedures

Campus security: on-campus procedures

CANVAS access for parents

Counseling team and assignments

Parent cohort meetings!

ParentVUE access

***Parking permits 2024-2025

Restroom availability during school year

School devices

Student cohort meetings!

***Student schedule change request form

Student lunches

Yearbook and retake info

For the coming school year, both Rincon and University High Schools will be removing 5 minutes from each student lunch period, and getting out of school 5 minutes earlier on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Additionally, Wednesday classes will each be 50 minutes long but the day will still end at 2:00pm. All half-days, final exam days, and the pep assembly schedule will ring on either a zero or a five. This change was made in collaboration between the University High School and Rincon High School administrations.

Please see the bell schedule attached on the ParentLink email.

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.

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.

Student IDs

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. They will be needed to scan for tardy sign in, to purchase any items in the bookstore, and for overall campus security. The first ID of the school year is free to students, but a replacement ID will incur a cost. If students arrive late to school they must present their ID to both the guard shack at the main gate AND the buzzer door, again for campus security.

University High School utilizes CANVAS for its classroom curriculum. Here are the instructions for parent access to your student's CANVAS classrooms. Contact the school if you have any questions.

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

This year's parent cohort meetings will take place on Zoom according to this schedule:

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.

We have been receiving requests from folks about late submissions for parking permits. At this point there is a substantial wait list, but if you have applied for a permit and not received notification of receipt you can email me directly and I can give you more information. Not everyone who applies for a permit will be granted one, and not every 12th grade student is automatically issued a permit. We know there are extenuating circumstances at times, but we will be fair and equitable to those who submitted the application earlier this year. Please note: we will only contact students if they have been selected to receive a permit, they will not receive any correspondence if they are not selected. Thank you in advance for your patience. See the existing information below.

The application window for 2024-2025 student parking permits is still open! Students: if you have not yet done so, complete the UHS parking permit application form.

• The first round of permits has been assigned and a wait list created for the remainder of applicants.
• Students selected for a permit have until August 13 to collect it. After then they may lose their permit and students on the wait list will be considered to receive permits.
• Students will be notified if they are selected to have a parking permit, and will receive further instructions of what will be due in the finance office along with all necessary supplementary documentation.
• Any remaining applicants who are not selected to receive a permit will be placed on a waiting list. I will go through the wait list after August 13 and issue any remaining permits by priority of year in school, distance from school, and after-school activities. There are temporary permits available for special circumstances, i.e. you are having surgery on a knee and will need some weeks to recover.
• You must access this form using your TUSD email/ID because we require file uploading and it is part of our district digital security measures. For any further information or questions please contact Ms. Montano in the UHS administration office.

Non-gender specific student restrooms will be available in the cafeteria and the health office (inside the administration building).

All students much bring their school-issued devices each day. To continue district practice and policy from the previous year, no personal devices of any kind will be allowed to connect to TUSD networks, and no personal hotspots will be allowed on campus. If you have not yet completed the processing for this year, you will need to report to the UHS administration office Tuesday, July 30 from 8:00am-3:00pm or Wednesday, July 31 from 2:00pm-3:00pm. This is preferential than waiting until the first day of school, the offices you will need to visit will likely be very busy and lines as a result may be very long.

If you still have your device from last year it MUST be brought in for updating/exchange as it will not function correctly (all student devices were service by district technology services over the summer).

Student cohort (class) meetings will take place next Wednesday, August 7 in the auditorium according to the following schedule:

Period 3: 12th grade

Period 4: 11th grade

Period 5: 10th grade

Period 6: 9th grade

You will be escorted both to and from the auditorium by your classroom teacher. If you are in a class with more than one grade level, you will likely still all go together or another teacher will escort you. These are information sessions to meet the administration, your counselors, and review just a couple of district items such as the student code of conduct.

Student schedule changes are still in process. Because of the number of requests, we will not be individually contacting families or students if a change has or has not been made. To check and see if your schedule has been changed, please check your StudentVUE or ParentVUE account each morning. That is the real time listing of your course schedule, and the courses listed are the ones that you should attend. For the first 10 days of school many requests may still be processed, we asked that you have patience and ask that you NOT call the school asking for an update on your request.

Here is the refreshed schedule change request link. It has been tested and should work. Reminder that ALL schedule change requests must got through this link. All requests are considered but not all requests may be honored due to such factors as graduation requirements, or section/course availability. The last day to make schedule change requests is August 13, 2024.

As a continuation from the end of last school year, all school lunches are free to ALL students! Feel free to partake of our school lunch program, or you can of course continue to bring your own (but not delivery). Our campus has two lunch periods, and University High School has the second, which occurs after 3rd period on Monday, and after 4th period on Tuesday through Friday.

Some of our teachers allow students to eat lunch and hang out in their classrooms. Please check with your teachers on which have this as an option for you. Be respectful of your teachers’ time and space, and note that sometimes at lunch, rooms will be unavailable. The cafeteria and library are also available as indoor spaces during lunch, though no food is allowed in the library.

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: Picture retakes are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 20th.

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 are planning to get your yearbook picture done at school, you need to schedule it by THIS WEEKEND because the appointments are August 5th and 6th! The Prestige website is set up to make you pay a sitting fee, but you do not have to pay a fee to be in the yearbook. To bypass the sitting fee:
1. Select the $15 option (2 poses, so the shortest amount of time).
2. Continue clicking as if you will pay, but once you get to the screen where prompts you to payment type, scroll to the very bottom and click on “Continue" where it gives you the option to pay the day of your sitting. If you ONLY do the yearbook pose and not a second pose that day, you will not be charged. https://schedule.prestigeportraits.com/schedule/home.html

Reasons to consider paying a sitting fee:
1. Assures you will have enough time scheduled for additional backdrops and poses. If you would like to see the quality of what Prestige offers, you can find examples at this site: https://prestigeportraits.com/get-prepared/senior-portrait-session/
As an additional pose option, there will be a cap and gown available (cap and gown cannot be used for the yearbook picture).
2. Last year they had a gorgeous shimmery backdrop that made people look like movie stars (also not an option for the yearbook picture).
3. If you cannot decide what to wear, you get to have some options. Just bring them with you to school that day.
4. Finally, by using prestige for your personal senior portraits, you are eligible to apply for a $1000 scholarship. Take that to the bank – Literally! https://prestigeportraits.com/get-inspired/prestige-college-scholarships/

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