Newsletters 2019-20 Focus: Back to school

FOCUS: Back to school ANOKA-HENNEPIN SCHOOLS 2019-20 Making the most of time at school Welcome back to the 2019-2020 school year. The back-to-school weeks are busy times filled with excitement and a little anxiety. This back-to- school issue of the Focus newsletter and the ahschools.us/bts website are provided as resources to help families with back-to-school planning. Utilize these resources to make the most of your time and hopefully ease some of your concerns. For the first time ever, parents/guardians will complete many back-to-school forms online. This is a time saver for families and for school staff that also ensures students are focused and ready for learning. While this is only available for returning students, we plan to extend this out to all families in future years. Almost ten thousand students across the district will be attending a new school this fall. This number includes new kindergarten students, sixth graders, and ninth graders as well as those transitioning to a new elementary or middle school due to boundary changes. We are committed to assisting every student through this transition. Please let your teachers or school support staff know if there are unique concerns. Our first phase of construction is wrapping up with most projects completed prior to school starting. Brookside and Sunrise elementary schools will open this fall and bring much needed relief to many our cramped elementary schools. Our high school students, families and community have been patient and resilient, working hard and learning in schools under construction. The 62 portable classrooms have been removed, a key to providing safer school environments. While only halfway through our bond construction, the majority of our students will notice some improvements this year. It is our goal as a school system to ensure students are prepared to make the most of their time at school, from day one. Thank you for all you do to support your students and our schools as we work together to provide an excellent education for all. Sincerely, David Law, Superintendent Back-to-school forms to be completed online this year Back-to-school forms have an exciting new format this year – they’re completely online. This means, parents/guardians can fill them out on their own time, from a location of their choosing. Starting, Aug. 1, parents/guardians need to log into the “My Student Infor- mation” program via A-HConnect to complete the back-to-school forms process. It’s suggested that a desktop computer or tablet be used to do so. Some of the familiar forms that will now be completed online include emergency information, policy acknowledgements, and information releases. Unsure of what A-HConnect is? A-HConnect is accessible via the lock and key icon toward the top right corner of all district and school websites. If you’re unfamiliar with your parent/guardian credentials for this system, call 763-506-HELP for assistance. Besides back-to-school forms, My Student Information holds a variety of other student information, including attendance as well as progress reports and grades at the middle and high school levels. Again, call 763-506-HELP for technology assistance, username or password retrieval, or other program questions. Included in this publication: Child Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Back-to-school basics . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Extracurricular activities . . . . . . . . . . 5 Adventures Plus school-age care . . . 5 Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Early childhood services . . . . . . . . . . 6 Special education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2019-20 calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Open house dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ahschools.us