August 15, 2008 Dear Parents, On August 14th, Scotia Union School District's Board of Trustees approved extending the start date of the 2008-2009 school year. Enclosed is the school calendar that shows school beginning on September 2nd and ending on June 12th. In order to provide the required 180 school days without extending an additional week, the traditional President's week (except for 2/16th) and June 12th will be added to the school calendar. Eureka City Schools, Freshwater, and Cuddeback Union School Districts all begin school after Labor Day, and this year Scotia Union School District will do the same. Also, Kindergarten orientation has been rescheduled for August 28th at 1:30PM (originally August 21st).

The reason for this school calendar change is that the classroom teachers and office staff need more than four days to move materials and furniture into their new or temporary locations in order to be prepared for the start of the 2008-2009 school year. Mrs. Eicholtz (Kindergarten), Ms. Ross and Mrs. Owren (Second and Third), Mrs. Barbata and Mrs. Zana (fourth), and Mr. Steinberg (RSP) are in the process of moving into their modernized classrooms located in the west pod. Mrs. Gossien (5th), Mr. Lewis (6th), Mr. Shawn Barsanti (7th), and Mr. Garey Barsanti (8th) are moving into the Murphy Mountain classrooms. The office staff will move into the computer lab until the front office is completed. In September, the East Pod will be under construction. Dinsmore construction is ahead of schedule and instead of completing the modernization project by next summer, their goal is to complete all phases by January 2009.

It has been amazing to witness Dinsmore Construction demolish and then rebuild the interior of our school this summer. In addition, these construction workers are in the process of completing an American Disability Act (ADA) bathroom next to the cafeteria and ramp that leads to Murphy Mountain. The front blacktop has been resealed with newly painted playground lines. All west pod classrooms have new tack wall, carpet, ceilings, energy efficient lights, counter tops and cabinets. Each classroom has individualized energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems. And as a grand finale, Promethean boards have been installed to provide the best multi-media, interactive technological instruction available.

We are proud to announce that Scotia Union School District will be the first district in the county to offer Promethean board technology to all grades (K-8). Our teachers will be trained in state-of-the art technological delivery of instruction and assessment. Humboldt County Office of Education and Shaw Computers has made SUSD the new training center for California's North Coast.

Our District strives to keep class sizes small for optimal one-on-one and small group instruction. Twenty-seven students enrolled in Kindergarten. Therefore, the Board has approved hiring a teacher in order to offer two kindergarten classes. Since we have only one classroom at this time, we will provide morning (8:55AM to 11:50AM) and afternoon (11:55AM to 3:15PM) kindergarten classes during the first semester. If the east pod is complete by January, we may be able to offer all day kindergarten the second semester pending Board approval. Students in grades 1st-3rd will continue ending their school day at 2:30PM, but grades 4th-8th will end at 3:15PM, thus providing 1,800 minutes of added classroom instruction in the upper grades.

We are looking forward to starting the school year with a modernized facility and enrollment that seems to be better than anticipated. If you have any questions or need further clarification of these revisions please give me a call at 764-2212.

Best Regards,
Jaenelle Lampp
Superintendent/Principal