Week of August 15 Parent Newsletter

This Week

  • Parking Lot Entrance & Exit Change

    • As a reminder from the announcement made at Parent Orientation, the entrance and exit locations for the parking lot have changed from last year. For drop off and pick up, please enter at the north entrance and exit at the south entrance. When you enter on the north side, please drive all the way around the building to the main entrance. The purpose of this change is to allow students to exit straight from the passenger side into the building. Likewise, with an increase in cars this year, this will allow the line to wrap around the building and not go out into the street. This week, two UCA employees will be posted at the entrance & exit (respectively) to help guide traffic. Additionally, there will be UCA employees working the drop off/pick up line every day to ensure student safety entering/exiting the building. As a final note, please reduce your speed on South Park as you approach the building to ensure an orderly entrance into the parking lot.

  • Freshman Launch | Monday, August 15 and Tuesday, August 16, 9:30AM-3:30PM

    • Launch is an opportunity for UCA freshmen to build relationships with one another and get acquainted with high school before classes start.

    • Freshmen should be dropped off at, and picked up from, UCA on both days.

    • On Tuesday, we will visit Camp Manitoqua. Freshmen should wear comfortable, modest, and older clothing that can get dirty with closed-toe shoes. We recommend freshmen not wear jewelry. Please also bring a water bottle and sunscreen.

    • Lunch will provided on Monday. BYOL (bring your own sack lunch) on Tuesday.

    • If you have any questions about Freshman Launch, please email Mrs. Veldboom, Community Life Coordinator (aveldboom@weareuca.org).

  • First Day of School | Wednesday, August 17, 8:30AM-3:30PM

  • August Lunch | If you have not already, click here to order lunch for the month of August. Lunch is $5/meal.

Parent Orientation Follow Up:

  • As a matter of follow up to Parent Orientation last week,

    • Please review the 2022-2023 Community Handbook as a family before the first day of school. 

    • Please submit all documents in the Forms to Sign & Return packet to Ms. Grant by no later than Wednesday, August 31.

    If you were not able to attend Orientation, please stop by the main office between today and the first day of school to pick up your folder of important documents. For your knowledge, a digital version of the Community Handbook is on the website and will remain accessible to you all year long.

Brain Gains:

  • "Brain Gains" are weekly thought prompts and activities for students to take advantage of on their walk to class or lunch time. These will be posted within this newsletter each week to give families an opportunity to connect with their students on what they're seeing in the hallway bulletin board each week. Each day has a theme, which are listed below:

    • Mindful Monday: Activities include meditations, visualizations, and mindfulness

    • Together Tuesday: Activities involve team building and initiatives that build trust

    • Wellness Wednesday: Activities focus on ways to build physical and emotional health

    • Thoughtful Thursday: Activities emphasize self-reflection and spiritual formation from the previous day’s chapel message

    • Fun Friday: Activities are energizing activities that reinforce the importance of joy

  • Click here to see the activities your student will be seeing this week!

School Calendar & Master Daily Schedule:

  • Click here to view the 2022-2023 School Calendar.

  • Click here to view the 2022-2023 Master Daily Schedule. There are a few modest updates from last year (e.g., extended Office Hours on T & TH).

Looking Ahead:

  • Curriculum Night | Thursday, September 8, 6PM.

    • UCA’s first-ever Curriculum Night will be an important opportunity to visit all of your student’s classrooms, discover more about the curriculum for each department, learn more about Standards-Based Grading at UCA, and ask questions of faculty. We are seeking 100% participation, with at least one adult representative from every UCA family in attendance. Contact Mrs. Bootsma (cbootsma@weareuca.org) with any questions about Curriculum Night.