Little Paws Press

9/1 = Labor Day Holiday - No School

9/2 = 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grade Family Conferences All Day

9/2 thru 9/5 = Kindergarten Family Conferences All Week

9/3 = 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade = First Day of School!

9/8 = Kindergarten First Day of School!

9/19 = Fall Picture Day 📸

9/25 - East Elementary Open House 5-6:30pm 🏫

Dear East Cub Families,

We are so excited to kick off this new school year together!

Our team is looking forward to welcoming first, second and third grade families on Tuesday and kindergarten families all week for goal-setting conferences—a wonderful opportunity to connect, build relationships, and start the year with shared goals for your child’s learning journey.

I also want to share a personal update with you. I will be in Anchorage for medical treatments from August 30 through September 27. During this time, Angie Hietala and Todd Burton will be serving as administrators at East. They are both experienced leaders who care deeply about supporting our students, staff, and families, and they will be here to assist in every way needed.

One important update for this school year as we start it together:

East Elementary is now a nut-free school.

We have a number of East Cubs with severe nut allergies,

so we ask that no nuts of any kind be sent with your child for meals or snacks.

Thank you for helping us keep all of our Cubs safe and healthy.

Finally, please take a few moments to carefully review our new parent pick-up procedures outlined below. These changes are designed to keep dismissal as safe and smooth as possible. The updated 2025-26 Cub School Family Handbook is also attached for you to look through. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the office—we are here to support you in any way we can.

Thank you for being such an important part of our East Cub community. It’s going to be a wonderful year!

At East Elementary, your child’s safety is our top priority. To keep dismissal smooth and safe, we’ve made some changes to our parent pick-up process. Please take a moment to review these important guidelines.

How Pick-Up Will Work

-All students being picked up by car will wait with staff by the baseball field fence.

-A staff member will call students’ names as cars arrive.

-Students will walk to the color-coded cones (purple, green, or blue) and wait there until their car comes to a complete stop.

-Staff will help students safely into their cars.

Parent Responsibilities

-For safety and efficiency, please do not get out of your vehicle during pick-up.

-Pull forward as directed by staff and stop at the cone area before your child comes to the car.

-Display your family name card. (You will get these at your family conference this week.)

-Please place the card with your student’s name(s) in a visible spot on your dashboard. This helps staff quickly identify who you are picking up and call them to the cones efficiently.

-Review the traffic flow map above. Families will receive a map of the parking lot showing how cars and buses will move. Please review this carefully so we all follow the same routine.

-Use the pick-up line whenever possible. Parking to pick up students will be difficult this year with so many buses and cars moving in and out. The safest, smoothest option is to go through the pick-up line.

-Be patient. The first few days may be a little slow as everyone learns the new system. Once families and staff get into the routine, the line will move more quickly.

-Please note that the visitor parking nearest the school building will be blocked in when busses are present. If you park there, be prepared to wait until loaded busses have moved before attempting to pull out.

Important Reminders

-Students will not be allowed to walk to cars waiting beyond the cones. They must wait until their name is called.

-If your child is riding the bus, they will be lined up by bus number in the cafeteria and escorted safely to their bus by staff.

-If your child has not been picked up after dismissal, they will wait with staff or in the office until you arrive.

We appreciate your cooperation in following these procedures. By working together, we can ensure that every child gets home safely and that dismissal runs as smoothly as possible.

School Newsletter

Look for your weekly newsletter, Little Paws Press, in your inboxes every Monday afternoon.

There will be lots of useful info stored at the end of each for your reference all year.

General School Information

Emails from PowerschoolMessenger and Smore will be the main

form of communication that you will receive for all general

school information and updates outside of your student's classroom.

Urgent or Emergency Communications

All school emergency notices or alerts will be sent through

PowerSchoolMessenger emails or PowerSchoolMessenger automated calls.

Please take a moment to confirm that your phone numbers and emails

are up to date and correct in your parent portal or check with us in the office.

Individual Classroom/Teacher Communications

KIBSD Staff will only be communicating through district issued devices and applications.

Faculty and staff will no longer be texting or calling with their personal phone numbers.

If you need to reach your child's teacher during the school day please

email, connect via SeeSaw or call the office to leave a message.

Need to speak with your principal?

Call the office to see if Ms. Audra is available or to leave a message.

Ms. Audra always tries to make time to speak with families

but scheduling an appointment time is recommended.

For appointments - please call 907-486-7492.

The East School Office is open 7:30am til 3:30pm - @907-486-7492

We are always happy to help.

Here are the new bus routes and schedules for 2025-26.

These are subject to change, so just be ready for updates.

If you have a general bussing question and want to check bus routes,

Call First Student @907-486-3600.

Elementary Student Breakfast = $3:50

Elementary Student Lunch = $4.75

Please fill out the Free&Reduced Meal Waiver to see if you qualify.

Every little bit helps.

Use the link below or ask the office for a hard copy.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We are always happy to help.

Kindergarten = 11:10am

First Grade = 11:35am

Second Grade = 12:00pm

Third Grade = 12:25pm

Families are always welcome to join their students for lunch time!

Be sure to sign in with the office before heading to cafeteria.

Please bring your own lunch or call in the morning to order an adult meal.

Adult meals are $9.00 this year.

We love to highlight student art work!

Check this space for weekly glimpses of East Cub art around the school.

🐾

Thank's to some cash donations, the hard work of some Kodiak families and the PTA/PTO teams,

we have some colorful paws around campus now!

Special shout out to Katie Kesling for reaching out to include us in the glow up.

(Our Cub cousins over at Main and Grizzley friends at KMS also have some paws to start the year.)

Welcome back to school!

Please update your student's 25-26 health information in SchoolCare for us. This annual enrollment needs to be completed every year to ensure health information and medication permissions are up to date. Hopefully you received an email from SchoolCare last month with a link to complete this health information online. That is the best way to make updates to our system. If you are having trouble accessing a SchoolCare account, we can print a paper copy here in the office for you.

Thank you for helping us keep our records up to date.

The East Elementary Cubs have a brand new FaceBook Page!

Please Like and Follow below for news, events, updates and fun.

The I L❤️VE East Elementary page is still alive and well. Just note that it is no longer the official page for East and it won't have the most current information. Find that beloved page below...