ECA News: The Inside Scoop

It has been an awesome start to the 25-26 School Year! As I tend to do, I snapped some pics of our students and teachers around campus this week - you’ll find these below, in the News. Our ECA classes are full with an incredible new cohort joining our amazing returning students; we packed the house at our Welcome Day (see pic to the left)! EMU students are off and running, too. This long weekend would be a great time for parents/guardians to review syllabi, read through Soft Skills materials, check planners, and go through Canvas courseshells with students–making sure that students in ECA and EMU classes alike are starting strong.

We are trying a new Newsletter format this fall. We think that viewing the newsletter in a browser (on the phone or a computer) works best. The Table of Contents feature is the thing we are eager to add…but as of now we are only seeing it show up on the computer version. Please let us know if it works for you, and what you think.

Our lunch provider this year is new: Ypsilanti Community Schools. Despite a delivery glitch on the first day, we have been pleased with the change. See below for more info about ordering & picking up lunches.

Regular Volunteer or Paid Work Opportunity: We are looking for a helper for approximately 2 hours per day to assist with lunch distribution. If you are looking for a small paid gig this term or would be willing to volunteer, please email me directly: fischer@earlycollegealliance.info.

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

~Dr. Fischer

PS-Reminder to Parents/Guardians: If your student will be absent for any part of the day, please contact our main office: 734-487-7882 or email our Attendance Line (attendance@earlycollegealliance.info). Students should also communicate with their teachers if they will be absent.

Friday, Aug. 29th and Monday, Sept. 1st -- No school for the Labor Day Holiday.

Thursday, Sept. 4th -- REC/IM Opt-Out Form DUE. See below for details.

Friday, Sept. 5th -- First Early Release Day for ECA & Academy classes. Early Release for these classes will take place on most Fridays; High School classes will end at 2:10pm on early release days.

Thursday, Sept. 11th -- Late Start for ECA & Academy Classes (late start to accommodate Curriculum Night; details TBA)

Thursday, Sept. 11th, 6-8:30pm -- Curriculum Night (mandatory meeting for parents/guardians of all 9th, 10th, and NEW 11th grade students--student attendance is not required; childcare provided).
Thursday, Sept. 18th -- Pizza Thursday! Parent/guardian help is needed, see details below.
Thursday, Sept. 18th, 6-7:30pm -- Monthly ECA Pi (Parent/Guardian Involvement) Meeting
Saturday, Sept. 20th - ECA PI’s Tailgate party at EMU's Homecoming Football Game!

Thursday, Sept. 25th -- Pizza Thursday! Parent/guardian help is needed, see details below.

Thursday, Sept. 25th, 3:45-5pm -- Unity in the Community & Club Rush Event for ALL students to celebrate our diverse student body and learn about ways to be involved!
Monday, Oct. 6th -- Teacher Work Day (no ECA High School Classes) & Half Day CLICK Seminar (and school pictures taken) for Ms. Fountain's students (9s, 10s, and NEW 11s)
Tuesday, Oct. 7th -- Soft Skills Review Day (no ECA High School Classes or CLICK activities)
Wednesday, Oct. 8th - Friday, Oct. 10th -- Student-Led Conferences for 9s, 10s, NEW 11s, & any student with ECA classes or in their first full-time EMU semester (no ECA High School Classes or CLICK activities, conferences by appointment with CORE Advisors)

Calendar Details for 25-26:

• HERE is a link to the pdf instructional calendar for the 2025-2026 school year.

• HERE is a link to our website’s home page, where you can subscribe to our online calendar either directly via iCal, or using the URL to add our calendar feed to your Google calendar (directions are provided when you click “Subscribe to Calendars.”

Starting Next Week, Look Here for Ms. Peet’s 9th grade Academy Update! This will offer insights, tips, reminders, etc. for the Academy community. Until then, please look at your student’s ECA Planner! They should have every page completed through page 13. If they’ve missed anything (eg. page 11), then encourage students to complete them before we return to school Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Students starting in Military Science class this term; Huron HS cheerleaders ready for the game; Mr. Holtzman's Seminar class; & students in class and around campus!

Per Mrs. Dace: We got off to a rocky start on our first day. We ran out of food and had to use our emergency stash of ramen noodles and microwave mac & cheese. Things have gone much smoother since then. We have a different district supplying our meals, so it is new for everyone. I have confidence that we will settle in and have a good year. This is out of the district’s hands, but the school meal portions may be less than students are accustomed to getting. By law, we are not allowed to give additional food out. If your student still feels hungry, bringing a snack from home might be a good option.

Last year, we allowed students to pick up breakfast in the morning or at lunchtime. This year, due to a variety of reasons, students will need to pick up breakfast in the morning between 8am and 9am. They can contact me to arrange a different time if they have a need, such as a college class that prevents them from picking up during breakfast time.

Meals are free for all ECA students this year. If this changes, we will give you as much notice as we can. Breakfasts and lunches can be picked up in King 122. Breakfast will be served between 8am and 9am. Academy Lunch (9th grade) is at 12:30. Everyone else’s lunch is at 11:50.

All meals are pork-free. All meals are free of peanut products.

HERE is the link to the menu.

HERE is the link to order meals for next week.

It is important that you order if you want to pick up meals. If you don’t order, we might not have enough food for everyone who did order. If you want a vegetarian meal, you must order it. If you want soy milk, you must fill out THIS form. Everyone who takes soy milk at any time must fill out this form.

We have more students ordering meals than picking up meals. This is especially true of breakfasts. A lot of times, parents order for their kids, but their kids do not pick up their meals. Please check in with your student to see if they will pick up the meals if you order them. We try to avoid having too much food waste.

Please email Mrs. Dace (dace@earlycollegealliance.info) for any breakfast or lunch questions!

As per the Handbook (pages 9-11), the ECA attendance procedure involves actions by both the student and parent/guardian: Students must contact each of their instructors and CORE Advisor via email as soon as possible in advance of an absence, notifying them of their absence, tardiness, or home early. If your student will be absent for all or part of the day, parents/guardians must notify the Mrs. Dace/ECA Attendance Office (734-487-7882) or attendance@earlycollegealliance.info so that the absence may be documented.

When you email or call, please state the reason that your student will be absent so that we can mark them with the appropriate absence code. Our absences are neither excused nor unexcused, but we do have different absence codes that we use to track absences. Excessive absences will result in student/parent interactions ranging from emails to meetings. If your student is ill and you know the nature of your student’s illness, please let us know. We are required to inform the county health department if we have flu, Covid, or other outbreaks. We only submit numbers; we do not submit names, and we only submit if we have an outbreak. If your student has a highly communicable disease such as measles, you are required to report it to the school, and we are required to report it to the health department.

REMINDER: Students must not leave campus during the school day without signing out in the ECA main office (221 King) first!

EMU charges students $80 for use of the Rec Center. HERE is the link to the Rec website, if you want to see what they have to offer. If you wish to purchase a membership for $80 (and DO NOT HAVE ANY EMU CLASSES), go to the Rec/IM front desk or contact them at rec_im@emich.edu or 734.487.1338.

REC/IM Fee: All students with EMU classes have been charged a $80 fee for the use of the REC/IM facilities for the fall semester.

• If you want to use the Rec, just go to your ebill (on your My.Emich account) and pay the fee.
• If you do not want to pay the fee, you must complete the Rec/IM Opt-Out form by September 4th. You are responsible for the fee unless you complete and submit the form by the deadline. Do not complete the form if you do not have EMU classes.

**If you would like to use the Rec facilities but need help with paying the fee, there are a limited number of full and partial scholarships available. HERE is the scholarship application, which must be completed by September 3rd in order to be considered.

Ms. Reddy getting started with Math; Ms. Bishop's Seminar; Mr. Kenney's 1st day of Chemistry; Senior Sunrise!

We use PowerSchool to communicate grades and attendance in ECA high school classes, including CLICK courses at all grade levels. Teachers will begin putting grades into PowerSchool in the next week. Please take a look below for instructions, and contact Mr. Patel if you need help: patel@earlycollegealliance.info.

PowerSchool for Returning students & parents/guardians:
Login credentials for PowerSchool were printed on the schedules that were distributed to students in ECA classes on Welcome Day. Please see the directions HERE if you need to reset your password. Parents/guardians, your old usernames and passwords should still work.

PowerSchool for New Students:
Usernames for new students were printed on the schedules that were distributed to students in ECA classes on Welcome Day. Students need to set their own passwords. Please see the directions on page 1 of THIS DOC to set your password.

PowerSchool for New Parents/Guardians:
Login credentials for parents/guardians were printed on the schedules that were distributed to students in ECA classes on Welcome Day. HERE is the link to instructions for creating new Parent/Guardian accounts and linking student accounts.

**If your student has lost their printed schedule, don't worry! We will re-print PowerSchool credentials and distribute these to parents/guardians on Curriculum Night. In addition, any ECA adult can look up the access codes and provide those to you or your student.**

If you are a new student/parent and have not received PowerSchool credentials yet, please contact Mrs. Jackson (jackson@earlycollegealliance.info). There is probably something that we are waiting for in terms of documentation--either to us or to your School of Choice district. We really want to get all of these issues fixed as soon as possible so that everyone is up and running in PowerSchool by the end of next week.

If you are a returning student and have forgotten your PowerSchool login, please contact your CORE Advisor or any ECA staff member. We can get that for you! Even Completers need to look at PowerSchool, as this is where your CLICK grades will show up.

Make your way to Pizza Thursday on Thursdays during both ECA lunch periods from 11:50-1:00 in King Hall's MC Lounge (across from the main office, room 221).

Our first Pizza Thursday of the school year is September 18th! 😋

Enjoy HOT Little Caesars Pizza with other ECA students! In order to participate in Pizza Thursday, you must first buy a Punch Card:

• Punch Cards are $5 (cash only, please!) and are always available in Mrs. Jackson’s office (221 King). Punch cards will also be available for purchase at Curriculum Night (9/11) CASH ONLY!
• Each Punch Card is good for any 5 items, (a slice of pizza, canned pop, water, or candy). We will have cheese and cheese/pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars.
• Punch Cards with remaining punches can be saved for use at a later date.
• Payment for Punch Cards must be made in full at the time of purchase.
• You must have a Punch Card in order to participate in Pizza Thursday.

Please note that pizza is on a first-come, first-served basis. If a student does not get pizza, they can see Mrs. Dace in King 122 for options from the food pantry.

Turn in your fully punched pizza cards for a chance to win a FREE pizza punch card, drawn monthly!

PARENTS/GUARDIANS! We need help picking up pizza (less than 5 minutes from campus) and serving pizza. If you have just over an hour to spare (or 30 minutes for pickup), please consider signing up to help with Pizza Thursday - CLICK HERE! Thanks in advance for your support!!

Email Mrs. Jackson (jackson@earlycollegealliance.info) with any questions.

Handbook Acknowledgment Page
CLICK HERE for the Handbook Acknowledgement Page (very last page)

Educational Benefits Form
Dear Parents and Guardians: If you have not already done so, please take a moment to complete the educational benefits form linked here and print, fill out, and return to Mrs. Dace, or fill out electronically and send to dace@earlycollegealliance.info. The Education Benefits Form collects information needed to ensure the school receives state and federal funding for education programs. Without this information, our school could lose important funding for education programs that our students need. These supplemental grants and programs have the potential to offer supports and services for our students including, but not limited to:

Instructional staff (ex. Reading Interventionists, Math Tutors, Academic & Behavior Aids)
Teaching supplies and materials
Counselors and Social Workers
School Nurses
Professional Learning for Staff
Parent and Community engagement supplies and activities
Technology

Why is ECA requesting financial information? The Education Benefits Form determines the eligibility of a student or household. The total count of eligible students is used to determine the funding amounts that will be made available to a school. The more forms returned, the better.

Both forms can be turned in to your Counselor, Core Advisor, or the Main Office. Paper copies are available outside of the Main Office (King 221).

Academy, Returning Academy, and First-Year Students!!

Greetings students! Welcome back to school - I hope that you have had a great start to the new school year thus far!!

Just a few reminders:

• CLICK canvas classes will be available next week, so look for your invite to accept the class.

• If you missed attending Camp-Us on August 21st, right after Core Challenge, then you will need to reschedule with me asap, especially if you are new to ECA.

• Your first CLICK assignment, the signed Student/Parent Handbook acknowledgement page, and the Education Benefits form are due ASAP. You can bring it to my office at 327 King, give it to your 1st hour teacher, or bring it to the main office, 221 King.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to stop by my office, 327 King, or email me at fountain@earlycollegealliance.info.

Juniors, Seniors, and Scholars

New school year, new beginnings, new opportunities….have a great Fall Semester!

Announcements:

• Your first C.L.I.C.K assignments (Back to School Kickoff Activity, the signed Acknowledgement Page from the Student/Parent Handbook, and the completed Education Benefits form) are due by September 12th, 2025. The completed forms can be dropped off in the main office 221 King or the box outside my office 322 King.

• The Rec/IM Opt-out form must be submitted to the email at the bottom of the form by September 4th. The new fee is $80.00.

• All CANVAS C.L.I.C.K classes will be available on Monday, September 8th. Students should check their Canvas for the class invitation and accept it.

• Semester Meetings will not begin until September 15th, 2025.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at squirewell@earlycollegealliance.info

Student pics in & around campus this week!

Pre-sales for 25-26 yearbooks are open! All books are ordered online via yearbookforever.com. The current price to reserve a copy is $32, but only this month!

There are still a few copies left of our 24-25 Yearbook, released in June. They can be purchased from Mr. Priest for $20 - cash only, please!

ECA Pi is an organization run by parents, family & guardians of ECA students to support and promote the ECA Program and its students. The ECA Parent Involvement group meets monthly and all parents/guardians are welcome to join.

Mark your calendars for the first ECA Pi meeting of the school year on Thursday, September 18th from 6-7:30 pm in King Hall’s MC Lounge, across from the main office (room 221). For more information about ECA PI, please email eca.pi.emu@gmail.com.

Join the ECA Parents & Guardian Facebook Group for this school year! CLICK HERE to join - you must answer both questions and the password this year is "Tenacity".

Tailgating with ECA & ECA PI! 🏈🏈

Please see the important tailgate information from the ECA PI (Parent Involvement) group:

Join us on Saturday, September 20th, starting at 11am for ECA PI’s Annual Tailgate Party & Chili Cook-Off at EMU’s Homecoming!! There will be hotdogs and other food, yard games and fun for all – and you can donate to vote for the 2025 Chili Cook-Off champion!

If ECA PI has a minimum of 15 people to buy tickets for the homecoming game at $10 each, we get $2 for each ticket to further support our wonderful program! If you are interested in purchasing a ticket and would like to support, please CLICK HERE to order your ticket. The game starts at 3:30pm at EMU’s Rynearson Stadium.

Need parent/guardian volunteer hours?!?! We need help at the tailgate, and you can get some of the volunteer hours. Help with tables, set up, tear down and so on. Please CLICK HERE to sign up!

Donations! We need things to make the tailgate run smoothly. Please CLICK HERE to see what is needed and if you would like to donate something we would appreciate it!!

We also need chili! We have a chili cook off. You vote for your favorite chili with cash or change in the jars in front of the chili. Did you know all donations go back to ECA? The best part is you can be the chili cook off champion of the 2025 ECA@EMU homecoming tailgate! (We have a generator for crock pots!) SIGN UP HERE to make some chili.

BONUS! Your student can get into the game FREE with their student ID.

This tailgate is for the students and parents and friends so if you cannot do any of the above, still come and hang out! We would love to see you!!

The tailgate will also be discussed at the first ECA PI meeting of the school year on Thursday, September 18th at 6pm in King Hall’s MC Lounge (across from room 221) as well, but the tailgate is that weekend.

If you have any tailgate questions please email Sherry at sherryv@med.umich.edu. Please email ECA PI (eca.pi.emu@gmail.com) for all other questions.

SUN Bucks Michigan Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Application is Available

The SUN Bucks Michigan Summer EBT application is available through August 31, 2025. Michigan Summer EBT is a program to help families buy food for their school-aged children during the summer, receiving $120 for each eligible child. Households with eligible children who attend a Community Eligibility Provision school must complete an application through MI Bridges.

School administration and staff can send an email to MDE-SEBT@Michigan.gov for more information. All families should be directed to contact the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services at MDHHS-SEBT@Michigan.gov.

Professional Youth Theatre of Michigan presents Urinetown the Musical

ECA student Roland Toole will perform with the Professional Youth Theatre of Michigan (PYTMI) in Urinetown the Musical, a hilarious and satirical Tony Award-winning show that pokes fun at politics, greed, and the world of musical theatre itself. Please CLICK HERE for more details including dates and ticket information.

Youth Tech Fest — Black Tech Saturdays

Please visit https://www.blacktechsaturdays.com/des25-youth for more information.

From your ECA-Skyline Liaison: HERE is a link to Skyline's weekly newsletter, where you will find a lot of info about building-level things that ECA students don't need to worry about--but also information about:

• Ordering Skyline yearbooks
• Athletics
• Homecoming