It's really exciting to feel the ideas and inspiration flowing at the Nest this week as our faculty has been digging into Project-Based Learning Design Camp with trainers Kali Frederick and Nuvia Ruland from High Tech High Graduate School of Education.

A couple of families have moved away from the area and we now have 2 open 9th grade seats for fall enrollment. With our move to our new campus later this school year, this is a great time to make the move to AHS. Complete the Intent to Enroll Form to begin the process of registering for the 22/23 school year. We have waitlists for 10th and 11th grade. Please spread the word!

The federal universal free lunch program has ended and we will return to charging for meals at AHS this fall. All AHS families should complete the application for Free/Reduced Lunch even if they believe they will not qualify. This helps us with having accurate data for reporting, which impacts our school budget. To complete the application, login to your Infinite Campus Parent Portal, select "More" and then select "Meal Benefits." Paper copies of the application are available in the main office. For help logging in to IC, email registrar@animashighschool.com. We support families who qualify for free lunch in a variety of ways including course fee waivers, college application fee waivers and more.

Meal service will begin on Wednesday, August 24. We partner with local restaurants to provide catered lunch every day of the week. For the 2022/23 school year, lunches will be as follows, with specific menu items coming soon:

We will show students how to order lunch on the AHS website during Student Orientation as part of the Welcome to Tech at AHS presentation. This is also when students will learn how to login to their IC student portals.

The Hub Bus is NOT available Monday afternoons since 9R schools have early release while AHS does not. Please be aware that on the days when 9R is not in session, neither the 9R route buses or the Hub Bus will be available.

Visit the Durango 9R Transportation webpage to learn more and to register your student. Families must re-register students each school year by completing the online Registration Form.

Please be sure to get important medical information our way before the first day of school so that we can take good care of our learners! For information about immunizations, medical forms and medications, please see last week's News from the Nest.

We do not distribute school supply lists before school begins as individual teachers will communicate during the first week of classes about what supplies students will need. When it's time, please consider school supply shopping at the Durango Office Depot; when you mention Animas High School at the register, they will make a donation to our school. You can also support AHS by using the AmazonSmile program. Visit amazonsmile.com and select Animas High School as your charitable organization; every eligible purchase you make through AmazonSmile will result in a donation to AHS.

Each student at Animas High School is required to have a laptop computer. Students who do not own a laptop can borrow one for the year from AHS through our laptop loaner program. We also have daily laptop loaners available for students to borrow on days when their computer is not working. For annual loaners, we require a $150 security deposit, which will be refunded when the laptop is returned in satisfactory condition. We ask families for whom this creates an economic hardship to reach out to us so we can find a way to help. You can find the Yearly Loaner Laptop Agreement on the AHS website under the Our Families > Forms tab. Once the form is completed, we will add a $150 deposit fee to your family's Infinite Campus account. Students will receive annual loaner laptops once we have received the deposit, which will be fully refunded at the end of the year provided the laptop is returned in good working order.

Student schedules for the 22/23 school year are now visible in Infinite Campus for all students who have completed Course Requests. To view schedules, login to IC and click "Schedule." If a student schedule is empty or incomplete please be sure to follow the directions linked below or email Maureen Truax at registrar@animashighschool.com for support. Read more details in last week's News from the Nest.

Students who ordered yearbooks last year can come pick them up anytime during regular school hours. We also have extras available for $30 each.

We hope that Ospreys are enjoying this final stretch of the summer break and feeling ready to come on back to the Nest. We can't wait to see our students! Have a good weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!

AHS Board Meeting: Thurs. 8/18, 5:30pm via meet.google.com/buh-dfws-poc

Student Orientation (9th grade; optional for transfer students): Mon. 8/22

Senior Sunrise (12th grade): Tues. 8/23, 6:45am at ABC Trailhead

Student Orientation (9th, 10th and 11th grade): Tues. 8/23

Classes Begin (all grades): Wed. 8/24

NEST Meeting and Student Activity Fair: Wed. 9/1

Labor Day Holiday (no classes): Mon. 9/5

XBlock Classes Begin: Wed. 9/7

Family Orientation: Wed. 9/7, 5:30pm

Osprey Back-to-School Social: Fri. 9/23, 5:30pm

Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success

Culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations

Strong student-faculty relationships, where students are well known.

Engaging learning, where students see the relevance in their education