On January 20, the Asian Pacific and Refugee Student Services Department hosted the inaugural Tip Top Event, a welcoming event for new refugee families to Tucson Unified School District. The department hopes to make the event an annual occurrence as the district continues to welcome in more refugee families.
From June 2022-December 2023, Tucson Unified welcomed 490 refugee students and their families.
In the 40 years since the United States started its Refugee Resettlement program, Arizona has welcomed nearly 100,000 refugee families. The Grand Canyon state is in the Top 10 states for resettlement for refugee and immigrant families. Of those that chose Arizona, 15% chose Tucson as their resettlement city.
The Tip Top event helped connect families to resources within the district, as well as in the community and state, and sought to help families understand how to navigate the American school system.
