Enrollment fair

Seattle's public-school district will hold its annual kindergarten and middle-school fair Saturday — just days before the start of the district's open-enrollment period for the next school year.

Saturday's fair, from 9 a.m. to noon at district headquarters, 2445 Third Ave. S., is a chance for parents and school-age youngsters to ask questions about various school programs and meet staff that run individual schools and parents who have students enrolled there.

The open-enrollment period will be Jan. 16 through Feb. 28 for families registering children for kindergarten in September, and for students moving from elementary to middle school or middle to high school next year. Children turning 5 by Aug. 31 are eligible to start kindergarten in September.

The enrollment period is also for all other students changing schools and for students who will be new to the district in the fall.

Students who apply during the open-enrollment period receive priority assignments for September. Assignment letters are to be mailed out the first week in April.

Information needed for registration, including enrollment guides, is available at district enrollment-service centers and at the Bilingual Family Center, and also online at www.seattleschools.org.

Students may be enrolled in person at a service center, by fax (206-252-0761) or by mail.

The district can tell you what documents are needed. For information, call the recorded enrollment information line at 206-252-0410 or the enrollment services office's main line at 206-252-0760.

Food-worker training

The health department has made some changes this year in the training and testing schedule for food handlers needing a food-worker card, a permit required of employees who work with food being served to the public.

Regular training sessions will be conducted throughout the year each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Friday except on some federal holidays, in downtown Seattle and some outlying areas in King County. The training class lasts about two hours, and the cost of a food-worker card is $10.

Training materials and tests are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and Russian.

The full schedule is online at www.metrokc.gov/health/foodsfty/schedule.htm or by calling 206-296-4791 for information.

Can you help?

As it does several times a year, the Literacy Council of Seattle is signing up new volunteers who speak, read and write English to be trained as tutors for English-as-a-second-language students.

Tutor-training workshops are scheduled two Saturdays this month: Jan. 20 and 27, both from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., in downtown Seattle. Volunteers are required to attend both sessions. To sign up, call 206-233-9720 or e-mail 3278@literacyprogram.org. Information is online at www.literacyseattle.org.

Traffic watch

Seattle's Fremont Bridge will be closed to traffic again tonight, from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Friday, for work connected with replacing bridge approaches. But cyclists and pedestrians will still be able to cross the bridge. Marine traffic through the Ship Canal will not be affected by the work.

Also, a crane will be staged in the intersection of North 34th Street and Fremont Avenue North for tonight's work. Westbound through vehicle traffic on 34th across Fremont Avenue North will be prohibited during much of the night. Bicyclists and pedestrians will still be able to travel through the area, with temporary access interruptions while girders are being moved into place.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown and news assistant Suesan Whitney Henderson. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.