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Upcoming School, Community Events
KFCS Headlines
KUHS Alumni
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KFCS Board of Education

Klamath Learning Center FAFSA Night

Find full galleries from the events mentioned in this week's KFCS Friday News Flash on the KFCS Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Klamath Learning Center put together its first FAFSA information night for its families Thursday, January 23 at KLC.

Staff at Klamath Learning Center were eager to help the room full of parents and students to answer questions and personally help families fill out their FAFSA.

KLC parents and students were greeted by Robert Adams, from College and Career Options. Adams explained the various ways students can attain financial aid for the 2025-2026 school year and explained the differences between grants, loans and the many ways to earn aid for college.

Capturing Kids Hearts

Staff from Capturing Kids Hearts visited Klamath Falls City Schools staff Thursday and Friday at the KFCS District Office.

Staff from Mills Elementary School, Pelican Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, Conger Elementary School and Klamath Union High School were present for the two-day event which helped them understand the meaning and effectiveness of Capturing Kids Hearts, which has been launched at Ponderosa Middle School this year.

To finish the first day, staff were asked to bring a sentimental item and explain to their peers the significance of their item. Many staff expressed gratitude they currently have in their lives, while some KFCS staff expressed their love and adoration for family members who have passed away and how their sentimental items remind them of their loved ones.

What is Capturing Kids Hearts?

The following will provide a brief overview of the Capturing Kids' Hearts (CKH) program. CKH is a research-based, multi-year initiative designed to assist K-12 teachers and administrators in fostering meaningful relationships with students and creating self-managing groups.

The program emphasizes three key areas:

1. Social-Emotional Wellbeing: Enhancing students' emotional health to support their overall development.

2. Relationship-Driven Campus Culture: Building a school environment where strong, positive relationships are central.

3. Student Connectedness: Ensuring students feel valued and connected to their school community.

Through CKH, educators are equipped with tools and strategies to develop a supportive, engaging, and productive learning atmosphere.

Conger Elementary Family Literacy Night

Conger families participated in the school’s family literacy night Thursday where they discovered practical ways to support their child's reading and literacy at home from their teacher.

Students did not go home empty handed as their was a book giveaway at the event as well as a raffle.

Families learned about the reading curriculums used in their child's classroom: UFLI for kindergarten through second grade, UFLI & Bookworms for third grade and Bookworms for fourth and fifth grade.

Mills Elementary Bingo Night

Mills Elementary School put together its second of three family events this year Thursday, January 23 at the school's gymnasium.

The event started with dinner being served for all families who attended before participating in several games of Bingo where winners had a chance to choose from an assortment of prizes.

KU girls, boys basketball vs. Mazama

Klamath Union girls basketball improved to 3-2 in Skyline Conference play, 8-9 overall after defeating Mazama on its homecourt Thursday night at Valhalla Court, 39-28.

KU was led by senior Jazmin Wilson, who had nine points, six steals, three assists and two blocked shots. Wilson was helped offensively by sophomore Lisette Watah as she ended with nine points, three rebounds and three steals.

Klamath Union junior Ariah Miller had eight points, five rebounds and junior Isabella Armijo ended with six points and six steals.

KU boys basketball

Klamath Union boys basketball suffered a 61-36 defeat to Mazama Thursday night at Valhalla Court, falling to 1-4 in conference play, 5-12 overall. The Pelicans were led in scoring by Grafton Watah's 15 points and three rebounds.

Senior Roland Vannarath and junior Tildon Coffman added five points each for KU as junior Landon Bogatay and senior Bryce Petersen added four points apiece.

KU girls basketball will have its next game starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 28 at Henley High School. The KU boys basketball and Henley matchup will start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 28 at Henley High School.

Show Us Your Spirit, KU!

KU family, we’re on a mission to win the OSAA #1 Student Section Video Contest, and we need YOU to make it happen!

We're calling on all students, parents, and fans to send in your smartphone videos that capture the heart and soul of KU school spirit. Whether it's epic crowd moments, acts of incredible sportsmanship, or anything else that screams KU pride, we want to see it!

We need videos from:
KU Swim Team, Pep Band, Wrestling Team, Boys, Cheer Squad, Boys and Girls Basketball, Hockey Team

If you’ve got a clip from this season, send it our way! Just email your videos to Dan Stearns at stearnsd@kfalls.k12.or.us by March 1st.

But wait, there’s more! If our video is selected by OSAA, the winner is decided by public video views. That means we’ll need your help again to share the video far and wide to rack up those views!

First place wins a banner for our gym – let’s bring it home, KU! Anyone that submits a video clip that ends up in our final video submission, will receive a prize.

So, get those phones out, find those clips, and let’s show the world what KU spirit is all about!

Available in hard copy or digital version—read it your way!

Check it out here: https://www.pelspress.com/copy-of-newest-release

KFCS High School Options Information

Community Awareness Information Concerning the Ponderosa Middle School Building

As we look towards the future of our community, I want to bring to your attention a critical need that we must address to ensure the success and readiness of our students: the replacement of Ponderosa Middle School.

Klamath Falls is on the cusp of growth, and we need to be prepared to meet the educational demands of our expanding population. Last year, during our community conversations, we received a clear message: our community wants our youth to be life and career-ready. Specifically, there is a strong desire for more hands-on, applied learning opportunities, such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

Effective career-ready programs must begin with robust middle school initiatives. During the Board’s visit to California last year, we saw firsthand the exceptional programs at Mad Tech Middle, which serve as an inspiring model for what we can achieve here. These programs are essential for setting our students on a successful path through high school and beyond.

Our district is diligently working to build these programs at the high school level and forge strong connections to postgraduate destinations like the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) and Klamath Community College (KCC). However, to truly accelerate our students along this track, we need a middle school that supports and enhances these efforts. Unfortunately, the current Ponderosa Middle School is outdated and does not meet the needs of our evolving educational goals.

The urgency of this need cannot be overstated. While the current middle school building is safe, our engineers have indicated that it could become unusable at any time because it is located on an active fault line. Our trusted advisors and the Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee have unanimously agreed that the time to act is now.

We estimate the budget for replacing Ponderosa Middle School to be around $120 million. This number may fluctuate slightly up or down as we consider incorporating other essential items, such as security upgrades and early learning facility support, into the overall bond. We may also determine that we can build at a lower cost depending on what year we decide to call a bond election to support the possible project in the future.

Replacing Ponderosa Middle School is not just about updating a building; it is about investing in the future of our community and ensuring that our youth have the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in life and their careers.

We appreciate your continued support and engagement as we take these crucial steps forward. Together, we can create an educational environment that prepares our students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.

Over the next year, we will engage more with our stakeholders about Ponderosa. We will also schedule tours of the building for the community to see the current facility.

We do want to be very clear that we have not set any date for a potential Bond election. We just want to make sure our community is aware that we are working on a solution to replace Ponderosa on a different site that does not have an active fault line on it.

For anyone who has any questions about his message please e-mail Keith A. Brown at brownk@kfalls.k12.or.us.