In this Issue
Upcoming School, Community Events
KFCS Headlines
KUHS Alumni
Phone App Download for District Website
Join Our Team
KFCS Board of Education
Klamath Falls City Schools
Find your child's photo with their teacher in the KFCS Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools
Roosevelt Elementary School put together its first awards night Thursday, Feb. 13 at Roosevelt Elementary School.
Look through the KFCS Facebook page for galleries from Tuesday night's Henley at Klamath Union varsity basketball games here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools
Klamath Union High School put together its first basketball pink out game Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Pel Court. The KU girls basketball team showed off their new jerseys, which included pink detail to help raise awareness about breast cancer.
Against Henley, Klamath Union girls varsity basketball fell to No. 3 Henley, 55-21.
Led by a resounding fourth quarter performance by KU senior Grafton Watah, Klamath Union boys basketball was able to pull away from Henley and beat the Hornets, 56-44.
Klamath Union improved to 3-5 in Skyline Conference play, 7-13 overall as the Pelicans hopes of a playoff appearance remain. Klamath Union won all three meetings this season against Henley.
Both Klamath Union girls and boys basketball defeated Hidden Valley the following night at Pel Court. Klamath Union girls basketball defeated the Mustangs, 46-40.
KU boys basketball defeated Hidden Valley, 51-43. The victory against Hidden Valley was earned after KU lost to the Mustangs earlier this season.
Find photos from the Pelican Elementary bingo night here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools
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
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.
KFCS Board of Education
Andrea Jensen, Zone 1, Roosevelt - andrea.jensen@kfcityschools.org
Andrew Biggs, Zone 2, At-Large - andrew.biggs@kfcityschools.org
Vanessa Bennett, Zone 3, Conger - vanessa.bennett@kfcityschools.org
Kathy Hewitt, Zone 4, Mills - kathy.hewitt@kfcityschools.org
Trina Perez, Zone 5, Pelican - trina.perez@kfcityschools.org
Patrick Fenner, Zone 6, At-Large - patrick.fenner@kfcityschools.org
Ashley Wendt-Lusich, Zone 7 At-Large - ashley.wendt-lusich@kfcityschools.org