In this Issue

A note from the Superintendent
Upcoming School, Community Events
KFCS Headlines
KUHS Alumni
Phone App Download for District Website
Join Our Team
KFCS Board of Education

A note from the Superintendent;

Dear Klamath Falls School District Staff, Students, and Community,

As we approach the holiday season and the close of another year, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude and appreciation for all of you our dedicated staff, our hardworking students, and the supportive members of our community. This time of year, provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments we’ve achieved together and the progress we continue to make as a school district.

The holiday season is a time for rest, rejuvenation, and connection with loved ones. I encourage everyone to take full advantage of this special time to relax, recharge, and enjoy the company of family and friends. For those of you who may be traveling, please stay safe on the roads and take extra care to keep yourselves and others safe during this busy time of year.

Whether you’re spending the holidays with family, friends, or taking time for yourself, I hope this season brings you joy, peace, and renewal. As we look ahead to 2025, let’s carry with us the spirit of kindness, resilience, and dedication that makes our community so strong.

On behalf of Klamath Falls City Schools, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! May the year ahead be filled with hope, health, and many more opportunities to grow and learn together.

Regards;

Keith A. Brown

Register Now For Winter Sports at KU

Winter sports is underway! Make sure you have completed your online registration and physical examination in order to participate!

Here's the registration link: https://students.arbitersports.com/.../ku-athletics-2024...GO PELS!!

Pelicans, Bobcats Win Top Honors in Veterans of Foreign Wars Essay Contest

By Joaquin Aguillar-Flores, KFCS

Pelican Post Commander Dan Williams and Post Vice-Commander Ron Johnson are adamant on making sure every middle school and high school student in the Klamath Basin have an opportunity to apply for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Marine Corps League Patriot Pen and Voice of Democracy essay competitions.

Year after year, Williams and Johnson spend their personal time going to every middle school and high school in Klamath Falls to hand out Patriot Pen and Voice of Democracy applications. This year, two Klamath Union High School students, one Ponderosa Middle School student and instructor earned top honors.

In the Voice of Democracy competition, the topic of this year’s essay was “Is America today our forefather’s vision?”

This past Saturday, VFW recognized and handed out $900 in scholarship funds.

First place went to Klamath Union sophomore, Thomas Biggs. It was the second time Biggs submitted a VFW essay after he won the Patriot Pen when he was a seventh grader at Ponderosa.

For his accomplishment, Biggs earned $300 as his essay now has the chance to win at the state level.

“I would just tell myself, just write something down; it doesn’t have to be good. I asked my dad, how does this sound? It got better. I wanted to read it like a speech and not have it sound monotone and say, well, the founding fathers did this,” Biggs said.

“It does not really look like we got much better as a country but I started looking back and it was worse back then. It has never been perfect but there are ups and downs but ups get better.”

KU senior Bryce Peterson earned second place for his essay and described how the United States can do better at being united as a country.

“I focused on partisanship and polarization, similar to a video I made and submitted in a C-SPAN competition. There is a quote by John Adams that talks about the biggest threat to the United States is the division into two party’s,” Peterson said.

Teacher of the year recognition

Williams is a familiar face at Klamath Falls City Schools as an esteemed substitute teacher.

Ponderosa instructor Michael Overstreet was also honored by being named teacher of the year through VFW. Williams is a substitute teacher for Overstreet on occasion whenever he was called away during football and baseball games while coaching for Klamath Union.

The awards presentation this past Saturday brought back memories as Overstreet was Biggs’ instructor in his history class two years ago.

“He (Williams) takes my job a lot when I am doing sports and nominated me. I was never military but US history has been my favorite thing and I put a lot of effort into teaching; I probably do a better job teaching my US history class than my world history class. It seems patriotism has been down. I push having a love for your country in my lessons as much as I can,” Overstreet said. “Coming from a veterans group like that has more meaning to me than if it was something else because I really push patriotism and the idea of the great country we are fortunate to live in.”

For the Patriot Pen, Alexander Jaskrewiz of Ponderosa Middle School won the competition as well.

“If you are thinking of doing the essay competition, I think it is worthwhile. Even if you do not win, it is still going to help with your writing,” Biggs said. “At KU, we write about three or four essays a year. I think by doing something on your own, you learn how it might be in college and the real world. It is worthwhile to do that.”

Mills, Pelican host winter concerts for families

Note: You can find full galleries from both Mills and Pelican elementary winter concerts on our district Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Mills Elementary School students had their kindergarten through fifth grade winter concert this afternoon at Mills Auditorium. Under the direction of Mills and Pelican music instructor, Henrik Hunt, students sang and performed songs with various choreography.

Band and orchestra instructors, Alexis Candy and Drew Langley, led fifth grade students to open the third through fifth grade concert.

Below you can also find photos from the Wednesday afternoon Pelican Elementary School Winter Concert featuring kindergarten through fifth grade students at the school's gymnasium.

Mills Elementary School Concert

Pelican Elementary School Concert

Ponderosa choir, orchestra, band winter concerts

The future is looking bright for Ponderosa Middle School choir, orchestra and band students after their winter concerts Tuesday and Thursday night in the school's gymnasium.

Under the direction of orchestra instructor, Lexi Candy and choir instructor, Caresse Robertson and band directors Allen Haugh and Drew Langley, students in Ponderosa's Intermediate Orchestra, Blue and Gold Choir, Advanced Orchestra and Ponderosa Singers, performed several holiday tunes for family and friends Tuesday night. Thursday during the band concert featured Ponderosa's Beginning Band, 6th Grade Advanced Band/Concert Band, Jazz Band and Symphonic Band.

You can find full galleries from the Ponderosa choir, orchestra and band winter concerts on our district Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Eagle Ridge New Tech Students Serve at Senior Center

Members at the Klamath Basin Senior Citizens' Center were grateful to find local high school students assist them during a recent Thanksgiving feed and asked for them to return once again during today's senior center Christmas lunch.

Eagle Ridge New Tech instructor Jackie Lancaster and her students were invited to the Klamath Basin Senior Citizens' Center and were of great assistance as they handed a plate of food to the crowded room Friday.

Linkville Kiwanis Suprises Conger Students With Gifts

KECDC Annual Holiday Event

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.

Early Literacy Literacy Success in Oregon

Stand Oregon is a non-profit in Oregon that supports improvements in early literacy for Oregon students. They were instrumental in getting the Early Literacy grant passed in the state of Oregon. KFCS is using that grant money to hire full-time instructional coaches at our elementary schools to help our teachers become stronger literacy teachers.

Stand Oregon has started the Oregon Demonstration Network, which is a small selection of promising elementary schools that are getting additional support from Stand Oregon with the intention of those schools becoming model schools for other schools in the state to visit and learn from. KFCS has two schools that are part of the Oregon Demonstration Network: Mills and Conger elementary schools.

Mills is highlighted in a promotional video Stand Oregon has produced. Click on the video below:

Cold And Flu season is here.. Please help us prevent the spread of viruses by doing these things at home, school, and work.

Steps you can take, individuals can:

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw used tissues in the trash. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hands.
Learn and use proper handwashing technique.
Teach children the correct way to wash their hands.
Clean frequently touched surfaces, such as countertops, handrails, and doorknobs regularly.

Information presented comes from the Center of Disease Control. Click this link for more information.

La temporada de gripe y resfriados ya está aquí. Ayúdenos a prevenir la propagación del virus haciendo estas cosas en casa, en la escuela y en el trabajo.

Las personas pueden:

Cubrirse la boca y la nariz con un pañuelo desechable al toser o estornudar; botar los pañuelos desechables usados a la basura; y si no tienen un pañuelo de este tipo, toser o estornudar cubriéndose con el ángulo interno del codo, no con las manos.
Aprender y usar la técnica correcta de lavado de manos.
Enseñarles a los niños la forma correcta de lavarse las manos.
Limpiar con regularidad las superficies que se tocan con frecuencia, como mesones, barandas y manijas de las puertas.

La información presentada proviene del Centro para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades. Haga clic en este enlace para obtener más información.