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A note from the Superintendent;

Community members, Families, Students, Faculty and Staff,

As we reach the end of another successful school year, I want to extend my congratulations and gratitude to each of you. The accomplishments we've achieved together this year are a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of our entire school community. I want to share some of the milestones we have reached this year:

1. Long-Range Facility Plan: We submitted our Long-Range Facility Plan to the Oregon Department of Education on December 1, 2023. This plan will guide us in maintaining and improving our school facilities to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for all students.

2. HVAC & Lighting Projects: The HVAC and lighting projects at Mills and Conger Elementary Schools are 70% complete as of June 2024. These upgrades are crucial for providing a comfortable and energy-efficient learning environment for our students and staff.

3. WQS Food Service Program: The WQS Food Service program was fully implemented during the 2023-2024 school year. This initiative has greatly improved the quality and variety of meals available to our students, promoting healthier eating habits.

4. Curriculum Adoption: We adopted a new curriculum in five areas of instruction, enhancing the educational experience and ensuring our students have access to up-to-date and comprehensive learning materials.

5. Student Information System: We have fully implemented the new Student Information System (Synergy). This system streamlines student data management, making it easier for parents and staff to access important information and track student progress.

6. Business Department Operations: Our Business Department has been updated to include credit card acceptance through the InTouch system, improving efficiency and convenience for our families.

7. P.A.S.S. Program: The Positive Approach to Student Success (P.A.S.S.) program was implemented successfully, offering students the necessary support to address behavioral challenges and promote a positive school climate.

8. B.R.C. Program: The Behavior Reset Centers (B.R.C.) were also implemented successfully, offering students the necessary support to address behavioral challenges and promote a positive school climate.

9. Strategic Priorities and Portrait of a KFCS Graduate: We completed our Strategic Priorities and developed a Portrait of a KFCS Graduate. These initiatives will guide our efforts to ensure every student graduates ready for college, career, and life.

10. EagleRidge Integration: We successfully collaborated with the EagleRidge Board of Directors and the Klamath Falls City School Board of Directors to integrate EagleRidge into the KFCS School District as a project-based high school, starting July 1, 2024. This addition will provide more diverse and innovative learning opportunities for our students.

These accomplishments are a result of the collective efforts of our students, parents, teachers, staff, and community members. Your support and dedication to our district's mission have made these achievements possible. As we look forward to the next school year, I am confident that we will continue to build on this success and create even more opportunities for our students to excel.

Thank you for being a part of the Klamath Falls City Schools family. I wish you all a safe and enjoyable summer.

Sincerely,

Keith A. Brown

The beginning of July introduced the start of a new school year at Klamath Falls City Schools. This past Monday, July 8, during the KFCS Board of Education monthly meeting, members of the board voted for the approval of the name change of EagleRidge High School.

EagleRidge High School will be changed to Eagle Ridge New Tech High School.

Terry Bennett, the new principal at Eagle Ridge New Tech, was present during the board meeting. Also a part of the agenda during the KFCS Board of Education monthly meeting was the approval of the use of Yondr pouches at Eagle Ridge New Tech.

Bennett provided a frequently asked questions form, which details what a Yondr pouch is and how it will be used during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year at Eagle Ridge New Tech.

You can find a link to the frequently asked questions form here: https://5il.co/2r756

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.

The new district website has an Alumni page for graduates of KU. This past week, six KU alumni sent us updates on their lives since they graduated. Take a look on the KU Alumni page on the district website. And, if you are an alumni, be sure and send us YOUR update!

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PARENT LINKS
Click Here for the Family Friendly 2024-2025 School Year Calendar - English

Synergy SIS Portal/Registration

Electronic Flyers for Your Students School

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