Mission: The learning community of West Homer Elementary inspires and supports all students to be lifelong learners with the courage and confidence to make positive contributions to the world.

Vision: The mission of West Homer Elementary School is to build strong connections among community, families, staff, and students in a safe, healthy, nurturing environment that challenges each student.

October is an exciting time as it brings our Orca fun run, soccer games and the end of first quarter! Our end of quarter assembly celebration will be October 10th @ 2:00pm in the gym. Families are welcome to join as we celebrate all the growth we have made this first quarter. It will also feature a xylophone

performance by Ms. Moore's 6th grade classes. Then you can stay for the Orca Fun Run at 3:00pm on the same day!

We are looking forward to sharing student progress at this month’s Parent Teacher Conferences on October 24th and 25th. Teachers will be reaching out to you soon to schedule a time. When you are here, please take a moment to stop by and share your feedback with me on how the school year is going!

Eric Waltenbaugh, Principal

• October 1-PTO Meeting in the library 4:30pm
• October 3- Soccer Game @ 3:15pm WHE Field
• October 10-End of first Quarter Assembly Celebration @ 2:00pm in the gym.
• Orca Fun Run @ 3:00pm- see permission slip below
• October 11- No School (Teacher in-service)
  
• October 14- Basketball Club starts (5th & 6th grade only) M/W/F
• October 15- Basketball Club starts (3rd & 4th grade only) T/TH
• October 16- Last day of Cross-Country Running Club
• October 17- Last day of Soccer Club
• October 18- Early Release @ 1:20pm
• October 18- Elks Club Shoot out @ 1:30-4:00pm
• October 21-25- Book Fair @ 8-11am & 2:45-3:30pm
• October 24 & 25- No School (Parent and Teacher Conferences)
• October 30- Picture Retakes @ 8:00am
• October 31- West Homer Costume Parade @ 2:00pm (Facebook livestreamed)

Hopefully, by now you are connected to the school and your child's classroom via Remind. If you are not receiving messages or having any issues, please drop in to the office and we can help.

• Basketball 5th & 6th Grade M/W/F 3-4pm Starts October 14th to December 6th.
• Basketball 3rd & 4th Grade T/TH 3-4pm Starts October 15th to December 5th.

Space is limited and offered on a first come, first served basis.

• Soccer T/TH 3:00 -4:00pm (ENDS October 17th)
• Cross Country Running M/W 3:00 - 4:00pm (ENDS October 16th)
• Chess M/F 3:00 - 4:00pm (ENDS December 20th)
• Japanese Club Fridays 3:00 - 4:00pm (ENDS December 20th)

*All permission slips can be picked up at the Front Office*

The Wake up and Walk Program will be starting in October- March(?). Students will have the option to walk in the gym for morning recess from 7:35-7:55.

The most challenging part to making this program successful is having an adult available to monitor the students in the gym. So, if you feel like walking the morning with students, we would love to have you join us! We would need you to complete the volunteer process if you haven’t already. If you are on our list of volunteers for this year, come on in!

Lots of the usual illnesses going around. Washing hands with soap and water regularly is one of the best defenses against getting sick. And, of course, trying to stay away from sick people. Speaking of that, the District has a symptom free policy. Students need to remain home until 24 hours after a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. Or if they have excessive coughing.

If you send them to school with an excessive cough, expect to receive a phone call from yours truly to pick up your child from school.

There have been reports of families dealing with lice. I would encourage you to use a good light source and check your student’s head on a weekly basis for lice. Schools don’t have lice, people do.

It is wonderful to see students walking and riding their bike to school. Winter is on its way and it is now dark in the morning. Please be sure your student is visible to drivers and is following the rules of the road. Bicyclists need to be wearing a helmet if riding to and from school.

I have been doing heights and weights for all the students. I have also been doing vision and hearing screens on 3rd and 5th graders.

If you would like your student’s results, please let me know. My email address is lpeek@kpbsd.org.

Mr. Jonah has been such a wonderful leader and example to the students he supports at West Homer. He is kind, patient, willing to help, and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone is set up for success. He has been with us for many amazing years, but he will be moving on to bigger kiddos that need him at the high school. He will be missed, but we are glad we had the honor of learning from him and having him make our Orca pod even stronger. Swimming ovation!

We are very excited to have a new face join our orca pod family. Help us in welcoming Ms. Bishop to help guide and shape our students for the future. She is a bright, positive, encouraging, and happy to jump right in with both feet kind of person. She will be there to help pick us up and support our students through this wonderful school year. We are excited to see how you will grow and learn throughout this year. Welcome to our Orca-awesome team.

Even if you don't think you qualify, still apply as it may result in federal dollars for our school.

West Homer PTO is for everyone!

You are invited to join us in being part of the PTO. We spend the year building community here at West by celebrating staff and students, fundraising, and hosting community events. All these activities remind us how much we can invest in our schools and the people who make West Homer a place to learn and building connections. Some of the things the PTO is involved with is The Penny Wars, Lunch and Play with Caregivers, Community Coffee once a quarter, the Talent Show, Staff Appreciation, End of Year BBQ, and much more!

For more information email us at: ptowesthomer@gmail.com