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A note from the Superintendent;

Dear Parents, Students, and Members of the Klamath Falls City Schools Community,

I want to address an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in our society and, unfortunately, in our schools: cyberbullying. The rapid advancement of technology has brought with it wonderful opportunities for learning and connection, but it has also opened the door to harmful behaviors that can significantly impact our students’ well-being.

Cyberbullying is the use of technology, such as social media platforms, messaging apps, or gaming forums to harass, intimidate, or humiliate others. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying can follow children and adults beyond school walls, creating a constant and often invisible source of stress. It can lead to serious emotional, psychological, and even physical consequences.

Cyberbullying affects everyone involved—victims, bystanders, and even the perpetrators themselves. Victims of cyberbullying may experience:

• Anxiety, depression, and a drop in self-esteem
• Poor academic performance and a loss of interest in school
• Social withdrawal and isolation
• Physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and trouble sleeping

For bystanders, witnessing such behavior can create a toxic environment where students feel unsafe or unwilling to speak out. For those engaging in bullying, unchecked actions may escalate, leading to long-term consequences both personally and legally.

At Klamath Falls City Schools, we are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students. Here’s how we can address and prevent cyberbullying together:

1. Education and Awareness: Students receive guidance on responsible online behavior, the importance of empathy, and how to identify and report bullying.
2. Clear Policies: We have strict policies against bullying, including cyberbullying, with clear consequences. We encourage students and families to review our district's policy on digital safety.
3. Open Communication: I encourage parents to regularly discuss the online activities of their children. Foster an environment where your children feel comfortable coming to you or school staff if they encounter any form of cyberbullying.
4. Support Systems: Our school counselors, administrators, and teachers are here to support students who may be affected by cyberbullying. We are ready to provide resources and guidance to help them navigate difficult situations.
5. Reporting Mechanisms: If you or your child becomes aware of any cyberbullying, please report it immediately to school personnel. Early intervention is key to addressing the issue before it escalates.

We can only combat cyberbullying effectively by working together as a community. I urge parents, students, and staff to be vigilant and proactive in preventing and addressing these harmful behaviors. Let’s model kindness, respect, and empathy, both online and in person.

We ask that parents refrain from modeling cyberbullying in forums such as Facebook or on the Scanner and news page.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Together, we can create a safer, more inclusive environment where all students can thrive, free from the fear of bullying.

Regards,

Keith A. Brown

Stay up to date with what is going on at Klamath Falls City Schools. Search "Klamath Falls City Schools" on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and click follow or subscribe.

Effective August 1, 2024, the US Department of Education released amendments to the Title IX regulations, which prohibit discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities. Click on the link below to read through the information.

Civil Rights Coordinator

Renee Clark, Director of Human Resources

1336 Avalon Street
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
541-883-4702 ext. 7117

ClarkR@kfalls.k12.or.us

Don't look now, Klamath Union boys soccer is a top the Skyline Conference, in a tie for the conference crown with rivals Henley and Phoenix.

Shouts of joy and triumph filled Modoc Field after the KU boys soccer team had one of its most significant wins in recent memory as it is believed to be the programs' first victory against Henley since 2013.

KU won under the bright lights at Modoc Field Thursday night, 2-1, after having lost to the Hornets in its previous 20 tries. The dramatic win comes off the heels of a 2-0 victory against Mazama this past Monday.

The Pelicans are now 3-1-0 in Skyline Conference play, 7-1-1 overall.

After the matchup, Pelicans' head coach, Trevor Petersen, and KU junior, Caleb Morton, met for a postgame interview with My Basin .com reporter, Matt Bowling.

“We were ready,” Petersen said. “We talked about it. We said, ‘If we go down, we’re coming back stronger,’ so we were ready for that.”

Morton lifted the Pelicans to victory after his emotional game-winning score came in the 74th minute.

“It means everything. I couldn’t have done it without my team. They set me up perfectly. We’re not the biggest, but we have the endurance," Morton said. "We’re always able to finish the game strong. Usually we have more energy towards the end, so we use that to our advantage and we just keep attacking.”

Henley scored first in the 6th minute. Not a minute later, KU responded as Morton's pass to teammate, Omar Garcia, brought in the Pelicans' first goal.

Klamath Union moved from No. 11 to No. 6 in the OSAA 4A computer rankings after Thursday’s game. Henley was ranked No. 3 before Thursday's loss and now sit at No. 4, and Phoenix is ranked No. 8.

Four games now remain in conference play as KU will now host a 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 15 matchup at Modoc Field against No. 10 Hidden Valley/New Hope Christian.

Klamath Union Volleyball

Klamath Union volleyball had an uplifting Skyline Conference win on Pel Court Wednesday after sweeping Hidden Valley, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22.

The Pelicans did not have much trouble against the Mustangs until the third set came. The Pelicans trailed for much of the third set but caught fire when it mattered most.

The Pelicans trailed, 22-18, before going on to score the set's next seven points to complete the sweep.

Klamath Union finally took the lead after a block came from Klamath Union senior, Angela Lowry, to make the set, 23-22.

With KU junior, Lilly Huck, serving, Huck put an exclamation point on the set with a spike after a save came from libero, Alexia Briones, and Huck's point came off a set from KU sophomore, Olivia Cruz.

Match point came effortlessly, off an ace by Huck as Mustang players were left puzzled.

Klamath Union is now 4-1 in Skyline Conference play, 7-7 overall and are ranked No. 18, sitting in the second-place spot in the conference.

The volleyball team has three matches left in the season and will play at Phoenix Tuesday before coming back to play at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, October 17 at Pel Court against Mazama for senior recognition night.

Klamath Union Girls Soccer

Klamath Union girls soccer had one of its toughest matchups this past Wednesday when it faced rival Henley in a matchup featuring two of the top 10 girls soccer teams in OSAA Class 4A play.

No. 5 Henley was able to defeat No. 9 Klamath Union in a 1-0 victory at Henley High School.

Klamath Union was able to come away with a 1-0 victory this past Monday against rival Mazama, all part of five consecutive away games the Pelicans have in their season.

KU head coach, Sean Ferns, and his team, who sit in second place in the Skyline Conference, 2-1-1, and 6-2-1 overall, will travel to Hidden Valley to play this coming Monday.

The Pelicans' next home game will be a 6:30 p.m., Monday, October 21 matchup at Modoc Field against Phoenix.

This past weekend, KU Key Club hosted a food drive at Thunderbird for the Klamath Family Warming Center located at Thrive Church. Through the food drive, KU Key Club kicked it out of the park. The generosity of the community was beyond overwhelming.

Members of Key Club were not shy, said the club's advisor, Lisa Danskin. Through all Key Club was able to collect, it filled 1/2 of the bed of Danskin's truck with food and raised over $1,100.00.

Danskin will be taking advantage of the case sale and purchase even more items needed.

Key Club members, KayLeah Buhrle, Aleah South, Emily Paschini, Walter Hartley, Hope Hartley, Samantha Pope, Jack Jensen, Annabelle Lawson, Izabelle Lawson and Shyla Howe, were all present at Thunderbird, taking time away from their weekends to help their club.

"I want to thank all my students for all of their hard work this weekend," Danskin said. "So many people expressed their appreciation for our efforts in helping the homeless community."

“A school inspired by Business, a Network that opens doors!”

Respectful - Responsible - Trustworthy

Agriculture Program Activities

Beginning a New Era for KFCS

Soils Competition

On October 2, 2024, 15 Eagle Ridge New Tech High School students attended the Southern Oregon District Soils Evaluation Career Development Event (CDE). Lost River hosted the event on a farm outside of Merrill. The students had been preparing for the event for the past three weeks, learning the purpose of soil and how to identify soil horizons and profiles by identifying color, structure, texture, and depth.

During the day, the students were able to walk into four prepared soil profiles and receive input and guidance from a soil scientist. Oregon Agriculture Programs strive to instruct and give real-life, hands-on experience in agriculture concepts and careers. This is the first year Eagle Ridge New Tech has offered an agriculture program.

Teachers Dylan Houser and Katharine Smith are thrilled with their students' achievements at the soils CDE. They are excited for the next events, including a Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge trip and taking students to the upcoming Food Science and Agricultural Sales Career Development Events.

For a full gallery from the volleyball match and the midnight mile, look through the Ponderosa Middle School Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/PondoBobcats

Ponderosa volleyball is well under its exhibition matches for the season.

Coached by Ponderosa instructor, John Najar, the Bobcats faced off against Brixner this past Monday.

Ponderosa's gold team played against Brixner's red team and played three total sets.

Also on Monday, Ponderosa's blue team traveled for a volleyball match with Lost River.

Great job, Bobcats Cross Country, who participated at the Midnight Mile at Modoc Field.

By Brian Ellis, High School Day Treatment Teacher at Klamath Basin Behavioral Health

Kenneth (he prefers “Kenny”) Johnson, creator of the award-winning series’ The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, and Alien Nation, and the writer/creator of the massive 1983 science fiction miniseries V, spent two full hours with the KBBH high school class, speaking about the writing and filmmaking process, and regaling the class with stories from his history in the film and TV world.

Among the stories he told were those of how he came up with the idea for V, an allegory of the Nazi takeover of Germany in the 1930s, as originally told through Sinclair Lewis’ story It Can’t Happen Here. He also talked about how his daughter helped him create an actual language, Tenchtonese, used by the “Newcomer” aliens in the Alien Nation series and how that language was designed.

The students listened enthusiastically and asked many questions about the writing and creative process, and one student asked if Mr. Johnson could act as his “mentor” for his senior project, a request that Mr. Johnson quickly agreed to, leading to Mr. Johnson coming into the classroom through Zoom for another 45 minutes to answer questions from the student, and offering to stay in touch with our class over time.

Overall it was a fabulous experience, and a reminder to our students to shoot for the stars and that if you don’t ask the question, the answer is always ‘no.’

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

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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