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

It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this new school year! This year is shaping up to be another exciting year filled with creativity, growth, laughter and learning.

Whether you are just joining our Orca Pod or returning, the first week of school I'd like to invite all parents to come in and walk your child to their classroom, visit with staff, and become familiar with the school. After announcements at 8:00am, I will have coffee available and would love to get to know each of you better and hear your perspective on our school community.

We are excited to launch our New Logo design (see header above). You can read more about what went into the design below, and we heard your feedback last year and will be launching the use of Remind as a tool to streamline school communication. More details are below.

See you all soon!

Eric Waltenbaugh, Principal

You do not have to shop for supplies! (unless you want to). Please bring the following to Meet Your Teacher on August 20th or the first day of school August 21st:

• backpack
• water bottle
• gym shoes
• $30 to cover school supplies

Based on parent feedback around improving communication, we are using the Remind App as a common tool across the building to communicate with families. Homer High School uses this App and many clubs at Homer Middle School use it as well. This will be a learning curve for all of us, and in the long run with improve communication between school and home.

What is Remind?

Remind is a communication platform for engagement and learning. Two-way communication powers the relationships critical to student success. Remind has easy-to-use features that allow teachers to activate community engagement. Remind sends messages via text, app, and email without sharing personal contact information and families can choose which way they prefer to receive messages.

Classroom communication, newsletters and updates will now come through Remind. Please make sure your information is accurate in Powerschool when you register since Remind with sync with Powerschool contact information.

Be on the lookout for how to get connected to your child's class the first week of school!

• August 5th: School Office Opens - Registration begins
• Our office hours will be 7:00 am- 3:30 pm daily Monday -Friday
• All new students must register and returning students must update their registration for the school year. This is accessible online at https://kpbsd.org/students-parents/student-registration/. Office staff can also assist you if you call or stop by the school from 7:00am-3:30pm.
• We encourage all families to fill out the free/reduced meal form: https://www.schoolcafe.com/KENAIPENINSULABOROUGHSD
• August 16th: Class placement notification: Your child's teacher will notify you by email welcoming you to their classroom community.
• August 19th: Class lists will be posted on the school doors for any who missed the email.
• August 20th: Meet Your Teacher: drop in anytime between 2:30-3:30pm.
• The purpose of this informal event is to help your child find their classroom and personally connect with their teacher face to face prior to the first day of school.
• No need to stay the whole time.
• August 21st: First Day of School!
• Doors open each morning at 7:30 am.
• The instructional day begins at 8:00am and ends at 2:50 pm.
• September 2nd: Labor Day, No School
• September 4th: Open House 5:00pm

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

Our family handbook HERE is a helpful way to guide you through any questions you may have.

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!

We will be at the Open House to share information about how to be involved!

West Homer Elementary was founded in 1997 with the orca as its mascot. The orcas of Kachemak Bay are a beloved sight, and we are proud to have this magnificent creature as our representative, though we have never had an actual orca logo designed specifically for the school. Various orca illustrations have been used over the years without much consistency.

To that end, we decided to pursue the design of a new school logo which would be uniquely ours, reflect our current values as a school community and honor the past. We hope to use our new orca rendering on signs, literature, web communications and West Homer merchandise.

ABOUT OUR NEW LOGO:

• This orca (Arlluk) embodies the unique characteristics of Kachemak Bay (Qacikmak), and also gives honor to the rich cultural history of our area.

• Before incorporating Alutiiq/Sugpiaq artwork into our logo, we consulted with local art & culture historian Nadia Jackinsky, cultural anthropologist Sven Haakanson, and Nanwalek resident Sperry Ash to ensure that the use of Alutiiq art would be appropriate.

• We hired Alutiiq graphic designer Ecola Collier as well as Jody Mastey of Fiddlehead Creative to design the orca.

• The orca tattoo designs reflect the traditional tattooing of the Sugpiaq people.

• Other aspects of the logo (outside the orca) include more Alutiiq/Sugpiaq symbols and sea waves, which reflect the beautiful waterfront setting of Homer (Ilarelak).

• The orca motifs in the blue band are taken from Alutiiq/Sugpiaq petroglyphs representations of orcas.

• We wanted to include multiple orcas in the wave design to reflect the idea that we are a tight knit Pod of social creatures.

Soccer, Chess and Cross Country Running will start first week of September and end the week of October 10th.

• Soccer M/W 3:00 -4:00pm
• Cross Country Running T/TH 3:00 - 4:00pm
• Chess M/F 3:00 - 4:00pm
• Japanese Club Fridays 3:00 - 4:00pm

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

Be on the lookout for potential additional activities. Have an idea of an activity you want to lead? Check in with the office to see if we can make it happen!

The Safe School Helpline is provided to allow students, parents and community members the ability to confidentially submit report threats of violence, suicide, bullying or illegal activity that impact KPBSD schools, students, or staff. This service provides users the opportunity to leave a message or speak with a live crisis counselor for immediate needs. The helpline is administered by an independent, outside company. All communications remain private, confidential, and anonymous.

Four Ways to Report to the Safe School Helpline:

Call: 1-800-418-6423 or 1-800-4-1-VOICE (Ext. 359)

Text: TIPS to 614-426-0240

Online: SafeSchoolHelpline.com

Mobile App: Download FREE on the App Store or Google Play

Your message will be communicated with school officials. All information will remain anonymous to encourage the reporting of all safety concerns. Your report will be assigned a case number, which you may use later to confirm that your report was received.

*The Safe School Helpline does not replace 911. Please call 911 if you know an emergency is actively occurring.