Wow, what an incredible trip we had to Peterson Bay. Aside from one of our students getting sick, we couldn’t have had better weather, and seen more amazing invertebrates. Many of our students got to “shake” hands with an octopus. We couldn’t have done it without your support, and the sacrifices of our parent volunteers; Mrs. Paulk, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Hand, Mrs. Fischer, Mrs. Edmunds, Mr. Nash and Mr. Dahlman.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Holiday break. We do want to thank you for all the support you show our school and classroom. Without your help we couldn’t do it!

Community Service groups begin this semester, and it will go quickly. For more specific info please look at our class newsletter. Below are some photos from our Holiday Concert.

Wow, what a great “Leave No Trace” field trip we had. Rafting the Upper Kenai River was spectacular (it didn’t rain on us until the last 5 minutes), and the fall colors were beautiful. Our stay at the Swanson River OEC was very enjoyable, and the Leave No Trace activities were well done.

We want to thank our chaperones/volunteers; Mrs. Hand, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Paulk, Mrs. DeRaeve, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Edmunds. We also couldn’t have done it without Ranger Michelle Ostrowski and the KNWR– thank you! The after dinner skits at the OEC were fun and the One-Pot Meals were original and tasty. We also want to thank all parents for donating food and helping their children “gear up”.

We had a great first week with students. It seemed a bit early, but that is always the case with the end of summer. New students did well adjusting to the class, and our returning students really helped out. We will begin MAPs assessments this next week, and slowly work into a more regular schedule/routine. I sent home a paper copy of the first class newsletter. From now on I will be sending electronic newsletters only (to your Power School email on record). There is also a page on this blog with links to newsletters.

We are planning an overnight field trip the second full week of September. It will be in conjunction with an Upper Kenai River rafting trip, so if you would like to volunteer please begin the online background process. More details to come soon. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

As always, thanks for your support of our school and allowing us to help your children learn and grow.

Mr. Faris

Thanks to all of you for helping prepare for this trip. Students were well geared up. A very special thanks to our parent chaperones; Dr. Heath, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Lautaret, Mrs. Lay, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Dahlman. Without you all, we could never have done it!

Though cold in the morning, our weather couldn’t have been better- sunny skies and beautiful mountain scenery. Students worked so hard at school learning about the invertebrates they would encounter- all of that hard work paid off as they were engaged and excited about the animals discovered.

Thank you for your patience as we returned to school so late on Wednesday night. Our pick up boat at Peterson Bay had to limp back on only one engine to Homer.

Students, please use the link below to fill out the Challenger Center survey. If you need help please ask.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H837T28

Thanks, Mr. Faris

Just want to thank you all for your efforts with preparing your kids for our filed trip, and helping with food and gear. We certainly couldn’t do it without your help. What an amazing experience for the students. The Upper Kenai River float was spectacular as we began by seeing trumpeter swans, the clouds slowly dissipated, and we saw thousands of spawning red salmon.

Our stay at the Swanson River OEC was great, the after dinner skits were hilarious. The next morning they practiced water quality testing at Swanson River. I know they had some wonderful experiences, and I hope they shared some stories with you.

Hello parents and guardians. You are most likely aware of our class field trip coming up this week on Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th. First I’d like to thank you all for providing the support and help in order for our students to have this wonderful hands-on learning experience. I’ve sent home a couple of gear checklists, but please let me know if your child needs any gear and we will try our best to find some. Also if you signed up to provide any items or food please send them in on Tuesday morning.

Students need to arrive at school no later than 8:10am on Wednesday. We will pack gear in vehicles and have a meeting regarding our field trip. Students will be home in time for busses and regular dismissal on Thursday. We are looking forward to sharing pictures and our learning from this field trip. Once again thanks for your support!

Mr. Faris

Wow, what a past school year we had. It seemed just a little crazy from going remote in the spring of 2020, to the in-school and out of school roller coaster year of 2020-2021. I’m very happy and excited to begin a new school year IN PERSON!

We’d like to welcome back our retuning students and extend a special welcome to new students to our class, and new students to our school. We are very excited to learn and grow with all of you this year. We hope to see you on Monday the 16th, from 12-1 for our school meet and greet. If not, I will see all of you on Tuesday the first day of school.

The first week will be for settling back in to school; learning about each other, making connections, figuring out procedures, making commitments, and taking a few assessments. The second week of school we will jump right into math groups and guided reading groups, along with practicing procedures, and some more assessments. Please look for our class newsletter in your child’s folder on the first day of school. It will have more detailed info. Once again, welcome to our school and our class!

Mr. Faris

Hello to everyone! Remember to look at our class newsletters to find out detailed information about upcoming events and activities. Just click on our Newsletters Page tab above, and once there, click on the date/newsletter you want.

There are a lot of activities coming up as we approach the holidays. Take a look at our most recent newsletter (12-5-19).

I wish you and your families all the best, and want to thank you for the opportunity to work with wonderful students.