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January 6, 2026 Community Update
Knappa School District No. 4 January 6, 2026 Superintendent Community Update Dear Knappa Community: Welcome to 2026! We hope that you had a joyful and restful break. Athletics. This week, we host Nestucca (Tuesday 1/6) and Gaston (Friday 1/9) as we begin high school league play for both girls’ and boys’ basketball. Come cheer on the Loggers. Also on Tuesday, the new pep band will be playing under the direction of Mr. Hughston. We look forward to adding this to the dynamic game experience in Knappa. Middle school girls’ basketball and wrestling are now underway. Over the weekend, we will host a wrestling tournament on site. It is nice to be able to do so using all three gyms, for a full-size meet. No School Days Coming. For calendar planning, please remember that Friday, January 16th is a grading day at the end of the semester. January 19th will be a non-school day in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. Drama Club. Drama Club is now meeting weekly for both schools. This program is fully supported by donations from Hampton Lumber and additional donors. We look forward to what the upcoming year brings educationally for our students. Sincerely, Play @ KCC!
Tuesday, Jan 06 2026
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Dec. 19, 2025 Community Update
Knappa School District No. 4 December 19, 2025 Superintendent Community Update Dear Knappa Community: Knappa School District wishes you a joyful holiday season. Yes, it has been an interesting week of weather impacts, but it was nice to see the sunshine for a bit on Friday. This final week our elementary students hosted the Sing-A-Long. The event was well attended and the kids sounded great. Thank you to Dan Palenske and John Fenton for providing accompaniment for our students. On December 9, 2025, I had the opportunity to attend the Oregon Chapter of the Design Build Industry Association awards event in Portland. Our middle school and gym project won their 2025 "Award of Merit". The named reasons for this honor were the quality partnership and communication between the contractor, district, architect, and patrons during the design and construction of the new facilities. Of additional mention was the efficient use of public resources. They indicated that we were able to accomplish more than initially planned due to creative design ideas, especially related to the fire sprinkler system and new water pump. They honored the intentional incluse of local contractors. 44% of the contractors on the project were local, which is high for a rural community. They made mention of Hampton Lumber's donation of locally harvested wood to support the project. Lastly, they highlighted student involvement in the process, which included design team participation, tours of the site during construction, inclusion of our career and technical education students in the work, high school art participation, middle school creation of signs using wood from the "former tree", and teaching that took place on-site with 4th and 5th graders related to building information modeling (BIM). Knappa was one of two education projects honored for the state of Oregon. A special thank you to Fortis Construction, Klosh Group, and Pivot Architecture for their partnership on this project. This is a shared honor. At the School Board meeting this week, the School Board approved their Legislative Priorities for the upcoming 2026 Session. These included 1) maintenance of State School Fund, Student Investment Act, and High School Success resources to support our students, 2) fully funding the cost of serving students with special needs (the state gives Knappa less than half of the cost of serving our students), and 3) preventing unfunded mandates that take resources away from students. Another topic of discussion was how to provide further equity for 2A female cross country athletes who compete against 3A teams while males only compete with 1A and 2A teams. At the meeting, our annual audit was presented to the School Board and we are proud to have received a clean audit with no findings. A big thank you to Jennifer Morgan, our Chief Financial Officer, for her attention to detail and cooperation with the audit team. Community Survey Please participate in our parent survey, which can be found here: https://forms.gle/jQcMgfnnChuwP3ED6. We value your insights. Community Survey Athletics. On Saturday, the wrestlers will compete at the Phil White Classic in Clatskanie (December 20th). Over the break, we will host both girls and boys basketball at Knappa on December 23rd with Country Christian starting at 3:30 pm. Come on out to the Logger Gym to support the teams. Both teams will also head to Pendleton for the Pendleton Preview Tournament. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and we will see you in January for continued excitement and learning. With gratitude, Play @ KCC!
Friday, Dec 19 2025
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KSD Community Survey For Families
Thank you for your willingness to participate in this survey. The questions here are related at your perceptions of our school district as they pertain to attributes of high achieving school districts. The information you provide will help us to design plans for systemic improvement which will help our students, community and district. This is the FAMILY survey. If you are a school staff member, we also invite you to complete the school staff member survey . If you are a student, please complete the student survey . Thank you.
Thursday, Dec 18 2025
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KSD Community Survey For Families
Thank you for your willingness to participate in this survey. The questions here are related at your perceptions of our school district as they pertain to attributes of high achieving school districts. The information you provide will help us to design plans for systemic improvement which will help our students, community and district. This is the FAMILY survey. If you are a school staff member, we also invite you to complete the school staff member survey . If you are a student, please complete the student survey . Thank you.
Friday, Dec 12 2025
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Run For Hunger 2025 - Happening Tomorrow! 12/13 9am ...
Register here: https://forms.gle/xkEaAF4ZB8D4HCWo8
Friday, Dec 12 2025
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Dec. 11, 2025 Community Update
Knappa School District No. 4 December 11, 2025 Superintendent Community Update Dear Knappa Community: Thank you for your patience during our recent weather-related challenges. We have been doing our best to minimize the negative impacts on students that come with flooding streams, downed trees, schedule changes, power glitches, illnesses, and transportation shifts. We are stepping up sanitizing frequency in the school buildings and hope you can remind students about the importance of frequent hand washing. Despite these issues, great things are happening in our schools! Family Reading Night. We had about 50 students show up for our Winter Family Reading Night on Tuesday. They enjoyed hot chocolate (provided by the district), and played a variety of holiday themed reading games with their families. Families then were able to listen to stories read by volunteers. We had amazing community volunteers for this event: Mr. Ed Johnson, Fire Chief Kurt Donaldson, Deputy Nate Rico, Regatta Princess Aubrey Harrington, Mr. Mike, Dr. Rynberg, Miss Marissa, and former principal Mrs. McMullen! Thanks everyone for attending. We appreciate Ms. Palenske organizing this event each year. The NED Show. On Wednesday morning, Hilda Lahti Elementary Students got to participate in the NED Show, which is a YoYo based assembly to help students build and maintain resiliency. The “NED” message is Never Give Up, Encourage Others, and Do Your Best. Students had a great time and learned a lot and gained valuable encouragement through this assembly. High School students received a new plasma cutter yesterday. The donation was from the Classic Car Club. Special thanks to Marv Stunkard and Jim Purdy pictured below with students for making this possible. Athletics. In sports, our basketball teams continue their path through a competitive non-league series of games. After travelling to Naselle last night, they will return to the Logger Gym on Saturday to play Crosshill Christian. Girls start at 1:30 pm and boys play afterwards at about 3 pm. Also on Saturday, the wrestlers will compete at the Warrenton Invitational at 10 am. Peace Poster Contest. Last week, Ms. Montgomery’s class received recognition for their participation in the Astoria Lion’s Club Peace Poster contest. A lot of students were recognized by representatives from the Club. Of particular note, Madalyn Ross (pictured here) was the Regional Winner of the contest and her poster will compete at the State Level. Roman Montgomery received Honorable Mention recognition as well. Congratulations to all who participated in the contest. The posters were inspirational. Lost, but Not Found? Please encourage your student to check the Lost and Found at their school before the break. Or, better yet, feel free to visit the school yourself to see whether that missing parka, sweatshirt, or pair of shoes you can’t find happens to be at the school. Items left behind next week will be donated to charity. Thank you Assistance League. Knappa School District was recently provided with a $500 donation from the Assistance League to offset the cost of weekend food backpacks. We appreciate their generosity with this donation and the myriad of ways this group helps Knappa students. If your child needs supplemental food to carry them through the weekend when school meals aren’t available, you can sign up here. https://forms.gle/zkxcv2V4JVEUfczh8 Survey. In the next couple of days, please be on the lookout for our annual parent survey. We value your perspective on how things are going for you and your student in our schools and invite you to respond. Students will respond to similar surveys during class, and staff also will have a related survey. The questions being asked are tied to known attributes of improving school districts, and your feedback will provide us with information that helps us do better at promoting student success. Be on the lookout for a separate parent square link. Is Your High Schooler Dramatic? Drama club sign-ups are happening at KHS on Friday, December 12 during lunch. These students will meet weekly during the spring to prepare for a show to be held at the Ten-Fifteen Theatre in April. The advisor will be flexible if a student wants to do sports and drama. We appreciate generous donations from Hampton Lumber and additional anonymous donors which make this experience possible. We wish you all the best as we enter the holiday season. Sincerely, View Current Jobs with KSD Play @ KCC!
Thursday, Dec 11 2025
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HLE & KMS Swag!
Hello! We are excited to announce that a local Knappa company will be putting together our school spirit gear this year! 2nd Chance Clo LLC has created an online store for you to order your Bulldog swag from. Click on the attached link to check out the online store. Order forms will not be turned in to the office. Ordering information is also being sent home with K-6 students this week. 7th and 8th grade students can pick up info in the Lodge. Please contact the office if you have any questions! https://pci.jotform.com/form/252958428667172 (The info being sent home with students is what is seen in the attached image)
Tuesday, Dec 09 2025
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December 5, 2025 Community Update
Knappa School District No. 4 December 5, 2025 Superintendent Community Update Happy December! The Knappa School District team hopes you have a fun and restful Thanksgiving last weekend. Last week, our middle school students finished gathering 650 pounds of food and brought it to the Knappa Food Pantry. Thanks to them (and you) for providing this food to support those who need it in our community. KHS Health Class Cooks Thanksgiving! I wanted to take a moment to say how incredibly impressed I was with all of our sophomores at the recent Thanksgiving celebration. This event truly shows the best side of their growth and development. It is always the best part of my job to see students who sometimes struggle academically, really shine with more hands-on activities. I got to see their teamwork, effort, and determination when things didn't go perfectly (like when the mashed potatoes failed!- we may need new elements for our stove tops). And before we ate, every student shared what they were thankful for. I believe that not all kids get a moment this special. I'm grateful that the Assistance League saw the need for this cultural event. They stepped in and made it happen. The feast itself was amazing! I didn't realize our high school kids could make something from scratch that was so yummy. Everything was prepared by KHS students. The Menu—All Made by KHS Students: Main Dishes/Sides: Ham, Mexican corn, Ukrainian pickle potatoes, charcuterie board, deviled eggs, cranberry jalapeño dip, fruit salad, chili bean dip, meatloaf, jalapeño poppers, pickle poppers, Mac n' cheese, Rolls, Stuffing. Desserts: Pumpkin pies, no-bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake with strawberry drizzle, apple spice muffins, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls , pineapple upside-down cake, Caramel apple cookies. Beverage : Fresh pressed cider Their ability to pull this off was a class act. Not only did they make all that great food but they also cleaned up efficiently afterward. I am so thankful that we got to share an experience filled with good food and great people. They surprised me by how much they stepped up to help—in ways big and small. They are a special group of students! Thank you for supporting opportunities that allow our students to show what they can do. Last week Health finished up first aid and CPR. All students who were present for all lessons will receive a card through their school email. (photos below) Sincerely, Mrs Smith Thank you Jenny Smith for putting on this Thanksgiving event, it is nice to see our students coming together for the Holiday. Sign up for Run For Hunger! Our middle school leadership students are also holding a fun run on December 13th to raise money for the Knappa Food Pantry. Please help them out with a donation. Winter Athletics Kick Off We have a lot going on during the next couple of weeks as Winter Sport Season kicks off: KHS Basketball hosted their first home games verses the Valley Catholic Valiants the evening of Dec. 3 - Amazing turn out of support from the community. Knappa hosted the the annual Knappa Mix and Match wrestling tournament on Thursday, December 4th. Thank you to all who made this event successful for our wrestlers. Basketball hosts another home game Friday, December 5th of this week in the Logger Gym. We hope to see you there again in support! Other Events Drama Club meets this Wednesday at HLE. SMILE Club meets this Thursday. The HLE Winter Family Reading Night will be on December 9th at 5:30. Come dressed in your jammies and enjoy some treats while you hear great stories. The young students have been singing their hearts out and will do the Winter Sing-a-long on December 16th at 5:30pm. Knappa Recycles! Knappa School District is trying to consolidate our recycling process and we wanted you to know! If you visit our campus for any activates, please know we have designated recycling cans for returning cans and bottles for student funds. Or you can donate cans and bottles to us! Call (503)458-5993 Ext. 301 for blue recycling bags or more information. Jobs: Apply Today! We look forward to a fun few weeks of learning prior to the holidays. Sincerely, Play @ KCC!
Friday, Dec 05 2025