Homer High-Lights
Volume 3, Issue 1, August 2014
Message from the Principal
New Beginnings
I always get excited about the start of the new school year. Our turf is done, other projects around school are winding down and there is a general anticipation of good things to come.
We had some wonderful successes and met many goals in the past year. For the 3rd year in a row, we were named a Silver Medal Award Winner from U.S. News and World Report and for the second year in a row we had almost 100% of our seniors graduate.
In order to continue with these successes we want have the best possible communication with parents and the community. To do this we have several ways to get information to you. First, we will publish a monthly newsletter and send it to your e-mail each month. Next, we post announcements, sports updates, student-earned awards and more to Facebook. Follow us at www.facebook.com/homerhs. We also have a website that has a calendar of school events, bell schedules, counselors corner and much more. Lastly, we will send automatic phone and e-mail reminders via School Messenger. We will try to contact you directly when we have large events or important information to share with you. Of course, you can also find many of these announcements in our local papers.
Remember, my office is always open and I appreciate hearing your opinions or suggestions. I am making it my goal to be more responsive to what our parents and community want and need. Please give me a call or come in and chat.
Sincerely,
Douglas Waclawski
Principal
Thank You Homer!
I want to thank the entire Homer Area for supporting our children and schools. Homer supports its schools and it is obvious from the number of hours people volunteer, to the number raffle tickets that are purchased and the large crowds that pack our music performances, sporting events, plays and numerous other events. It truly does take a village to raise our children and Homer leads by example.
Our new turf field is another great example of our community’s support for students. Voters felt that it was important that our children have a quality, safe place for sporting events. I would like to thank Mayor Navarre, State Senator Peter Micciche and School Board president Joe Arness for having the visionary leadership to help make our turf field a reality. I would also like to thank Lynden Transport and ENSTAR Natural Gas for their generous donation towards our new football and soccer scoreboards.
I personally would like to invite everyone in the Homer area to a short ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Homer High School field right before our first home varsity football game against Eielson on August 16th. The Varsity game is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. Come early and cheer on the JV team that plays at 11:00 a.m. Join our celebration of your support and check out the new field while you are there. Admission is free for children and students and everyone who attends will get a free bag of popcorn.
Thanks again for everything you do for our children and I hope to see you on August 16!
Sincerely,
Douglas Waclawski
Principal
Become a Member of Our Site Council
Are you interested in helping set school policy, give feedback on school rules and help give the principal directions with with sensitive issues. If you said yes to any of the above, then you should run to become a member of our site council. Site council meetings are held once per month in the library. Voting happens from August 15th till August 29th. Ballots will be e-mailed to all parents with a valid e-mail address in Power School. Paper ballots can be picked up in the office if you don't have access to an e-mail account or prefer to submit a paper ballot.
If you are interested in becoming a Site Council Member please contact our School Secretary Cindy Koplin at 235-4600 or ckoplin@kpbsd.k12.ak.us.
Dates To Remember
Aug 4 - Football & Cross-Country Running Practices Starts
Aug 6 - Senior Schedule Pickup - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Aug 7 - Junior Schedule Pickup - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Aug 8 - Sophomore Schedule Pickup - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Aug 11 - Swimming & Volleyball Practice Starts
Aug 11 - New Student Registration
Aug 14 - Open House/Freshman Orientation - 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Aug 15 - Aug 29 - Site Council Voting
Aug 16 - Football vs. Eielsen - 11:00 am (JV) & 2:00 pm (Varsity)
Aug 18 - Connections Registration for classes at HHS
Aug 19 - First Day of School
Aug 29 - Homer XC Running Invitational
Aug 29 - Volleyball vs. Seward - 5:00 & 6:30
Aug 30 - Volleyball vs. ACS - 12:00 & 1:30
Sept 1 - No School
Sept 8 - School Board Meeting in Homer - 6:00 pm
New KPBSD App Available in August
In our ongoing effort to improve communication with district stakeholders, I am pleased to announce that we will soon be rolling out a new KPBSD mobile app for i-OS and Android smart phones. In the new mobile app, the KPBSD staff directory has the ability to display staff pictures. This App should be available in the middle of August and will allow you to follow your favorite school and teacher. More information will be available when this App is fully available to the public.
Freshman Orientation/Open House
Girls Softball Rally to Take 3rd Place at State!
Boys Soccer Ties for 3rd at State
Homer Track Team Excels at State - Girls Take 3rd Place
State Champions in 4 x 400 Relay!
State Champion in 800 M Run
Boys earned 4th in the 4 X 100 Relay/Conner Seay Earned 2nd in the 300 Hurdles
Vaccines for Your Child for Fall 2014
The State of Alaska requires that all students are up to date on their immunizations before the start of the school year. If your child is due for a vaccine or your family has chosen a religious exemption, the school nurses will send you a letter this summer.
9th -12th Grades ---There are usually about 20 students who are due for their 10 year Tdap vaccine. You will receive a letter from us if your child is due for a vaccine.
Religious Exemption—You will receive a letter and the State of Alaska form that you must fill out and have notarized before the first day of school. This form is required annually and must be notarized after July 1, 2014. Please return this notarized form to HHS before the first day of school.
If you have any questions about your child’s vaccine status, call Sharon Gorman, RN, or Ella May Cooper-Waldron, RN, at 235-4626.
Homer High School is On Facebook
We want to be able to give you instant up-to-date information about what is going on at school. This could include emergencies, sports scores and dates and times of events. To stay tuned to what is going on at Homer High, "like" us on Facebook. The address is www.facebook.com/homerhs.
Check Out Our Website
Are you wondering when sports teams have home games? Do you have a senior who needs paperwork for their senior service project ? Do you want to see agendas and minutes from our site council meetings? Check out our school website to find answers to these and other questions.
The address is http://homerhighschool.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/.
You can access PowerSchool from our website and weekly activities as well. There are lots of great links and valuable information about Homer High School. If you have suggestions for things you would like to see on our website, please talk to Mr. Waclawski.
Homer High School
Website: http://homerhighschool.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/
Location: 600 E Fairview Ave, Homer, AK
Phone: 907-235-4600
Facebook: www.facebook.com/homerhs