(as published in the West County Times)

Good day Ki-Be Community,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and that everyone's AC is working well! I have just a few updates here from the school district to let you know what's been happening while kids are not in school.

We have been enjoying a successful summer school program with over 300 kids getting served K-12. That will be wrapping up for most next week, but some at the HS level will continue into August. With a majority of kids on break, our maintenance department has been busy cleaning schools and making needed repairs that must happen before August. 

For any parents and guardians, please make sure you check our website for information about Parent Square. If you have high school kids who are in Tri-Tech, you probably already have the app on your phone, but this is our new parent communication system and notification system that schools and the district will be using this coming year. It is very easy to use and all of our staff will be receiving training on it prior to school starting. 

All of the principals and I attended a training for three days in Pullman July 30-August 2 to work on making our student support systems more cohesive across our schools. We have to have aligned systems across all of our grade levels and our principals are very positive about implementing change to improve our systems.

Our schools will be updating their websites before school starts with their individual office schedules so make sure to keep an eye out for updates. If you have any questions regarding your students and specific needs, make sure and contact the schools when they open! Enjoy the last weeks of summer break everyone!

- Pete

(as published in the West County Times)

Greetings Kiona-Benton City Community,

It certainly appears that Fall has fallen, and they are predicting freezing temperatures in the upcoming days. Our maintenance crew has been busy shutting down irrigation and blowing out our lines, so we should be ready.

The district is in the process of consolidating two of our ten bus routes. We have several bus routes that are only about two-thirds utilized, so because of our shortage of drivers, we will consolidate down to eight. Rest assured though that no student who rides a bus now will be removed; we simply want to streamline a bit. Mr. Castillo in Student Services and I will both be starting our drivers training to get our CDL so we can be emergency drivers if needed, but if you have any interest in driving bus, please call the district office.

The board has had two work sessions where they heard from staff about many things that are going on in the buildings in an effort to be better informed when determining long term student and district academic goals. This is a heavy lift for the board, as most non-educators do not realize the complexities in the systems that exist, but your board is doing a fine job! I would encourage you to contact a board member or myself if you have any recommendations for academic goals.

Please remember that the election is coming up on November 7 and I encourage everyone to be an active member of the community and vote! If you have any questions, you can call me at 588-2000, 308-5052, or email me at pete.peterson@kibesd.org. Have a fantastic Fall!

- Pete

(As published by the West County Times)

Good day Kiona-Benton City Community!

What a great day to be a Bear, as our principal at the high school would say! We have enjoyed a fantastic start to the new school year, and we are already knee deep in Fall sports at the middle school and high school. Finding officials in the region has been difficult the last few years, so that is why we had a football game on a Saturday and on a Thursday. All the regions’ leagues were impacted by this.

One of the biggest challenges that we are trying to overcome is the loss of our 21st Century program at elementary school. This program has been funded by the ESD for many years, but the ESD was unable to secure funding this year. The board recognizes the positive impact this program has, and we are working with staff to re-create the program. This will be a discussion item at our school board meeting Monday evening.

Our school board members have been actively getting into schools to see the teaching and learning that is going on and I commend them for that. Being a board member is not a paid position and they must make time out of their regular jobs for these things, and we are lucky that our members take their responsibility seriously!

Our enrollment for the year appears to be at or above last year’s levels, with more students at the high school going to Running Start this year, but slightly less going to Tri-Tech in Kennewick. Our elementary added a 6th Kindergarten classroom this year due to high numbers, and we will see if this is a one-year occurrence or becomes a trend.

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall and before you know it, we will be sending out processes and procedures to follow in case of snow. I hope we don’t have to use them this year! Always feel free to contact me at 588-2000 or 308-5052 if I or the board can be of service!

- Pete Peterson
Superintendent

(As published by the West County Times)

Good morning Ki-Be Community, 

      Let me start off by saying "thank you" for the huge amount of support you all showed for Fall sports! It was very exciting to travel to Bellevue and watch our girls compete at the State Soccer Tournament. Although we fell to Seattle Academy, I believe this is huge for the future of our soccer programs and all of our teams.

      We will be having conferences for students next week, and while school will not be in session Monday, please be aware that you can ask for a conference for your student either Monday all day or on Tuesday afternoon. I realize that also means that some of you will be leaving to travel for Thanksgiving, so I wish you safe travels!

     As I said last time, you will begin seeing more and more specific information about our Levy Election that is tentatively scheduled for February 14. The board is in the process of finalizing the details and will finalize everything at our December 12 School Board Meeting. This election, while it occurs in February, will actually be collected in 2024 and 2025. 

     We will be shifting gears with our Community Council meetings. We have tried to hold two meetings, one in English and one in Spanish, but we will be holding those meetings simultaneously on the first Tuesday of each month. We will have a translator available for our Spanish speaking parents. Those will still be held at the high school library at 6:00 PM monthly. We are also preparing our next Community Newsletter, so be on the lookout for it in your mailboxes in mid-January. 

     Finally, for any parents and guardians who have not done so, the Power School App is available for your cell phones and it is very easy to use. This enables you to see real-time updates on grades and attendance. Power School is the district student information system, and while some teachers or coaches may be using other systems in individual classes or sports, Power School is the official and easiest way to see any student's information. Call your students' main office if you need assistance.

      I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and we will hear from us again in December. Always feel free to email me at pete.peterson@kibesd or call my office at 588-2000 or cell phone at 308-5052.

- Pete