Holmes School Supplies - Kale Colyar, Principal

 

           Aug. 26: Noon meeting at the Bark. Speaker: Briana Berner, YWCA.

 

           Sept. 2: No meeting. Labor Day Holiday.

 

           Sept. 9: Noon meeting at the Bark. Speaker: Carmela Conroy, 5^th District congressional candidate.

 

 

     Club activities chair Laura Zahn said upcoming events:

 

     Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 3 to 7 p.m.: Community table at Fairwood Farmers’ Market. Fundraiser for Mobius science kits for Holmes 3^rd and 5^th graders.  Two shifts planned during the market hours.  Some members are needed at 12:30 p.m. for set-up. Use Sign Up Genius.

 

     Saturday, Sept. 28, 8:30 a.m. to Noon: Habitat for Humanity build in Deer Park.  The club wants to fill 20 slots, so friends are invited.

 

     Saturday, Oct. 12, 2 p.m., Free Rein tour in Spokane Valley.

 

     

     A new school year means fewer students in Spokane schools and ever-younger classmates, Holmes Elementary Principal Kale Colyar says.

 

     Colyar described the changes as about 15 Spokane-North Rotary members quickly filled the Holmes supply closet on Aug. 19.

 

     “Thank you.  Your help means the world to us,” Colyar said.  He thanked the group for providing a new washing machine and dryer and for funding the supplies and helping stock the school products.

 

     Due to a newly scheduled District meeting, he had only a few minutes to talk about the new school year, Colyar offered some details.

 

    With a declining birth population, schools everywhere are dealing with reduced enrollments.  In Seattle, for example, some 20 schools are planned to be closed.  Spokane’s District 81 expects 29,000 or fewer students, about 1,000 less than previous years.

 

    Colyar said Holmes expects to have 380 students, about 20 fewer than in previous years.

 

    But a big change is enrolling 4-year and 5-year old pre-school students, he said.  “And we don’t have pre-school certificated teachers yet,” he said.

 

    Colyar said Holmes also will have 71 kindergartners, requiring a fourth class, and hiring another teacher for the younger students.

 

    Colyar said Holmes again expects “about a 45 percent mobility rate,” meaning the number of departing and arriving students during the school year.

 

    Holiday times, like Halloween and the Christmas weeks are times when most students leave or arrive, he said.

 

    Sandy Fink, the club’s coordinator with Holmes, again headed the annual supply project.

 

    The supply closet sundries included stacking cartons of rows of Clorox disinfecting wipes, which seemed enough to clean up any needs.

 

    Sandy also mentioned a new product – “sentence strips” – will help reading and writing skills.

 

    Colyar thanked the club for Spokane-North’s long time commitment to Holmes and to the supply closet project, which began two principal’s ago before his tenure at the school.

 

 

 

        

     

     Also Supplied were:  Pencil Sharpeners and Post it Easel pads