Welcome to Lake Pend Oreille High School

🍂 LPOHS October 2026 Family Newsletter

Dear LPOHS Families,

It’s hard to believe we are already into October! The first few weeks of school have flown by, and we have been so excited to see our students settling into routines, building relationships, learning, and finding their place at LPOHS.

Starting a new school year always comes with adjustments, and this year has been no different. We appreciate the flexibility, patience, and support our families have shown as we work together to make this a successful year for every student.

At Lake Pend Oreille High School, our mission is to “Cultivate the Possible.” We believe every student has strengths, talents, and potential, and our job is to help students recognize those strengths and use them to move toward their goals.

We are proud of our students and grateful to be part of their journey. As we move into October, we want to share a few reminders, celebrations, and important updates with our LPOHS families.

🧡 Attendance Matters – Every Day Counts!

One of our major school goals this year is improving student attendance. We know that regular attendance is an important part of student success, and we appreciate families partnering with us to help students establish consistent routines.

Please take a few minutes to review the LPOHS attendance expectations with your student.

📞 If Your Student Will Be Absent

If your student will be absent for an entire school day, a parent or guardian must notify the LPOHS office.

If we do not hear from a parent or guardian, the absence will be marked as truancy.

⏰ If Your Student Is Late

If a student is going to be late to school, please have a parent or guardian contact the office.

When a parent or guardian notifies the office, the student's tardy is excused; however, the student will still be required to serve a lunch detention for arriving late.

The exceptions to the lunch detention requirement are:

• A note from a doctor, dentist, vision provider, or other medical appointment

• An unforeseen circumstance that has been discussed with Belinda and Chris

Please understand that sleeping in or missing the bus does not qualify as an exception and will not exempt a student from lunch detention.

📋 Attendance Patterns

When a pattern of attendance or tardiness develops, we may work with the student and family to create an Attendance Contract. The purpose of an attendance contract is to provide additional support, establish clear expectations, and help students develop a plan for improving their attendance.

We understand that families sometimes experience circumstances that make regular attendance difficult. If your student is struggling with attendance, please communicate with us. We want to work with you to identify barriers, provide support, and help your student get back on track.

Our goal is not simply to count days—we want students to be present, connected, learning, and making progress toward graduation.

Every Day Counts! 🐾

🧡 Building Relationships & Belonging

One of our biggest priorities at LPOHS is making sure every student knows that they belong here.

Our students come to us with different experiences, strengths, challenges, and goals. We know that strong relationships with caring adults can make a tremendous difference in a student's success.

This year, we are continuing to focus on:

• Building positive relationships with students

• Creating a safe and welcoming school environment

• Recognizing student strengths and successes

• Helping students develop confidence and independence

• Supporting students academically, socially, and emotionally

Our goal is simple: Every student should have a trusted adult at school who knows them, supports them, and believes in what they can accomplish.

🌟 Celebrating Student Strengths

This year, our staff is putting a special emphasis on strengths—both the strengths our students bring with them and the strengths our staff bring to our school community.

Sometimes it is easy to focus on what a student needs to improve or where they may be struggling. We also want to make sure we notice and celebrate what students already bring to the table.

Students who have experienced adversity may develop incredible strengths such as:

• Perseverance

• Creativity

• Adaptability

• Independence

• Problem-solving

• Empathy

• Resilience

At LPOHS, we want to help students recognize these strengths and understand how they can use them to reach their goals.

📚 Academic Progress

We are also focusing on helping students make meaningful academic progress.

Our teachers are working to provide engaging instruction, monitor student understanding, and provide additional support when students need it.

Families can help by asking questions such as:

“What are you learning?”
“What are you proud of this week?”
“Is there anything you need help with?”

Sometimes a simple conversation at home can help a student recognize both their progress and where they may need additional support.

🎓 Seniors & Graduation Planning

Our seniors are an important focus as we move through the school year.

We are continuing to monitor:

• Credits toward graduation

• Attendance

• Academic progress

• Graduation requirements

• Postsecondary plans

• College, career, military, and technical education opportunities

If your student is a senior, please encourage them to stay connected with their teachers and the school office regarding graduation progress.

Our goal is for every senior to have a clear plan for reaching graduation and for life after high school.

🍎 Professional Development & Learning

Friday, October 2 was a professional development day for LPOSD staff, so students did not attend school.

Our LPOHS staff spent the day learning, collaborating, and planning ways to better support our students.

Some of our areas of focus included:

• Student learning and academic data

• Strengthening Tier 1 instruction

• Student engagement and active learning

• Classroom and behavior management

• Intervention and support for students

• Building strong staff relationships and using our individual strengths

We are grateful for opportunities to continually learn and improve for our students.

💬 Stay Connected

Communication between home and school is an important part of student success. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have a question, concern, or simply want to check in about how your student is doing.

Families are encouraged to stay connected through:

• Newsletters & Emails

• Schoology

• Communication with teachers and staff

• ☎️ LPOHS Office: 208-263-6121
  🌐 LPOHS Website: lp.lposd.org
  🌐 LPOSD Website: lposd.org

If you aren't sure who to contact, start with our office—we're happy to help!

🐾 One Family. One Goal. Cultivating the Possible.

As we move into the heart of the school year, we want our students and families to know that they are an important part of the LPOHS community.

We may be a small school, but we are a community that believes strongly in our students.

We will continue to celebrate progress, support students through challenges, build relationships, and look for opportunities to help each student move forward.

One Family. One Goal. Cultivating the Possible.

Thank you for trusting us with your students and for being our partners in their education. We appreciate your support more than you know.

We hope everyone has a wonderful October, and as always, thank you for being part of the LPOHS family!

Warmly,

Chris Davis
Principal
Lake Pend Oreille High School