Welcome to the 2025–2026 school year! Whether you are returning or joining us for the first time, I want you to know you are part of a truly special community. White Pine is a place where students are known, cared for, and challenged to grow. Our teachers and staff are dedicated, compassionate, and innovative—and I’ve already seen that firsthand as I’ve been preparing for this new role.

This year marks my first as the principal of White Pine Elementary. Prior to this, I was a teacher at Ridgeline High School and was the district's work-based learning coordinator. I am honored to join the White Pine team and excited to work alongside you to support your child’s learning and growth. I deeply believe that strong partnerships between home and school are essential to student success.

As a parent, when my children arrive at school, I am hoping for three things: 1: That my children will be safe, 2: That they will be treated with kindness and respect, and 3: That they will learn at high levels.

Those are our priorities here at White Pine. You have my commitment that we will work hard every day to ensure your child feels safe, supported, and challenged.

As principal, my door is always open. I value your insights and input, and I look forward to getting to know each of you in the coming months.

We are also excited to welcome the following new teachers to the White Pine family:

Abbey Cook, Preschool: I’m SO excited to be at White Pine this year! I am from Kaysville, Utah, and went to college at Utah State. I got my bachelor's degree in special education with ages 0-5, and for the last 2 years, I have been working as a behavior interventionist in Preston. I got married last September and am loving married life!! I love anything outside, especially boating or anything to do with water! I love baking and building Legos, and babysitting my nieces and nephews!!! I love teaching and am so excited to be part of such an amazing district and school!! I look forward to meeting all of you!!
Kristi Crandall, 3rd Grade: Hello, White Pine families! I am new to WP, but not new to the district. I spent six years teaching third grade at Wellsville Elementary, then for the past three years I have been working in a district-level position. I am excited to be back in third grade; we all know third is the best place to be! I can’t wait to meet my new class. In the meantime, I have been getting the room ready for great learning. I live in Smithfield with my husband. My three children all live in the valley as well. We enjoy spending time together laughing and eating good food! See you soon!
Dori Feichko, 5th Grade: I am a mother to 9 sons, 4 daughters-in-law, (ages 32-4), and 3 grandsons (ages 9-1). I have been teaching for 20 years, and my emphasis is mathematics. I’m originally from Carbon County, and I moved to Cache County this summer to be with my fiancé. We have since acquired chickens and goats. My hobbies are gardening, photography, and cheering on my kiddos in their sports and interests. So far, my fifties have been the best years yet!
Brenda Woodward, Resource: I'm thrilled to be joining your team as one of the special education teachers. My husband and I have been married for 31 years and have four amazing adult children. Three of our children and our daughter-in-law will be attending or working for Utah State University this fall. Our fourth child lives in Fargo, North Dakota, where he’ll be going to school and working for the airlines as airport staff. Outside of work, I enjoy travelling, reading, family history, and visiting unique and unusual museums across the country-quirky places always catch my interest! I am also thrilled to be returning to Cache Valley, where my Hillman, Hale, Harker, Clark, and Hendricks roots run deep. I have fond memories of visiting here as a child, and I feel so lucky to call Smithfield home now! Professionally, I recently earned my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Special Education. I've been involved with schools for over 20 years, through tutoring and substituting, and this will be my sixth year specifically in special education. I'm eager to contribute to the White Pine community and collaborate with each of you to support the amazing students in Richmond!
Kendra Ficher, PE Teacher:

Teacher Information

We will be letting parents know who their child's teachers are on August 8th via email and PowerSchool. Thank you for your support and patience.

Title I School Status

White Pine has qualified for Title 1 status! Please join us on Back to School night, Monday, August 18th, from 5:30 pm - 7 pm in the GYM to learn more.

White Pine is currently 1% away from losing its Title 1 school status. It's a HUGE benefit to our students and school programs. Please continue to apply for free or reduced lunch this year to ensure that we continue to qualify and have access to this funding. Click here for more information and apply.

Lunch Accounts

Please ensure that your child has money in their lunch account before school starts. Envelopes can be found at the office, or you can pay online by clicking here .

Back to School Night

We are excited for our Back to School Night this year! We look forward to seeing you on Monday, August 18, from 5:30 pm- 7 pm. 5:30-6 Title 1 & PTA information in the GYM and 6-7 meet your teacher. This time is to go and meet your child’s teacher, learn some of the class expectations, and get a feel for the school.

School Hours

Kindergarten - 6th Grade: Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 3:35 PM & Friday 9:00 AM - 2:20 PM. If you have elected for half-day kindergarten, the hours will be Monday-Friday, 9:00-12:00.

As a reminder, students will not be able to be checked out after 3:15 pm Monday-Thursday and 2 pm on Fridays.

Arrival Time

The first morning bell rings at 9:00 AM. Our school day begins at 9:05 AM every day. Please be sure to have your child/children here on time. Students who are consistently tardy are at a disadvantage and usually arrive feeling frantic and unprepared. All students who arrive after 9:05 AM must sign in at the office. If your child is going to be absent, please call and inform our school office at 435-258-2344.

Back-to-School Supplies

Back-to-school supplies are listed for all grades on the school website at White Pine School Supply Lists.

Student Drop Off and Pick Up

Please review the drop-off and pick-up map that was attached to this email before the first day. Remember that we need everyone to stay in the pickup lane. No leapfrogging is allowed. When a car is loaded, it will pull out, and everyone behind it will move forward. Pick up takes less than 10 minutes each day if we all do this. Thank you.

Dress Code

A copy of the school dress code can be found on the district website or at this link. Dress Code: Please review the policy with your students before coming to school.

Cell Phones & Smart Watches

*Cell phones must be powered off and put away while students are at school. If cell phones are out during the school day, students will be warned and asked to power them off and put them in a backpack. If it occurs again, it will be taken from the student and must be collected from the office at the end of the school day. Additional incidents will require a parent to come and retrieve the phone.

*Smart Watches may be worn as long as they do not become a distraction and are used only as a watch.

*All communication from parents to students during the school day must be done through the school’s front office at 435-258-2344.

School Newsletter

Each month, you will receive an email with the White Pine Newsletter, which will inform you about the latest happenings at our school. Most communication from the school will be sent via email, so please contact the school office if you aren’t receiving information from the school or if your email address changes.

School Community Council

Information for our School Community Council can be found on our website at White Pine SCC.

Suggested Grade Level Supply Donations

"NOTICE: THE ITEMS ON THIS LIST WILL BE USED DURING THE REGULAR SCHOOL DAY. THEY MAY BE BROUGHT FROM HOME ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS; OTHERWISE, THEY WILL BE FURNISHED BY THE SCHOOL."

Kindergarten

Lysol/Clorox wipes
Small glue sticks
Baby wipes
Expo fine tip black dry erase markers
Hand Sanitizer
kleenex

1st Grade

hand sanitizer
Clorox wipes
tissues

2nd Grade

$10 field trip donation
A pencil box, not larger than 6X10 inches (Only for students in Mrs. Jensen or Mrs. Rowley's classes)
Boxes of tissues
Disinfecting wipes
Dry erase markers-small, fine tip or large size, dark colors

Please don’t send regular markers, scissors, or glue with your child. We have class sets of those that we can use when needed. Thanks!

3rd Grade

Ticonderoga pre-sharpened pencils
Tissues
Expo markers- FINE TIP in BLACK
Glue Sticks
Colored Pencils/Crayons
Mrs. Jensen's hand sanitizer, (no equate brand.)
Miss Erickson's class Clorox Wipes*

4th Grade

3 spiral notebooks (green, red, blue)
1 composition notebook
Dry erase markers
2 Highlighters
3 desk folders (green, red, blue)
Clorox wipes
1 bottle of Hand sanitizer

5th Grade

Top Priorities:These are the necessities that every student will need and use individually:

2 notebooks (single-subject, spiral bound, different colors/designs)
3 folders (different colors or designs, with pockets)
Pencils (mechanical pencils are preferred, along with replacement lead. At least two dozen #2 wooden pencils are the other option.)
Erasers (several pencil top erasers or one big “pink pearl” type . . . whatever works)
Dry erase markers (2 or 3 to use on small whiteboards; Expo brand seems to work best.)
Pencil box or Pouch (not too large . . . please label it with your child’s name. Please also make sure the pencil box is one that will fit inside a desk.

These are the necessities that can be donated for whole-class use (not kept in individual desks):

Tissues (at least 2 or 3 boxes for all to share)
Hand Sanitizer (unscented; with a pump lid)
Normally, we would ask for markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, and scissors, but we have a good supply of these that are still usable, so please focus on other items instead.

*We will label the notebooks and folders during the first week of class.

*Water bottles are welcome as long as they do not tip over easily and do not leak when knocked

over. Please test this at home first. :) Water bottles may only contain plain water (no juice, soft drinks, etc.).

Please DO NOT bring: Experience has taught us that these items cause more trouble than they’re worth:

Multiple-subject notebooks
Sticky notes
Pens of any kind or color (not even erasable)

Bulky binders/organizers (I know they are fun, but there just isn’t room for them.)
On-desk organizers (e.g., plastic cups and trays to hold sticky notes, pencils, etc.)
White-out (Erasers work fine; I’ll provide white-out if needed.)
Miscellaneous office supplies (e.g., hole punches, paper clips, rubber bands, tape, magnets, stickers)
Pencils, erasers, etc. that are more like toys than tools.

6th Grade

Please put your name on all of your own supplies before bringing them to school.

water bottle
4 to 5 different colored folders
basic crayola markers
pencil box or bag no bigger than 8 ½ x 5 ½ approximately
3-5 black, fine tip dry erase markers
1 red pen
a pair of scissors
1 or 2 glue sticks
Headphones

Classroom Supplies if you are able donate for the entire class to use:

boxes of tissue
containers of disinfectant wipes (like Clorox or Lysol wipes)
hand sanitizer
extra marker sets
extra water bottle