To welcome incoming students, four local elementary schools will be hosting Family Welcome Nights this week. Several students from kindergarten to fifth grade will be zoning into different schools due to the completed construction of Kamiak Elementary.

Shannon Focht, Pullman School District communications coordinator, said Kamiak Elementary will open this fall and kindergarten enrollment has already begun.

“Enrollment is based on where students live,” she said, “so a lot of our current students will be moving to Kamiak.”

She said Sunnyside Elementary, Jefferson Elementary and Franklin Elementary will be hosting one family welcome night while Kamiak Elementary will be hosting two.

Focht said Sunnyside, Jefferson and Kamiak will have its event 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at its respective school locations.

She said Kamiak will host a second family welcome night 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“There are so many students moving to Kamiak, so they’re splitting [the events] by alphabet,” Fotch said.

She said incoming Kamiak students whose last names begin with the letters “A” through “K” will attend the school’s family welcome night on Tuesday. Students with last names beginning with the letter “L” through “Z” will attend on Wednesday.

“It’s just an opportunity for families who will be moving to that school to meet the principal, meet staff and look around the building,” Focht said. “Students can become a little more acclimated to the school they’re going to be moving to.”

She said each elementary school is likely to have its own itinerary for its respective welcome night.

The construction of Kamiak Elementary spanned around two years, she said. On Aug. 15, a dedication ceremony will be held for the opening of the school.

“All of our elementary school enrollment should go down considerably,” Focht said. “This means our classrooms will be a lot less crowded.”