Dear Fellow Homeschoolers and Educators,

Kingfisher will be going through a transition in the next couple months.
We want to keep you updated - so we are asking for you to update your email address with us or check our website periodically for current information.

As of September 30th, Kingfisher will be closing in the Portland area. We will be joining First Class Home School ministries in Vancouver, Washington. The reasons for this merger and the steps to help you/us through this process are disclosed below. 

With the slowing of the economy Kingfisher became much more taxing for our family to maintain, and after much prayer to seek God’s direction we have felt God is calling us on a new path.

We opened Kingfisher’s doors in August 2001. It has been a marvelous adventure. God has blessed us in countless ways by being able to serve Him and to witness firsthand His work being done here in the Portland area. God, through Kingfisher, enabled us to build lifelong friendships throughout the Portland area, much of the United States, Canada, and all the way overseas to distant countries. Because of these reasons and the need we see to keep a light in the city of Portland, our first desire was to find someone to continue our work here through Kingfisher encouraging and ministering to home school families. However, God did not provide that and of course we believe there to be a good reason for that unanswered prayer. We believe God has, instead, led us to Clark County working side by side with “First Class” homeschool ministries. First Class is a coop-homeschool ministry blessed by God and whole heartedly led by Him.

    Since we met Heidi St. John in 2005, we knew our passion to help homeschooling families was matched. Heidi is the creator and one of the executive directors of First Class ministries. Liz and Heidi have been known to sit and dream of a beautiful resource building for homeschoolers with God at the forefront - as a matter of fact, that was exactly what their very first conversation consisted of.  First Class is already in the business of ministering to homeschooling families, as evident by their website and the work they have done all over the United States (www.firstclasshomeschool.org).  First Class’s vision is to plant homeschool co-ops in churches all over the world, where families can find encouragement and support as they navigate the homeschool years. Though on a smaller scale, our vision has been to encourage, support, cry with, and jump for joy with homeschooling families anywhere we can reach them. It seems like a perfect match.

So with all that to say - please jump on for the ride. There are probably going to be a lot of bumps along the way, and things will not be perfectly done. We will need some time to build up to where we were, and hopefully, better than we were in Portland.  But, with your patience and support we know that we can do it. Please be praying for us and please read on ahead to see the schedule of how we will go about this journey.

So what will change and what will be maintained?

Web site & e-store

The Kingfisher web site retail sales will continue with some items that we will not be able to fit into the First Class space.

 First Class Store will be located within the Digital building in Vancouver. The store will primarily carry new items due to the limited space. We will be developing the already present e-commerce store at First Class.

Because our home base will now be located in the state of Washington we will be required to add sales tax to items shipped within the state of Washington.

 We are evaluating how we may continue to consign and sell used curriculum. To what extent we are not yet sure. We will have a better idea on this in January.

Used curriculum consignment

For now we are only accepting used consignment items that we feel we can sell in the next two months. We are in the process of creating a list of items that we will accept. In the mean time please feel free to email or call with the items you wish to consign.

Customers with a current consignment account

We will continue to sell used items for those of you who have a current consignment account with Kingfisher until September 15th. For those who listed “call to pick up”, please make an appointment (3 business days in advance) to retrieve your unsold consignment. If we haven’t heard from you by September 15th we will assume you have donated your consignment books. We will also be taking donations for Uganda Kids, First Class, or to help off set Kingfisher finishing/moving costs. You may designate any of the specific areas or where needed. For those of you who checked the “donated” box, books will be considered donated after your credit is used for your September 2010 school purchase. If you have any questions or concerns about used consignment – please call or email us. We have always been very flexible in this area and will try to continue to do so.

Testing

We have one testing day left on the calendar that is not full. We might be able to add more if needed. Please contact Julie McConnell at 503-257-7591

Classes

Kingfisher will no longer provide classes, however First Class does offer high school level classes at the Digital building and co-op classes at local area churches. We invite you to visit First Class web site to learn of their full list of classes.

Contacting Liz

Liz is maintaining her email. Further, she will be working on a part time basis at First Class and will be available to assist you with your curriculum decisions when she is there.

Sales * Sales * Sales

Until the Sept. 23rd we will be having a coupon sale of 15% off all new discountable items, and 12% off of Alpha Omega.  The coupon is to help us get as many people as we can on our email list so that we can update you on all that is happening at Kingfisher. We do not sell our lists and we do not bombard you with emails. However, if you do not want your email to be transferred to the First Class list – please let us know. If you simply do not email than let us know that and we will try to contact you through the mail. Please check our website for September sales.

Can’t find what you need?

Because of the economy, we are a little short staffed and not all the items we carry are on the website. Some of the prices are not updated at this time either. You can go to www.stl-distribution.com . This is one of our main distributors, and if we don’t have it listed or do not have it in stock you can find it here. Most orders, depending on what warehouse, can be in within two business days. Also, we carry Institute of excellence in Writing, Back Home Industries, Singapore and many more items not listed at STL Distributors. We do have some Queens Homeschool curriculum in and we will be taking a list for an order with them. We also can order bibles through STL that you can have monogrammed.

Discounted used sale room

The storage room is stock full of used curriculum priced at 50% off the used price. Also, we have a ton of regular priced used on the floor. Now is a great time to come in.

Again, our decision to close Kingfisher’s doors was not made quickly. Much prayer and thought went into this decision. Through it all we are confident God has led us in this new venture. One thing we will dearly miss is our daily personal interaction with all of you (our customers), our employees, our landlord, our neighboring businesses, our neighbors, and all the people that made their way through the doors of Kingfisher. All of our friends and acquaintances are priceless. We want to thank all of you who supported us and understood our ministry here at Kingfisher. Many of you were not only loyal customers, but you helped us in so many ways. We really can’t thank you enough.  Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have further questions and help us to finish strong by sharing our sale with your friends and family.  

The Kingfisher Curriculum Cove Family,

Liz, Erica, Lori, Steffan & Eric

September 23 last day for sales

September 24 pack

September 25 move day

September 26 day of rest

September 27th -30th clean, paint, and distribute left over used consignment to current used customers.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP!?!

Click here for info on how you can be a blessing

 First Class Website  Click here

 Directions to First Class Vancouver, WA  Click here