Cougar Connect
Week of March 2, 2020
Middle Years
Attached below is the March edition of the Middle Years.
Principal’s Coffee
Join us this Thursday for our monthly Principal’s Coffee. I will present some school data, including metrics from the recent STAR Test the students took over the past two weeks and we will tour some classrooms. We will also have some visitors from Chapin Hall in Chicago who would like to gather some parent feedback for a survey related to a new program we will be officially launching soon at Kennedy called Upstream.
Kennedy (and Sequoia High School) were chosen as the third pilot site in the U.S. for this program. It is a partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), LifeMoves, and Chapin Hall. The idea behind this program is to identify and support students and families to make sure they don’t end up homeless. Onsite case managers from LifeMoves will work with families to help them navigate and connect to a variety of different kinds of support and services.
Dance
Our next dance is scheduled for Friday, March 13, from 6-8 pm in the gym. We need chaperones! Please email me or call the office if you can chaperone. We have invited Roosevelt’s middle school students to attend since they don’t have any school dances at their school and Mr. Camarena works there as well, so he knows the students. Students with any referrals or disciplinary issues in February or March are not eligible to attend. We announced this all February and will continue to announce it leading up to the dance. The same criteria will apply to Roosevelt students as well.
Tickets will be on sale at lunch starting Tuesday, March 11, at the student store for $5. Pizza, water, and the photo booth will be included in the price of the ticket.
Conferences
STAR Reading and IABs
Last week students took the STAR Reading test. Below is the chart, so you can see your student’s grade level equivalent for reading. Scores will be posted in the next week or two in PowerSchool as a non-counting item so that you can see the score. (We have some make ups to do this week). The score will also appear on your student’s report card. Since we are now mid-year, you should be looking at the middle column on the chart below. Many students received their score from their teacher already, so you can ask your student as well.
This week students will take another practice assessment for the SBAC test for Math called an IAB (Interim Assessment Block). To make it more manageable like we do for the actual test, we will take it in two parts. Students will start taking it tomorrow or Tuesday and finish on block day.
ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessments for California)
For our students who have not been re-designated as English proficient, they are taking the ELPAC test again. In February, the District came out and assessed students on the speaking part. Schools are responsible for administering the remaining three parts. Students will take this test in their ELD class. The week of March 2, they will take part one of the reading test on Tuesday and complete the second part on block day. The week of March 9, they will take the listening part, which will only take one of the block periods that week. (As a reminder from above, we are on a special schedule that week that only has rotating block periods). The week of March 16, they will take the writing part, which again will take place on Tuesday and the block day.
We waited as long as we could to administer this test within the required testing window to give teachers and students as much time prep time as we could. We also chose to split it up over three weeks to make it more manageable for students instead of administering it all in one week. EL students will be excused from IAB testing because we don’t want them to be too burnt out from being over-tested. They will get exposure to the IAB material and can take it later for practice.
Water Bottles
Summer Bridge
Yearboook
Upcoming High School Course Selection Events
8th graders! It's that time of the year! High school is right around the corner and the following important events will be taking place in March. Do not miss out!
Representatives from the Sequoia Union High School District will be at Kennedy on March 3rd, 2020, presenting information on their respective high schools in your social studies classes. Do not be absent on this day!
On March 16th, 2020, you will receive a Course Selection Sheet in your Language Arts classes. Make sure you come to school on this day! Fill this out and get a parent's signature! Do not forget! You will need to turn it in on the evening of Thursday, March 19th, 2020.
MANDATORY! High School Schedule Drop-off and Parent Night will take place on Thursday, March 19th, 2020 from 5-7 pm in the Kennedy library. You and your parents must attend this event to drop off your course schedule for your respective high school. You will also have a chance to ask the high school counselors any questions you may have about your classes. More details coming soon.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Academic Support
Breakfast Club (Breakfast Provided)
7:45-8:15 am, Library (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays)
After School Help (Snacks Provided)
3:10-4:10 pm, Room 531 (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays)
1:40-2:40 pm, Room 531 (Thursdays)
News From The Community
Help RCEF
Woodside High School Theatre Arts Department Presents The Addams Family a New Musical Comedy
Woodside High School presents the production of The Addams Family, a new musical comedy, with five performances March 13th/14th/15th and 20th/21st, 2020 at the Woodside High School Performing Arts Center, 199 Churchill Avenue, Woodside CA.
Tickets are available online (www.WHSdramaboosters.org).
Based off of the classic Addams’ cartoon characters and the vintage TV series, The Addams Family is every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that isn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. But then, what is normal? As Morticia says, “Normal is an illusion…What’s normal for the spider is a calamity for the fly.”
The Woodside High School production of The Addams Family is sure to have you laughing with a cast of 40 students, along with a full, live orchestra to highlight the excitement of the ghoulish score. The orchestra includes 9 student musicians and over a dozen students working behind the scenes on the tech crew.
Woodside High School musicals frequently sell out and this one is a surefire crowd pleaser so buy your tickets quickly at http://www.WHSdramaboosters.org.
PERFORMANCE DATES:
• Friday, March 13 at 7:30 pm
• Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 pm
• Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 pm (matinee)
• Friday, March 20 at 7:30 pm
• Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 pm
Tickets:
Adults: $20 / Seniors (65+): $15 / Staff & Students (college and under): $10
Pictures From This Week
Advanced Music Students' Trip
March Events
Tuesday, March 3: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; High School Presentations in Social Studies Classes
Wednesday, March 4: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Student Store Open At Lunch, Room 531A; End of Second Trimester
Thursday, March 5: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Principal’s Coffee, 8:30 am, Library; WEB Leader Meeting, Brunch; Girls Locker Room
Friday, March 6: WEB Cookie Decorating, Lunch, B-Quad
Monday, March 9: Pajama and/or Crazy Sock Spirit Day; 1:30 Dismissal; Conferences 1:50-3:05 pm
Tuesday, March 10: Hat and/or Sunglasses Spirit Day; Dance Tickets on Sale at Lunch, Student Store; 1:30 Dismissal; Conferences 1:50-3:05 pm
Wednesday, March 11: Disney Spirit Day; ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Dance Tickets on Sale at Lunch, Student Store; 1:30 Dismissal; Conferences 1:50-3:05 pm
Thursday, March 12: Blackout/Whiteout Spirit Day (wearing all black or all white); ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Dance Tickets on Sale at Lunch, Student Store; 1:30 Dismissal; Conferences 1:50-3:05 pm
Friday, March 13: Twin Spirit Day; ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Dance Tickets on Sale at Lunch, Student Store; 1:30 Dismissal; Conferences 1:50-3:05 pm, Kennedy/Roosevelt Dance, 6:00-8:00 pm, Gym
Tuesday, March 17: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; Second Harvest Food Bank, 9:30 am, Gym; Student Store Open at Lunch, Room 531A
Wednesday, March 18: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; February Student of the Month Picture, 11:22 am, Gym
Thursday, March 19: ELPAC Testing, ELD Classes; High School Schedule Turn In Night, 5:00-7:00 pm, Kennedy Library
Friday, March 20: No School
Monday, March 23: March Birthday Celebration, Lunch, Student Store
Tuesday, March 24: Honor Roll Breakfast, 7:15 am, Gym; Grad Committee Meeting, 6:00 pm, Library; PTO Meeting, 7:00 pm, LibraryKennedy Middle School
Email: sadler@rcsdk8.net
Website: www.rcsdk8.net/kennedy
Location: 2521 Goodwin Avenue, Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone: (650) 482-2409
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kennedymiddleschool/