Cougar Connect
Week of February 28, 2022
Principal Message Week of February 28th
Dear Kennedy Families,
Hope everyone is doing great. We had another fun week at Kennedy and another positive week in regards to weekly COVID testing as we tested around 150 students this week without a positive test. Thank you PTO for helping us celebrate February birthdays and for organizing staff breakfast on Monday. I would also like to thank all the parent volunteers that helped make the Book Fair very successful. I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing week off (No School Feb 21-25)
Below is the Principal update for the week of Feb 28th.
March 8th, End of 2nd Trimester
Time is running out students turn in as many assignments as you can as teachers gradbooks are closing. The upcoming week is a great week to catch-up on work.
Attendance
Coming to school every day is very important and is one of the key indicators for success in middle school and high school. Kennedy administration will be calling all families of students whose students have missed 10 or more instructional days this school year. We will begin making those calls Wednesday morning 2/23. The call will be for us to gather information, to check if your child or family need any support, and to remind you that daily attendance is expected and required.
COVID-19 Testing Over "Mid Winter Break"
Students were all offered COVID self-tests to use over break, instruction on their use are linked here (Link)
Some Specific:
- Test your student Sunday Feb 27th
- If negative no need to report it
- If positive (Stay home) report it using this district (Link)
Also district is providing testing for staff and students Feb 22-25 from 8:00am - 3:00 pm at Hoover School 701 Charter ST, (Link)
Site Council - PTO Meeting Zoom
Tuesday March 1st 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (Link)
Principal's Coffee Thursday Zoom
Thursday March 3rd 8:45 am (Link)
Water Container
Please remind students to bring a bottle of water or refillable water bottle to school. They can refill their water in one of our three water stations or in classroom sinks. We also will have water bottles and cups available if needed in the office and with your students' PE teachers.
Parent Volunteers
Families have slowly been getting cleared to volunteer on campus for various tasks, but we can always use more volunteers. If you are interested in being cleared to help on site, please use this link and get cleared (link).
Enjoy the week,
Nick Fanourgiakis
Principal
Kennedy Middle School
650482-2409- EX 3111
Absence / Student Release Procedure Reminder
Absences
Reminder, families have the choice of calling in their student absences as normal or complete a short form link below.
This will allow parents to report an absence without having to call the office each morning.
______________________________________________________________________
Student Release Procedures Reminder
When an adult comes to pick up a student during the school day:
- If the office staff know the parent/guardian, and are certain the parent/guardian is able to pick up the child, no verification of id is needed. They should sign the child out.
- If an adult comes to pick up a child and the staff are not certain it is the custodial parent/guardian, the staff must check the emergency card to make sure the person is listed and verify the id of the adult. They should then sign the child out.
Conference Week / Modified schedule 3/14 - 3/18
Parent Teacher conferences will be the week of March 14-18 and for that week school will be dismissed each day at 1:30 pm. During that week students will be following a modified block schedule for all 5 days. The scheduled is linked here. (Link)
Conferences that week will begin at 1:45 pm with families receiving schedules to sign-up the week of March 7th.
* For this round of conferences teacher will be scheduling conferences with students that are struggling and with families that request a conference.
Assessments in March
I-Ready
Kennedy School will being administering its final round of I-Ready assessment in Reading and Math in March. As a reminder I-Ready is a district diagnostic assessment given to all students to determine what grade level content they have learned and what they still need to learn. Below is I-Ready assessment dates for March:- March 9-11 Reading assessment in English classes
- Math 14-18 Math assessment in Math classes
* Make-ups the week of March 21st -25th
Physical Fitness Testing 7th Grade
Students in 7th grade will begin their state physical fitness assessments in their PE classes during the week of March 7th. Students will be assessed in the following areas:
Aerobic Capacity - Choose one: Pacer, One-Mile Run, Walk Test
Abdominal Strengths and Endurance: Curl-Up
Trunk Extensor Strength and Flexibility: Trunk Lift
Upper body Strength and Flexibility - Choose one: Push-up, Modified Pull-Up, Flexed-Arm Hang
Flexibility - Choose one: Back-Saver Sit and Reach, Shoulder Stretch
Teen Talk 7h Grade
Baquero, cbaquero@rcsdk8.net
Strangman, cstrangman@rcsdk8.net
Virnich, jvirnich@rcsdk8.net
Figueroa, ifigueroa@rcsdk8.net
Yearbook Deadline to Order April 12th!
code: 1015926081674110
Spring Musical
Spring Musical practices after school between 3:15-5:30 pm. Ms. Rosenbloom will reach out if there are changes.
Parents wanting to support the play can fill out the form linked here (Link)
Performance is scheduled for: April 29th-May 1st
If you have question or want to help please reach out to Ms. Rosenbloom
8th Grade Weekly Update
Sequoia Unified Counselors
Counselors are visiting our 8th grade on Zoom March 2-3 to talk about class selection for High School.
8th Grade Baby Pictures:
Attention 8th Graders Last Chance: If you would like to submit a baby picture for the yearbook, please turn in your baby pictures with your name written on the back to Mrs. Marinos in room B5 by Feb 28th. You can submit a digital copy on TreeRing.com and upload your baby picture. We will not accept them after Feb 28th.
Panorama Pictures 8th
Panorama picture for 8th grade April 6th in the afternoon. Specifics will be shared with students after spring break.
End of the Year Activities 8th Grade
Video Recording (Link)
Slide Show (Link)
Below are some things 8th grade students have to look forward to
- February sweaters for each students
- May 27th Great America
- June 2nd Field Day
- June 9th Graduation Ceremony 6pm-7pm
- June 9th Graduation Dance 7:30 pm-10:00pm
A family donation of $75 to pay for some of these end of the year activities would help. If you are able please make a $75 contribution by credit card or PayPal by clicking here now. Please include your child’s name in the comments.
Write a check or leave cash in the PTO lock box at the Kennedy Office.
*Students will not be excluded from activities if they cannot contribute
PTO NEWS - 2/28
Thank you to Gail Sheena for organizing and leading the Scholastic Book Fair! And thank you to the many parent volunteers that helped out this week! The money raised from the book fair will fund our KMS teacher’s book wishlists. What a great event!
Mr. Balogh is running a wonderful music program at KMS! He wants to do a fundraiser but still needs a parent willing to take on the Music Dept Liaison role (help the Music teachers, events & fundraising). Email info@kennedycougarspto.org if you would like to help Mr. Balogh.
Parent volunteers are welcome on-campus at RCSD schools to help with the Book Fair and other on-campus events! Please fill out the volunteer form and find volunteer requirements here. https://www.rcsdk8.net/careers/volunteer
If you are approved to volunteer at a different RCSD campus, please let Jennifer Sandoval jsandoval@rcsdk8.net know that you would also like to volunteer at Kennedy!
Check us out on social media for the latest info! Instagram @KennedyCougarsPTO and Facebook at John F Kennedy Middle School Parent Teacher Organization.
Kennedy PTO Needs your donations! Check with your employers about donation matching options. Click this link to donate. https://kennedycougarspto.org/donate-now
Bus Passes
This year the Redwood City School District is part of a special SamTrans pilot program. SamTrans has donated free youth bus passes to be used by students enrolled in the Redwood City School District this is good through June 30th, 2022. Students can receive a free bus pass if they are eligible in one of these categories: Free/Reduced Meals, housing insecurity (homeslessness), foster-youths and migrant students, or students whose parents did not receive a High School Diploma. If you are interested in receiving a pass for your child, please contact Maria Segundo from the family center at 650-482-2409 or send me an email to msegundo@rcsdk8.net. If your child does receive a pass, you will be contacted to complete a short survey.
Pictures / Videos
Click on Cougar Chronicle above
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
6th Grade Stulsaft Park
Thank you Henry Ford 5th Graders
March Calendar
March 1st Site Council / PTO 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
March 3rd Principal's Coffee via Zoom 8:45 am
March 8th End of 2nd Trimester
March 14-18th Early Dismissal 1:30 pm Conference Week
March 22nd Site Council / PTO 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
March 24th Honor Roll Recognitions during Homeroom
March 25th Superminimum day
Kennedy Middle School Redwood City
Email: nfanourgiakis@rcsdk8.net
Website: https://www.rcsdk8.net/kennedy
Location: Kennedy Middle School, Goodwin Avenue, Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone: 650-482-2409
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kennedymiddleschool/