Principal Message January 30, 2023
Dear Kennedy Families,
The second trimester is fast coming to a close. Please remind your students to turn in all assigned work so they can earn the best grade that they can. Remember that real-time grades are in PowerSchool and can be accessed at any time. Families that need support accessing students' grades should contact our Family Center or email Ms. Calderon.
Family Center # 650 482-2110
Ms. Calderon ecalderongarcia@rcsdk8.net
Below is the Cougar Connect for the week of January 30th-Feb 3rd
Attendance
Attendance is very important, no matter what time of year, as every instructional minute counts. If students are sick, please keep them home. However, when possible, please schedule vacations and appointments when school is not in session. See link for the correlation between student achievement and chronic absenteeism: (Link)
Parents and guardians should be notifying our office staff when students are absent. Truancy and attendance letters will be sent home to students who have excessive absences. Doctor’s notes are required for three or more consecutive absences.
New Data on Attendance
Between November 28th and January 20th, 479 students left early from school. There were a variety of reasons for it. However, 223 of those times were due to appointments. We understand scheduling appointments can be difficult as families have to balance their jobs, school and the scheduling of the appointments. If possible, please schedule your appointments after school hours or try to cluster them in order to minimize the amount of class time students are missing
Safety during pick-up and drop off
Please obey all city traffic laws when on the road around the school especially during pick-up and drop off times. Also, if you are parked across the street, encourage students to use the cross walk when getting to your vehicle. Please refrain from parking in the neighbors’ driveways.
Reclassification Ceremony Monday 1/30 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm @ Hoover's Gym
We are excited to reclassify 36 Kennedy students. Reclassification is the process whereby a student is reclassified from English learner (EL) status to Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) status. Families of those students received an individual notification and invitation for that evening.
Principal's Coffee Thursday 2/2/2023
Two times:
Principal's Coffee 8:45 am - 9:30 am in person in the Kennedy library
Also 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm on Thursday via Zoom
All the best,
Nikolaos Fanourgiakis
Principal
Kennedy Middle School
8th Grade Families
Below are some reminders for 8th grade students and families for this week:
High School Registration & Transfer Requests for SUHSD
All families must complete registration and address verification for the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) (Link) The Transfer Request (Open Enrollment) deadline is fast approaching for students wanting to transfer to another school within the SUHSD district. You have until Feb. 1st to make a request (Link). No late submissions will be accepted. Please note that the Kennedy Administration or RCSD does not make any decisions regarding high school placement.
Panorama 8th grade Photo - 1/31 Tuesday at 2:00 pm
8th grade parent meeting Tuesday January 31st 6:00pm (Zoom) to discuss 8th grade end of the year activities
Musical Information
Rehearsal schedule (Link)
Please use the link below to access the Matilda Jr.
Sara Rosenbloom srosenbloom@rcsdk8.net
7th Grade Grand Canyon Trip
Mandatory Grand Canyon Meeting on Tuesday, February 14th begins at 6:30 pm. This meeting will cover all the details for the trip, payments, and the distribution of backpacks.
Lastly, a reminder that payments can be made before our meeting in February via Zelle. Making payments ahead of time will help our meeting run more efficiently. Families have received information about how to submit their payments. Payment information is also available online.
Kennedy Grand Canyon Field Trip Website
Please email Maestro Alfredo (aoropeza@rcsdk8.net) if you have any questions.
Yosemite Information Meeting 2023-24 School Year
It feels like this trip just went by!!!
However we have a short information session scheduled for Thursday February 9th 6:00pm - 7:00 pm via zoom for our current 7th grade students and families. The Yosemite Trip is for our 8th graders and will be between October and December 2023. (Link)
Teen Talk - 7th Grade
Teen Talk has begun in your students 7th grade science classes.
Teen Talk Jan 23-Feb 3rd
Kennedy 7th grade students will be participating in Teen Talk in their science classes Jan 23-Feb 3rd. Science teachers will be sending further information on January 9th which will be added to the Cougar Connect. Please reach out to our 7th grade science teachers if you have any questions:
Irma Aguilar Figueroa, ifigueroa@rcsdk8.net
Chelsea Strangman, cstrangman@rcsdk8.net
SEL PARTNERSHIP ACKNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE
Project Resilience by Acknowledge Alliance will commence on January 13th-March 3rd with our 7th grade students and go for 7 weeks
Students will receive weekly lessons in their social studies classes on Fridays.
Project Resilience is a partnership where Acknowledge Alliance facilitators work with our students on developing their social emotional skills, including identifying strengths, recognizing and managing emotions, demonstrating caring for others, coping strategies for dealing with feelings, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, making responsible decisions and working with others.
Winter Sports (Redwood City Parks and Recreation)
Below is the schedule of practices and games through February. If there are any changes we will announce it during morning announcements and coaches will inform families.
Practice Schedule (Link)
Game Schedule (Link)
If you have practice questions contact your coaches or Recreation Coordinator Michael Smith <msmith@redwoodcity.org>
Academic Supports
Kennedy school provides a variety of academic support for students. Some of the academic support are provided in person but there are also many that are online. Attached is a document that provides details of some of these supports. If you have questions please contact me or our family center director Elizabeth Calderon.
Elizabeth Calderon, ecalderongarcia@rcsdk8.net
Nick Fanourgiakis, nfanourgiakis@rcsdk8.net
Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
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Kennedy Middle School Redwood City