Kenwood - November Newsletter
Check each Sunday for updates at the top of this newsletter
NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 22ND
I am so grateful that we've made it to Thanksgiving for "in person" learning. This Tuesday we will have been in school with students for 67 days. I can remember being excited about making it to 10 days! This is all in part due to the diligence of our teachers and staff keeping on top of our new procedures of taking temperatures twice a day, washing hands upon entry to school, from recess, after specials, and using the restroom. They also remind students to keep their nose and mouth covered with their masks. Cleaning procedures after students have sat at tables and have used individual items are also in place. I also want to thank the parents who are doing the right thing even if it's difficult. When parents or siblings are getting tested for COVID, other siblings in the household should stay home until a negative test or alternative diagnosis is found. Parents are getting us their letters from the doctors before students can return. We definitely appreciate this. We want our students to remain in school. It is what is best for our students and for their working families.
Having said that, I'm concerned about our Thanksgiving break. While traditional Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends are fun, it can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu. Please read over these tips to make your Thanksgiving holiday safer and so that we remain in school. With all of us working together, we can do this!
Everyone Can Make Thanksgiving Safer
Stay safe, stay healthy. Enjoy your break.
Pig Races--PTO Fundraiser
Kenwood Spirit Wear--closes Monday, November 30th at 11:59 PM
Kenwood Selected for Hy-Vee Reusable Bag Program
Dear Kenwood Elementary,
We are so excited to share that Kenwood PTO has been selected to be a part of the Hy-Vee Reusable Bag program that supports local non-profits, which is designed to make it easy for customers to contribute to their local community while supporting the environment. For the month of December, each time a $2.50 red "My Heart" Reusable Bag is purchased at the Hy-Vee located at 5212 3rd Avenue, $1 will be donated to Kenwood PTO. This is a great way to raise awareness, support the environment and fundraise for our cause. Let’s get started! We can begin by spreading the news to our friends and family. Call, send emails, and post on social media. The more people who learn about the program and purchase the $2.50 red "My Heart" Reusable Bag during the month of December, the more money we will raise. To learn more about this program, please visit hy-vee.bags4mycause.com.
Best, Kenwood PTO fundraising Committee
Feed Your Community Food Drive
November 22-30
20-Harlow W.
29-Alec A.
November 15-21
17-Calvin R.
18-Aaliyah S.
20-Bentley K.
November 8-14
8-Manuel M.
9-Easton W.
10-Brayden H., Mathias Z.
11-Aniyah Q.
12-Haines L.
November 1-7
2-Sofie C.
3-Lilianna L.
4-Jackson B.
5-Abby S., Vicky S.
7-London H., Amari J.
Nov. 24th--PIG RACES-after announcements at 8:00
Nov. 25th-27th--No school, Thanksgiving Break
Nov. 30th-Dec. 4th--Feed Your Community Food Drive
Dec. 11th-No school, professional development day
Dec. 21st and Dec. 22nd-No school, teacher work day *Not previously scheduled, please plan accordingly
Cougars of the Week for November 15-21
NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 15TH
Another part of our day was spent discussing the risk dial as it has turned to the orange phase. What does that mean for us at Kenwood? It means that we continue all of our yellow phase procedures, limit students in the hallways, and ensure students working outside of the classroom in small groups wash or sanitize their hands before and after going to groups. At recess, grade levels have equipment that is colored--for instance, one grade level uses all yellow items such as balls and jump ropes while another grade level uses red. These items are sanitized after each use. We will continue to take temperatures right away in the morning and before lunch. Students are eating breakfast in their classrooms but continue to eat lunch in the cafeteria. At Kenwood, we have spread students out in the lunchroom. Students sit at tables with their class and are assigned seats. This is just a "snippit" of what our teachers and staff do at Kenwood to continue to keep our students and staff safe and to continue "in person" learning. We all know that it's best for our students to be in school.
In the afternoon, the teachers had the choice of professional development training. We had two sessions that included learning more about FastBridge reports, MAP reports, and Google Classroom. Teachers are alert that there's a possibility that we could go into remote learning at anytime. As Dr. Edwards letter stated, this could be determined by the Governor or Twin Rivers Health Department so we need to be ready in a moments notice. Teachers will be placing their zoom meeting links on Clever along with their google classrooms. As you may be aware, we do not have our chromebooks that were slated to be here at the end of September. This has now been pushed to the end of November, beginning of December. When the district receives the chromebooks, they will need time to prepare them for our students then the teachers will practice with the students on how to access Clever and the google classrooms along with other programs. Mrs. Roesler, our librarian, has been working with students on this as well. We are doing our very best to get them prepared for this worst case scenario. Just so you know, we are planning on having school and I do not know of any plans as of yet to go remote. When we do, we want to learn from our last shutdown and improve our time with students. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me.
Some changes that are taking place that you need to be aware of are the two days prior to our holiday break. December 21st and 22nd are now considered "no school days" for our students. So Friday, December 18th will be our last day with students before break. The teachers will continue to work on these days. If you can, please use those days for any doctor or dentist visits and family time.
- What made you want to serve and how long did you serve?
- What is something that you would want others to know if they were thinking about joining the service?
- What is your proudest accomplishment during your time in the service?
- What are some places that you've visited?
- What were some of your jobs/duties?
We would like to thank Brison Kuhn, Keith Waechter, and Adam Coble for taking time to share your experiences with all of us at Kenwood. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SACRIFICES THAT YOU'VE MADE SO WE HAVE OUR FREEDOM!
In the pictures below:
1. Grace Means, 4th grader in Mrs. Lebsack's class, poses by her grandfather, Keith Waechter, as he shares his experience in the service.
2. Brison Kuhn carries his daughters, Brynnan (5th grader) and Kayla (3rd grader), in this picture. He also joined us for our Veteran's Day celebration via zoom.
COUGARS OF THE WEEK FOR NOVEMBER 8-14
November 15-21
17-Calvin R.
18-Aaliyah S.
20-Bentley K.
November 8-14
8-Manuel M.
9-Easton W.
10-Brayden H., Mathias Z.
11-Aniyah Q.
12-Haines L.
November 1-7
2-Sofie C.
3-Lilianna L.
4-Jackson B.
5-Abby S., Vicky S.
7-London H., Amari J.
Nov. 25th-27th--No school, Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 11th-No school, professional development day
Dec. 21st and Dec. 22nd-No school, teacher work day *Not previously scheduled, please plan accordingly
NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8TH
We have been fortunate to have this beautiful, record breaking weather. It's been good for all of us! I've been reminding students to wear warmer clothing next week as it's going to get bitterly cold. Please label coats and boots in case they get mixed up.
Tomorrow, Monday, November 9th, we will have a PTO Meeting. Please join us via zoom using this link: PTO Meeting We hope you can join us.
We are putting together a special newsletter in honor of our veterans that are related to our Kenwood students and staff. Tomorrow will be the last day for us to receive names, service, and photos of those so please get them in as soon as possible. You can email them to sarfeddersen@kearneycats.com.
Wednesday is Veteran's Day. Veterans Day is a U.S. legal holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars. We celebrate it on November 11th each year. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary peace was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as “the Great War.” Veterans’ Day became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938. Today we honor all of the veterans, both those who have served and those who are currently serving, in our nation. We will be hosting some veterans via zoom on Wednesday morning. They will share their experiences with our students. This is a great opportunity for our students to learn more about their experiences and be aware of their sacrifices as well as their families. Please make sure to ask them about it when they get home.
All of this information can be seen on our November Newsletter. Click here to view it. This will also be on our Kenwood website and Facebook page.
Nov. 13th--No School for students, professional development day for teachers
Nov. 25th-27th--No school, Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 11th-No school, professional development day
News for the week of November 2nd-6th
Phew! We just celebrated two special events two weeks in a row. Our dress up days for Red Ribbon Week this past week was really fun. Pictures from this week can be seen later in this newsletter. We are ready to start November with one extra hour of rest (hopefully you all turned your clocks back!). To reiterate what our superintendent, Dr. Edwards, sent in his email, we must stay vigilant with our Covid procedures. We are so fortunate to be in school and want it to continue. Please continue to share with your child to wear a mask, wash their hands, and watch their distance even over the weekends when we are ready for a break.
Kenwood will be holding their own election day on Tuesday this week in grades 3 through 5. The students have learned about the presidential candidates through their Time for Kids magazines. On Tuesday they will each get the chance to vote on a ballot and get a sticker for voting. The results will be posted during announcements on Wednesday to compare to the actual election. This is a great time to teach our students about democracy and tolerance.
If you ordered from PTO, please fill out this form to let us know your intentions for picking up the items. Fundraiser PIck Up Monday, November 2nd We are planning on items being picked up tomorrow, Monday, November 2nd. Thank you all so much for your support for our students!
The KHS clubs joined together for a Starve Out Hunger event. Thank you to all who gave canned foot items for the Jubilee Center. If my memory serves me correctly they had over 3500 pounds of canned food items collected around Kearney at several schools. This makes me so proud to live in this giving and caring community!
November 8-14
8-Manuel M.
9-Easton W.
10-Brayden H., Mathias Z.
11-Aniyah Q.
12-Haines L.
November 1-7
2-Sofie C.
3-Lilianna L.
4-Jackson B.
5-Abby S., Vicky S.
7-London H., Amari J.
COUGARS OF THE WEEK FOR NOVEMBER 1ST
Kenwood will be holding their own election day on Tuesday this week in grades 3 through 5. The students have learned about the presidential candidates through their Time for Kids magazines. On Tuesday they will each get the chance to vote on a ballot and get a sticker for voting. The results will be posted during announcements on Wednesday to compare to the actual election. This is a great time to teach our students about democracy and tolerance.
If you ordered from PTO, please fill out this form to let us know your intentions for picking up the items. Fundraiser PIck Up Monday, November 2nd We are planning on items being picked up tomorrow, Monday, November 2nd. Thank you all so much for your support for our students!
The KHS clubs joined together for a Starve Out Hunger event. Thank you to all who gave canned foot items for the Jubilee Center. If my memory serves me correctly they had over 3500 pounds of canned food items collected around Kearney at several schools. This makes me so proud to live in this giving and caring community!
Cougars of the Week for Oct. 26-30th
Veteran's Day Pictures
We will be having a couple of veterans zoom in with us on Veterans Day to discuss their experiences. We are excited to learn from them!
November 13th-No School for students, teacher professional development day
November 25th-27th--Thanksgiving Break
RED RIBBON WEEK PICTURES
REMINDER TO WASH THOSE MASKS!
Kenwood School Song
Mrs. Clevenger
Email: jilclevenger@kearneycats.com
Website: https://kenwood.kearneypublicschools.org/
Location: 915 16th Avenue, Kearney, NE, USA
Phone: 308-698-8200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenwoodelementary/
Kenwood Staff Contacts
Principal:
Jill Clevenger-jilclevenger@kearneycats.com
Secretary:
Saralyn Feddersen - sarfeddersen@kearneycats.com
Social Worker:
Traci Hastings-trahastings@kearneycats.com
Counselor:
Counselor-Mary Fruhling- marfruhling@kearneycats.com
Kate Roehrich-katroehrich@kearneycats.com
Tori Fiala-torfiala@kearneycats.com
Sue Liveringhouse-sueliveringhouse@kearneycats.com
First Grade:
Jessika Lehmann-jeslehmann@kearneycats.com
Megan Szafrajda-megszafrajda@kearneycats.com
Barb Thompson-barthompson@kearneycats.com
Second Grade:
Allison Birdwell-allbirdwell@kearneycats.com
Tami Buss-tambuss@kearneycats.com
Holly Gilbreath-holgilbreath@kearneycats.com
Third Grade:
Melinda Hogeland-melhogeland@kearneycats.com
Beckie Luedke-becluedke@kearneycats.com
Kat Mundorf-katmundorf@kearneycats.com
Fourth Grade:
Megan Buerer - megbuerer@kearneycats.com
Rachelle Chamberlain - racchamberlain@kearneycats.com
Lynn Lebsack - lynlebsack@kearneycats.com
Fifth Grade:
Jane Bartee-janbartee@kearneycats.com
Broc Howard - brohoward@kearneycats.com
Janice Knispel - janknispel@kearneycats.com
Specials:
PE-Hope Gillaspy - hopgillaspy@kearneycats.com
Art-Rivkah Raffaeli - rivraffaeli@kearneycats.com
Music-Jake Consbruck - jacconsbruck@kearneycats.com
Media/Library-Mary Roesler- marroesler@kearneycats.com
Counselor-Mary Fruhling- marfruhling@kearneycats.com
Title Reading-Janice Polk - janpolk@kearneycats.com
Title Reading-Lisa Martenson - lismartenson@kearneycats.com
Special Education/TLC-Amanda McConnell - amamcconnell@kearneycats.com
Special Education-Katie Butler - katbutler@kearneycats.com
Special Education-Brooke Modlin - bromodlin@kearneycats.com
*Jayce Magnani (substitute for Mrs.Modlinl)-jaymagnani@kearneycats.com
Speech/Language-Trish Abels - triabels@kearneycats.com
School Psychologist-Ashley Carrier - ashcarrier@kearneycats.com
Permanent Substitute
Alexis Thiel-alethiel@kearneycats.com
Nurse-Sara Gomez--sargomez@kearneycats.com
About Us
Website: https://kenwood.kearneypublicschools.org/
Location: 915 16th Avenue, Kearney, NE, USA
Phone: 3086988200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenwoodelementary/