Kennedy Cougars
Your Weekly Update from Kennedy Middle School
Principal's Message
Spring is just around the corner...
Dear Kennedy families and caregivers,
As we close out the longest month at school, Kennedy has a bunch of reminders to share.
MCAS schedule and details:
Here is the link to the 2024 MCAS schedule for Kennedy. If your child misses a day of testing, they will be given the opportunity to make it up. Please check the calendar link above for all dates and make up dates.
Bus behavior issues:
Inappropriate bus behavior is on the rise at Kennedy. I want to take a moment to remind students and families that ALL school behavior expectations are applicable on the bus. If a student is found misbehaving on the bus, they will be held accountable to the rules as outlined in the 2023-2024 STUDENT HANDBOOK on page 38. Please go over the handbook and these guidelines carefully with any student(s) riding the bus to and from school. It seems that a refresh of the expectations may be in order.
Upcoming Kennedy Career Day!
Are you passionate about your profession and eager to inspire the next generation? We are looking for dynamic professionals to participate in our upcoming 7th and 8th Grade Career Day at Kennedy!
Join us at Kennedy on Wednesday May 15th from 10:00-11:00 am where you can share a 25 minute presentation on your journey, expertise, and insights with our students. Whether you're a scientist, artist, entrepreneur, or engineer, your unique perspective and experiences can make a lasting impact on our young minds.
Don't miss this opportunity to showcase your career and motivate students to explore the endless possibilities that await them. Please complete this form (Parent Career Day Link) if you are interested in being a part of our exciting event!
Project 351 Update:
Our Project 351 Ambassador, KMS 8th grader June Verghese, has organized a clothing drive at KMS that will run through Friday, April 5th. Cradles to Crayons is the largest national nonprofit focused on ending children's clothing insecurity and was founded on the philosophy that unused resources could be redistributed to places they are needed most. We invite you to look in closets and drawers at home for new and like-new clothing that have been outgrown or replaced by a new favorite. By donating them, you can help to change the lives of children in need—across the country, and right here at home. Thank you in advance for any donation you can make on behalf of the children in Massachusetts. Please see below for more information about the clothing drive.
School Year 2024/2025
In the next month, we will begin our scheduling process for next school year. If there is information that you would like to share regarding your child's particular learning style, we ask you to put that in writing to us no later than April 19th. Email is fine: Please send to our secretary jmacgregor@natickps.org
8th to 9th Grade Transition Information:
8th Grade to 9th Grade Transition Events for The Class of 2028.
4th to 5th Grade Transition Information:
If you have children that will be a part of this transition, here is the full outline of events that you can expect throughout the spring. We can't wait to meet our new Kennedy Cougars!!
Natick Summer Programs Are Back! Register Now:
Students will enjoy week-long courses for enrichment, exploration, and fun–right here in Natick! The Summer Enrichment and Summer Scholars programs will allow your children to explore their interests and help prevent summer slide. Pre-approved students are welcomed into the Extended School Year (ESY) program and the High School Credit Recovery Program. Our Strength and Conditioning Program provides dynamic exercises and drills from some of the best coaches in the area.
Registration through Active.com is open now. Our popular Summer Enrichment program courses include Cooking, Arts and Crafts, Pondology, Chemistry, Sports, and much more. Students from rising Kindergarteners up through rising 8th graders are grouped by grade level.
NEW THIS YEAR: All participants in Summer Enrichment and Summer Scholars will receive a complete schedule of classes (subject to availability) running from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. every day. Join us this summer! Access our dedicated website for more information.
24-25 Early Risers/ASAP New Family Registration: March 13 - April 10
Early Risers Before School (K - 4): 7AM to Start of School; ASAP After School (K - 8): School Dismissal to 6PM
Locations: Bennett-Hemenway, Brown, Lilja, Memorial, Kennedy, Wilson
Registration: Online only at www.ezchildtrack.com/natickasap/parent from 3/13 - 4/10. If interest exceeds capacity, a lottery of all applications received by April 10 will determine placement.
Space is limited. We recommend that families consider other options in case space is not available at Early Risers or ASAP. A list of area programs can be found on our web page.
For program information, tuition, registration instructions, FAQs and more visit us online at: natickps.org/programs/asap
Link to ASAP flyer.
Laps at Lunch information:
Please consider volunteering at Laps at Lunch. We are looking for help during all 4 lunches, grades 5 - 8. Please sign up for the same weekly time slot if that works for you, or for individual times slots if that’s better. We are flexible and will train any volunteers on how to help with laps. The link is below: Please sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448ABAD2EAAFF2-kennedy
Looking forward to the 50 degree, sunny weather headed our way this weekend.
Jodie Cohen
Proud Principal of Kennedy
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it's right."
~ Rosa Parks
Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick
Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick
website - kennedy.natickps.org
Wilson & Kennedy Unified Basketball Crews!! What a group!
Natick Summer Programs Are Back! Register Now
Students will enjoy week-long courses for enrichment, exploration, and fun–right here in Natick! The Summer Enrichment and Summer Scholars programs will allow your children to explore their interests and help prevent summer slide. Pre-approved students are welcomed into the Extended School Year (ESY) program and the High School Credit Recovery Program. Our Strength and Conditioning Program provides dynamic exercises and drills from some of the best coaches in the area.
Registration through Active.com is open now. Our popular Summer Enrichment program courses include Cooking, Arts and Crafts, Pondology, Chemistry, Sports, and much more. Students from rising Kindergarteners up through rising 8th graders are grouped by grade level.
NEW THIS YEAR: All participants in Summer Enrichment and Summer Scholars will receive a complete schedule of classes (subject to availability) running from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. every day. Join us this summer! Access our dedicated website for more information.
Looking for financial assistance this summer? Please complete this form prior to registering to get the process started: 2024 Summer Programs Assistance. Thank you!
FIVE Things You Need to Know
1 - Kennedy Middle School Student Handbook
Here is a link to our newly updated Kennedy Student Handbook. Please take some time to review this handbook with your students. It is chock full of helpful information about our school policies and procedures for students and caregivers.
2 - Directions to view grade reports and ROSPs:
Below are the links to directions to access grade reports and ROSPs in PowerSchool.
Viewing Standards-Based Grades in Parent Portal for MS Grade 5
Viewing Student Grades in the PowerSchool Public Portal - grades 6-12
For your convenience, here is a link to the Kennedy Trimester Schedule 2023 - 2024
3 - Drop off and pick up important reminders:
I want to share an important reminder of the rules for driving around the Kennedy Middle School property. These driving regulations are in place to provide a safe environment for all our students as they arrive and leave school. Please follow these guidelines when dropping off or picking up at school:
- ALL drop off during the morning before school and ALL pick up in the afternoon after school will be done around the back of the school at the cafeteria entrance. Please wait in line and only pass other vehicles when a faculty member signals that it is safe to do so.
- Parents/caregivers MUST NOT drop off children in the front parking lot at the beginning of the day. This significantly prohibits faculty the ability to park quickly and enter the building to be ready for your children each day.
- Parents/caregivers MUST NOT wait for their children in the front faculty parking lot next to the buses at end of day dismissal. We understand that everyone is in a rush and it is hard to wait in the pick up line, but ALL PICK UP after school is done IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
- When picking students up following after school activities (clubs, extra help from teachers, music lessons, etc.), please be aware that the late buses also board students in the back of the building. It is imperative that cars DO NOT PASS while students are boarding the late buses. This is a huge safety concern. Because most teachers are helping students after school, we do not have many staff available outside during the boarding process to ensure the rules are being followed. We are counting on you to help with this process. If you are in the line after the buses start boarding you MUST wait until the students are done boarding (usually takes at most 5 minutes) and leave the property before driving around any buses.
The safety of our Kennedy students is our first priority. By following these simple rules you will help us keep our student and staff community safe while they are traveling to and from school every day. Thank you for adhering to these guidelines.
4 - Dismissal from School Information:
Here is a link to the dismissal policy found on our Kennedy website. Please read for a refresher of the guidelines.
5 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar
Friday, Mar 29 - Good Friday - No school
Wed, April 3 - early release day, 11:30 dismissal - Faculty Professional Development Day
April 10 Eid al-Fitr - No school
April 15 - 19 - April Vacation - No school
Wed, May 15 - early release day, 11:30 dismissal - Faculty Professional Development Day
Monday, May 27- Memorial Day - No school
PAPER - On - Demand tutoring Information
Natick Public Schools is excited to announce our partnership with Paper for on-demand tutoring for NHS students. Paper is a secure, online tutoring service that provides students with unlimited, 24/7 academic support. Whether they’re stuck on homework, studying for a test, or need someone to read and make suggestions to their essays, there will always be experts available online to assist students in over 200 subjects and more than 4 languages.
Paper tutors have been specially trained to conduct expert, academic support in a secure, chat-based platform. With a commitment to helping students learn, they’ll never give students answers, but rather interact with them in an encouraging tone to lead them forward.
This is a free service that we’re providing, so students are encouraged to use it as much as they need, whenever they need. Our teachers also have accounts and will be able to review all student activity to see what they’re working on and provide more targeted instruction as needed.
If you’d like to learn more about Paper you can sign up for a Paper hosted Parent Info Session, available in both English and Spanish.
To see Paper and the help it offers firsthand, we encourage you to login with your students. To get started, simply visit PAPER’s student login page, type your school’s name, and log in via Google using your school credentials.
We’re thrilled to offer our students the unlimited, 24/7 support that Paper provides and we can’t wait to see what we’re able to accomplish together.
Our Kennedy Middle School PTO works hard behind the scenes to support our school in a variety of ways. Check out their website for more information about all PTO sponsored events.
Quick Links
Bullying Incident Report
Use this form to report a bullying incident.
Student Support
PowerSchool Support
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COVID-19 Updates
View the latest COVID-19 updates from NPS.