JFK WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Week of May 9, 2022
Greetings, JFK Families!
Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating today! We know this day is special for many and it can also be hard for others; however you have spent today, we hope it was a good one.
We hope students enjoyed the half day on Friday. We had a great afternoon of collaborative professional time. We also had a fantastic week celebrating our amazing JFK staff as part of Teacher (and Staff) Appreciation Week! Thank you to all who helped make it special, especially our CAPT and families.
This week, our Grade 4 & Grade 5 students will take Math MCAS- Grade 4 will be Monday & Wednesday, Grade 5 on Tuesday & Thursday. We know they are well-prepared; please remind them to sleep well the night before & have a healthy breakfast the morning of.
On a personal note, as was shared with the community, this will be my last week at the Kennedy. It has been a wonderful two years here with you and I wish everyone the very best. I will especially miss our students, and look forward to spending time with them this week!
We wish you all a lovely week ahead!
The Spring STAR Window Opens Next Week
We have been using the STAR 360 Benchmark Assessments this year as our universal screener. This assessment is designed to help us identify students who may need additional support and/or intervention in reading and math.
The Spring STAR window will run from May 9 - May 27. Students will need to bring their school issued iPad or Chromebook to school on days that they are testing. These specific testing days will be shared by teachers. Parent Reports will be sent home in June.
More information about STAR Assessment is available on the Renaissance parent page.
CAPT Updates
Save the date for the next CAPT meeting!
Wednesday, May 18 @ 7pm
Waterfall Grille
This meeting will be a thank you to outgoing Grade 5 parent volunteers, will include a review of the budget and end of year activities, as well as a look ahead to next year.
Please also save the date for an upcoming family event on June 5- more details to follow!
Coming Soon: JFK Spring Scholastic Book Fair!
Monday, May 16 – Friday, May 20
The book fair will be open Wednesday, May 18th from 3:10pm to 7pm for all students and their families. Kindergarten students may visit at this time.
Hundreds of books from Scholastic will be available for purchase, with all proceeds benefiting the JFK Library. Grades 1-5 will visit the book fair during their regularly scheduled library time. Please let your students do some shopping!
Please have your child bring cash or check (made payable to JFK CAPT) to the fair in an envelope or Ziploc bag marked with his/her name. We will not charge sales tax. Parent volunteers can fill in the check amount if you wish.
Purchases may also be made online at http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/jfkennedyschool2
Orders will be delivered free of charge to your child’s classroom. The online bookstore will be available until May 26th.
If you wish to make a donation to your child’s classroom, please include a note with the cash or check. Teachers will have an opportunity to shop for their own classroom library with your donations and are always so appreciative.
Thank you to all the JFK families who make these fairs so successful!
Questions? Email JFK Librarian Maura Bayliss at baylissm@cantonma.org
Reminders: Upcoming MCAS Sessions
Our next MCAS sessions are coming up this week, with Grade 4 & Grade 5 students participating in Math Sessions 1 & 2. Please see below for details of this week's testing and next week's Grade 5 Science Sessions.
Reminder- Bus Registration for 2022-23 is Open!
Registration will remain open until May 20.
Reminder- Canton Art Show is Back!
We are happy to announce the return of the Canton’s Annual K-12 Art Show! This year the show will be held May 23-26, 6-8pm in the gym at Canton High School. Every student at the JFK will have at least one piece of work on display.
Students will be working this month to prepare selections for the big event. We will work together to select a very special example of their favorite artwork for show. Students will then bring home their artwork that was not selected for display. All of the work from the show will be returned before the end of the school year.
Help is needed setting up the show on Friday, May 20, during the day and dismantling on Thursday, May 26 in the evening. Please email Mrs. Eaton, (eatonk@cantonma.org),if you would like to help.
This is a wonderful event for all of our students and we hope to see you there!
Re-Share: May Gym Shorts!
The Kennedy Olympics will be taking place on Friday, June 3rd (Rain Date- June 7th). The patriotic theme of the event will be the same as in the past. Students will be participating in many fun events trying to earn points for their team (either red, white, or blue) to be the team that wins the “Kennedy Cup”. As always we seek for maximum student participation in this event and it is essential that we have parent volunteers to make that possible. Because it’s a ½ day program, all students will be participating outside at the same time and I’m hopeful that we will have plenty of help. We need more volunteers to help manage events!
Please consider signing up to help out. You can go to the following link to sign up: https://volunteersignup.org/78K9B We could especially use help at the early morning setup, which generally only takes a half hour or so if you are an early riser and available. Students have been given their “color team” of Red, White, or Blue. Please note their color and have them ready to participate on June 3rd with any t-shirt in that color. I’m hopeful that we will have a terrific school-wide event for our students.
Grades 4/5 are participated in our annual FitnessGram fitness testing. This is a group of 4 challenges that test the students cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, upper body strength, and abdominal strength. A Fitness Scorecard with their results and some information about each test will be sent home later in May. Please review the information, celebrate successes, and help to offer ways for the students to improve their individual fitness.
Monthly PE Sneaker Award Winners for Excellence in PE
Gold Sneaker- Tie, Ms. Pallotto’s Class (4th Grade) and Ms. Gushue’s Class (3rd Grade)
Silver Sneaker- Tie, Mrs. Huffstutler’s Class (2nd Grade) and Mrs. Sylvia’s Class (3rd Grade)
PE Star Students of the Week for April
Sloane Mougenel (1st Grade)
Annabel Shuman (5th Grade)
Kyan Lala (1st Grade)
Caroline Persson (3rd Grade)
Re-Share: Info about Upcoming CAPT Night at Fenway!
Community Connections
Canton Public Schools has a new Community Resources and Information Page on its website titled Around Town. This page lists resources that are available in our community for families and students. Information on this page will be updated periodically.
This site can be reached at this link: About/Around Town.
Absence Hotline
Daily attendance for all students is a critical element of their learning, though we understand that absences sometimes occur. As a friendly reminder, if your child will be absent from school, please call the JFK Absence Hotline at 781-821-5080, Option 1.
What's Coming Up?
- Wednesday, May 18 - CAPT Meeting at Waterfall (7:00)
- May 16-20 - Scholastic Book Fair
Contact Info
John F. Kennedy Elementary School
Kate Gallahue, Team Chair/Administrator
John F. Kennedy Elementary School
Instagram: @jfk_elementary
Twitter: @JFKGallahue
Email: didonnae@cantonma.org
Website: https://www.cantonma.org/kennedy
Location: 100 Dedham Street, Canton, MA, USA
Phone: 781-821-5080
Twitter: @JFKGallahue