Kennedy Families,

WOW! Our first full week is finished. Students are getting the hang of their schedules! Thank you families for a fun social on Thursday night. It was great to meet a lot of you for the first time and reconnect with others. I am hoping to host more events that bring our community together in the future.

Here is what you need to know for the week ahead:

Emergency Drills

In order to prepare our students and staff for emergencies Kennedy school schedules random drills throughout the year. We had a lockdown drill last Wednesday and will have a fire drill next week. These drills can involve RCSD police and fire department.

Intramural's

Intramural's will kick off at lunch time on Monday. Intramural are games and competitions held at lunch time that any students and staff can volunteer to participate in. The first sport is soccer.

Principal’s Coffee Thursday Sept 1st (Via Zoom - 9:15 am - 9:50 am)

We will be hosting Principal's coffee once per month with the focus being sharing school initiatives, programs and taking questions from families. We plan to start having these meetings in person in October.

Culture/Expectation assemblies

Kennedy administration has met with all grades levels and has gone over school expectations, incentives and rules. These assemblies are meant to review upcoming events, review expectations (academic and behavioral) as well as promote school climate initiatives.

Kennedy Music Program

Support Kennedy's thriving music program! Make plans to dine-in or out at Redwood City BBQ on Tuesday, September 6 from 7am-9pm. Please click here to view the flyers and read how you can support Kennedy students.

Water Bottles

Kennedy has water filling stations available for students please encourage students bring their bottles.

COVID-19

Is still a concern for our staff, students and families. We continue to recommend but not require students to wear masks. If a student is positive parents should complete the districts

self-reporting form and inform the Kennedy office. This form is available on the “Quick Links” section of the RCSD website as well as all 12 school websites.

Also if your student is sick or showing COVID-19 symptoms please keep the student home and get them tested.

Kind regards

Go Cougars,

Nikolaos Fanourgiakis

Principal

Kennedy Middle School

nfanourgiakis@rcsdk8.net

Chromebook Distribution

Chromebooks will be distributed this week. Students will receive their chromebooks during their scheduled time in their science classes. See schedule below:

• 7th and 8th grade - Wednesday and Thursday August 31 and September 1st.

• 6th Grade - Friday September 2nd

• Kennedy students will receive their login information on Thursday during their homeroom classes.

General information

• Student are expected to charge their chromebook every evening and leave their charger at home

• Staff will start regula instruction with chromebooks Tuesday September 6th.

Powerschool- Parent Portal

This changed from last week.

The district is activating a Parent Portal on September 9th for all families district wide.

Kennedy school will distribute access codes to students for families on September 8th. We were informed that families that already have an account will be able to use their old password to login.

Kennedy school has started offering an extra math class for select students. If you are a parent that wants your student to be part of this extra class or wants more information please email me directly.

nfanourgiakis@rcsdk8.net

Some specifics:

• This is a graded class with students having to commit for the year.

• The classes are 4 days a week M-Th

• The classes are not specific for homework help; the staff will be working on the diverse math needs of these students.

Schedule:

6th and 7th Grade

7:45 am -8:25 M-Th

8th Grade

3:15-4:00 M-W

2:15-3:00 Th

*A separate Homework help Math class gets started in mid-September along with Kennedy clubs and can be used as a resource for students as they need it.

7th Grade families thank you for joining us and hearing about the fun Grand Canyon trip last Thursday night.

If you are interested in this trip please reach-out to our teacher.

Mr. Maestro Oropeza aoropeza@rcsdk8.net

https://kgc.kennedygrandcanyon.com/

Kennedy school has an active Student Council that gives students an opportunity to develop leadership skills by organizing school activities and providing input on a variety of student-led projects. Thank you to our 6th grade science teacher Ms. Virnich for being the Kennedy Student Council lead. Below is the Student council schedule for August and September.

• August 31st: Candidate applications and video speeches due.

• September 8th: Elections held for Executive Board in Homeroom

• September 8th & 15th: Homerooms elect Homeroom Representatives

• September 22nd: 1st General Assembly Meeting

Kennedy 8th grade students will be visiting Yosemite National park October 30th- November 4th. Thank you to the families that registered last May and continued communicating over the summer.

Thank you for joining us for the short information meeting this week. If you missed it the meeting was recorded. (Link)

If you would like any further information please contact trip organizer

Michele Talvin: kennedyyosemitetrip@gmail.com

PTO NEWS - 8/26/22

First KMS PTO Get Together Meeting - drinks and treats provided -Tuesday, 8/30 - 7-8pm at the KMS Library - Join us to get to know other Kennedy parents!

Open PTO Leadership Roles-

• Treasurer/Book keeper - 2+ people to help track funds, write checks, make deposits work with CPA

• 8th Grade Activities Team - 2+ parents to lead and organize activities for 8th grade celebrations

• Safe Routes Rep - work with community to ensure safety to and from school

• Volunteer Coordinator - facilitate volunteering efforts for PTO

• Grade Level Parent Leaders - communicate with parents at your student's grade level, plan parent connections

Student & Staff August Birthday Celebration Cupcakes - Wednesday, 8/31 at lunch

Check out www.kennedycougarspto.org for more info.

Follow the KMS PTO on Instagram @KennedyCougarsPTO and Facebook at John F Kennedy Middle School Parent Teacher Organization.

Feel free to email with questions or concerns info@kennedycougarspto.org

Kennedy Student / Family Handbook

Calendar 2022-23