A Message from Mrs. Leonardo
Spread the word: it's school tour season! We are excited to showcase the great things happening at Kennedy. School tours allow parents to visit classrooms on a specific date. We will also allow incoming 6th-graders (current 5th-graders) to shadow a current 6th-grade student. We will have our first virtual informational session on Thursday, November 16 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. The meeting link will be shared in next week's newsletter, but the QR code and details are included in the flyer below my message.
Prospective Family Tours: Sign Up Here
Shadowing for 5th-Grade Students: Sign Up Here
❤️Support a Kennedy Family
Please read a message from our PTO president about how you can support a Kennedy family. Thank you.
👩🏽🔬Kennedy Career Day
We plan to hold a Career Day at Kennedy in the spring. We are looking for folks who are interested in sharing information about their career with 6th through 8th grade students. Please spread the word! Interested individuals can sign up here. We will have more information about the event and the support we will need in January and February 2024.
🏫No School November 9 and 10, 2023
Please add these dates to your calendars. There will be no instruction this Thursday, November 9 and this Friday, November 10.
🫶🏽November Family Challenge
Be sure to scroll down to the Kennedy Family Center section. We have our October Family Challenge winner, and our podcast explains November's Family Challenge.
☕Pizza and Pupusas with the Principal
Thank you, families, for attending my evening "Principal's Coffee" event on Thursday. Since this was an evening event, I figured we needed to change the name! We settled on Pizza and Pupusas with the Principal because I love alliteration! 😁
Thank you, Ms. Coyle, for attending. Ms. Coyle provided parents with information about how to check their student's work on Google Classroom, how to access and use PowerSchool, and why and how students who are at K-8th grade levels should be using i-Ready.
I also gave a few updates on Kennedy. You can access my Google Slides here.
👻Halloween Dance Photobooth
Thank you to former Kennedy parent, Ronnie Guinto, for supplying the photobooth for our Halloween dance. Students and families can access the photos here.
📚Kennedy Book Fair
The Kennedy Scholastic Book Fair is coming November 13-17th! Click here to explore Kennedy's Book Fair website. Click here to learn more about e-wallet.
Please sign up to volunteer at the Book Fair. We need parent support! Sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948AFAE2EAA8-45098932-scholastic#/
Student Clubs Meeting This Week
- Intramural Flag Football Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays at lunch
- Cursive Writing Club Monday at 7th/8th grade lunch in room 316
- Math Homework Support after school on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays in room 535
- Book Club after school on Tuesday in the library
- 6th-Grade Student Council Reps Tuesday at lunch in room 103
- Italian Club Tuesday after school in room 318
- Makerspace and Robotics Club Tuesdays during 6th-grade lunch in room 104
- Wellness Club Tuesday during 7th/8th grade lunch in room 636
- K-Pop Club Wednesday during 7th/8th grade lunch in room 208
- Rock Band Club after school on Wednesday in room 314
That's all for now!
See you soon!
Mrs. Leonardo
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California Healthy Kids Survey
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is an anonymous, confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency. It enables schools and communities to collect and analyze data regarding local youth health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, school climate, protective factors, and school violence. This survey will help our district determine services to address the needs of our students.
The CHKS survey will be administered to all 7th and 8th grade students in the Redwood City School District between the week of November 6th and 8th. All students will participate in the survey unless you opt for your child not to participate. If you do not want your child to participate, please complete the form at this link and submit it to our Site Coordinator or scan the form and email it in.
Kennedy's Site Coordinator is our mental health counselor, Kathryn Lige: klige@rcsdk8.net
Should you have any questions, please contact Patrinia Redd (Director of Health and Wellness & District Coordinator) at predd@rcsdk8.net.
8th-Graders @ Yosemite
Coordinator: Michele T.
Chaperones: Merrily R., Antonio L., Cindy M., Edgar M., Anthony V., Jim S., Kim R., and Anita W.
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PTO Corner
Hello, Kennedy Community!
Heading into November gets us closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, and I’m thinking about gratitude. I’m very grateful to be part of this community of caring, generous, and supportive parents and families.
As you may know, a parent of one of our 7th-grade students recently passed away. This loss impacts all of us - even if we don’t know the family personally. Can you imagine what this family is going through? My heart aches for them and hopes that we can come together to care for one of our own. Though a small gesture, there will be an envelope in the Family Center where anyone can drop off gift cards (Target, Costco, Safeway etc.) to help support this family. Together we can provide some relief and wrap them in our love.
Just as we lean on each other in times of hardship, we also come together to create and assist with the fun stuff. A perfect example of this parent involvement is Marcela S., who organized the amazing Halloween Dance last week! If you saw Mrs. Leonardo’s pictures in the Cougar Connect or heard from your own kiddo, the dance was fire (that means lots of fun!)!!! Marcela and her crew of parent volunteers decorated the gym, provided pizza, drinks, and sweet treats, and then helped clean it all up afterward. Our wonderful community of families worked together to make sure the kids had a night to remember! THANK YOU!
Are you feeling inspired to help out at KMS too? Are you looking for opportunities to be more involved at school? We have plenty of ways to help out this month. Check it out!
Our Scholastic Book Fair is only a few weeks away! We need volunteers who have been registered and approved through the RCSD process to help in the library. The library is open to ELA classes, as well as during brunch and lunch to give the kids lots of time to browse and shop! The book fair is an excellent way to celebrate our love of reading and spread this joy to all the students.
Please sign up at the link below to help.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948AFAE2EAA8-45098932-scholastic#/
Our STEAM teachers are also in need of some field trip chaperones for two upcoming field trips. The trips will be on November 15 to the Pulgas Water Temple and on December 6th to a water quality processing plant. Chaperones must be cleared through the district. Bus transportation is provided and the trips will last all day, 8:30-3:15. If you are available to help out please contact info@kennedycougarspto.org to express your interest.
Finally, don’t forget that another way to be involved is by contributing financially to our school. The PTO’s Direct Drive fundraising efforts support academics, student activities, staff appreciation events, and our elective programs. Whether it's $25, $50, $100, or $1,000, every dollar helps us reach our fundraising goal and our students are worth our investment.
To support KMS, DONATE at the link below:
https://kennedycougarspto.org/donate
Represent Kennedy With Style
KMS Spirit Wear is on sale now. Order online at the link below.
https://kennedyrwc.itemorder.com/shop/home/
Follow the KMS PTO on Instagram and Facebook, @KennedyCougarsPTO.
Check out www.kennedycougarspto.org for more info.
Kind regards,
Jess Bryski
PTO President
2023-2024
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Donate to Kennedy We need your support! | Join WhatsApp Spanish-speaking families can join WhatsApp for Kennedy updates! | PTO Social Media |
Updates from Boys and Girls Club
Hello BGCP Families,
Welcome to Quarter 2 at BGCP! Here are some updates and changes that are occurring in the program.
This new quarter will feature changes in our program schedule, as well as new enrichments and clubs that are meant to enhance the student experience at the program. We’ve included our NEW program schedule for you to reference.
Daylight Savings:
Along with a new schedule, we’re also changing the release time for our student walkers. As daylight savings is starting, we want to ensure the safety of our students. For this reason, student walkers will be released from the program at 4:45 PM each day (to prevent students from walking home in the dark). If you wish to have students stay until the end of the program and get picked up, please reach out to our BGCP office. The new release time begins MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH. Our contact information is listed below:
BGCP Office Number: (650)804-9045
BGCP Email: kennedy@bgcp.org
Quarter 2 will run from Monday, October 23rd until Friday, December 15th. The new walker release time will continue until the end of daylight savings in March 2024. We look forward to staying in communication to better serve our students.
BGCP Office Number: (650) 804-9045
BGCP Email: kennedy@bgcp.org
We are excited about all the fun and engaging activities we have in store this year! We look forward to staying in communication and serving our students. Thank you, BGCP families.
Arnulfo Prado
Kennedy BGCP Site Director
Kennedy Family Center Updates
Our November Family Challenge is HERE! Find out the details in this month's podcast.
Our October Family Challenge Winner: Gianna C. in 7th grade! We are giving away movie tickets and snacks for the whole family.
Family Challenge Details Begins: 23:51
RCPD Partnering with Kennedy
Parents want to know how they can protect their students from the dangers of social media. We are working with our local law enforcement agencies to bring parent info nights to Kennedy. We plan to meet with our 8th-grade students the week of November 13 in their PE classes to discuss social media and cyberbullying. Then, on November 30 we plan to have an information night for parents. We will include more details next week.
Padres de Kennedy 2023 WhatsApp Group
Cynthia Cardona, Community School Coordinator ccardona@rcsdk8.net
Maria Segundo, Admin Assistant msegundo@rcsdk8.net
Kathryn Lige, Lead Mental Health Counselor klige@rcsdk8.net
Contact the Kennedy Family Center by phone: (650) 482-2110
Redwood City Parks & Rec Sports This Week
Flag Football
Monday, 11/6
4:00 PM
Kennedy Cougars Green vs. Roy Cloud at Hawes Field
Monday, 11/6
6:00 PM
Kennedy Cougars Gold vs. Charles Armstrong at Hawes Field
Wed 11/8
4:00 PM
Kennedy Cougars Gold vs. Clifford at Hawes Field
Wed 11/85:00 PM
Kennedy Cougars Green vs Hoover at Hawes Field
Volleyball
8th-Grade
Monday, 11/6
4:45 - Kennedy White at Hoover
5:30 - Kennedy Green at Hoover
7th-Grade
Monday, 11/6
5:30 - Kennedy Green at Kennedy
6:15 - Kennedy White at Kennedy
6th-Grade
Monday, 11/6
4:00 Kennedy White vs Kennedy Green at Kennedy
What's Happening in the Kennedy Library?
Book Club has started! We meet on Tuesdays after school. If you are interested in joining, come by the library to sign up or sign up here.
Get more details from Ms. Cooper and the awesome Kennedy Library by visiting the Kennedy Library Website.
Kennedy's Amazon Wishlist
We are incredibly grateful for your support! Thank you!
Our wishlist contains items requested by teachers at Kennedy. It now contains items we need for our STEAM and art electives.
Thank you, John and Tracey Lee, for the cordless electric scissors for our STEAM class.
Kennedy Middle School