Principal Message February 14, 2023
Dear Kennedy Families,:
Welcome back, everyone!
I hope everyone enjoyed the extended weekend. We have a short four day week this week, and then a week off the following week. Please remember that the second trimester is over March 9th and that students have three weeks to earn the best grade they can.
Below is the Cougar Connect for the week of February 14th-Feb 17th:
Upcoming normal schedule Interruptions:
Monday, Feb 13th No School In Lieu of Lincoln’s Birthday
Feb 20-24, No School February Break
Tuesday, Feb 28th Super minimum dismissal at 12:00 pm (District trainings)
Valentine’s Day Reminders:
Valentine’s Day grams will be delivered 7th period Tuesday
No Balloons
*Kennedy school is not responsible for students’ Valentine’s Day gifts.
Kindness Week
Kennedy students will be given a Kindness checklist which they will use to log their acts of Kindness for this week. On Friday students will turn in their checklists and be entered in a raffle for prizes.
COVID Testing over the Three day Weekend:
Students were given COVID tests on Thursday 2/9 to be administered Monday 2/13. If students test positive, keep your students at home and complete this RCSD COVID reporting (Link). If your student tests negative, no action is needed.
Attendance
Attendance is very important, no matter what time of year, as every instructional minute counts. If students are sick, please keep them home. However, when possible, please schedule vacations and appointments when school is not in session. We were able to access data on the number of students leaving school after they arrived and it showed that the majority of students that leave early are because of appointments. (Link)
Parents and guardians should be notifying our office staff when students are absent. Truancy and attendance letters will be sent home to students who have excessive absences. Doctor’s notes are required for three or more consecutive absences.
Powerschool Parent Portal
Real-time grades are in PowerSchool and can be accessed at any time. Families that need support accessing students' grades should contact our Family Center or email Ms. Calderon.
Family Center # 650 482-2110
Ms. Calderon ecalderongarcia@rcsdk8.net
All the best,
Nikolaos Fanourgiakis
Principal
Kennedy Middle School
8th Grade Families
8th Grade Updates
Families interested in ordering the Panorama 8th grade picture use this link. (picture has not been uploaded yet)
Graduation events slide deck (Link)
Parent Volunteers (Link)
8th Grade parent meeting Feb 16th 7 pm (Zoom link)
- Donate to 8th grade activities (Link)
High School Registration
All families that have not completed address verification will be sent reminders weekly until April 28, 2023 (around 85 students). Remember that online registration must be completed. Otherwise, SUHSD WILL NOT register your student into classes (Link)
High School Counselors visit Kennedy in March. Specific dates coming soon
We hope to have the counselors from Sequoia and Woodside conduct a presentation on their programs. These presentations will take place in Social Studies classes. More details to follow.
7th Grade Grand Canyon Trip
Mandatory Grand Canyon Meeting on Tuesday, February 14th begins at 6:30 pm in the Kennedy gym. This meeting will cover all the details for the trip, payments, and the distribution of backpacks.
Lastly, a reminder that payments can be made before our meeting in February via Zelle. Making payments ahead of time will help our meeting run more efficiently. Families have received information about how to submit their payments. Payment information is also available online.
Kennedy Grand Canyon Field Trip Website
Please email Maestro Alfredo (aoropeza@rcsdk8.net) if you have any questions.
Musical Information
Rehearsal schedule (Link)
Please use the link below to access the Matilda Jr. Newsletter.
Sara Rosenbloom srosenbloom@rcsdk8.net
Yosemite Information Meeting 2023-24 School Year
Thank you to those of you who joined us for an early information session for the Yosemite trip for the 2023-24 school year. This will be one of many information session regarding the trip. If you are interested in going on this trip next school year. Please complete this short form so our trip director can reach out to you.
Reminder this message is for our current 7th grade student and this trip will be during their 8th grade year. (Link)
Michelle Talvin
Boys and Girls Club
Our afterschool provider, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP), wants to hear from you and your student(s)! Please take a moment with your student(s) to complete this quick survey for non-BGCP students here at Kennedy Middle School. The survey is completely anonymous and will not be asking for any identifying information. This survey will help inform our current thinking with making modifications to BGCP’s current middle school program design for next year.
Thank you!
- Your BGCP x Kennedy Team
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Parent Information Sessions
Kennedy is happy to be hosting a few information sessions in the next 6 weeks. Below are some upcoming dates and some sessions that still need to be scheduled:
Wednesday, March 8, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM PST
Author Michelle Icard will answer your parenting questions in a Zoom call for the Kennedy school community.
Whether you’re worried about grades, motivation, friendship issues, self-esteem or social media, Michelle can address your concerns and offer both advice and relief.
To register use this (Link)
Check out her website (Link)
Thursday, March 9th 6:00 pm Movie Showing on Zoom Screenagers Next Chapter
Film focuses on teens dealing with high stress, anxiety and depression which millions of youth experience. 7th and 8th grade students were already shown this film last school year so students in 6th grade will have an opportunity to watch the film during the week of March 6th in their science classes and the community can watch it via zoom 6:00pm March 9th.
TBD March Family Information night: Reading Focus
TBD March Movie Screenagers Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs and Alcohol in the Digital Age (Movie is being released in the next couple of weeks nationally
Screenagers Movie Website: (Link)
SEL PARTNERSHIP ACKNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE
Project Resilience by Acknowledge Alliance will commence on January 13th-March 3rd with our 7th grade students and go for 7 weeks
Students will receive weekly lessons in their social studies classes on Fridays.
Project Resilience is a partnership where Acknowledge Alliance facilitators work with our students on developing their social emotional skills, including identifying strengths, recognizing and managing emotions, demonstrating caring for others, coping strategies for dealing with feelings, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, making responsible decisions and working with others.
Winter Sports (Redwood City Parks and Recreation)
Below is the schedule of practices and games through February. If there are any changes we will announce it during morning announcements and coaches will inform families.
Practice Schedule (Link)
Game Schedule (Link)
If you have practice questions contact your coaches or Recreation Coordinator Michael Smith <msmith@redwoodcity.org>
Academic Supports
Kennedy school provides a variety of academic support for students. Some of the academic support are provided in person but there are also many that are online. Attached is a document that provides details of some of these supports. If you have questions please contact me or our family center director Elizabeth Calderon.
Elizabeth Calderon, ecalderongarcia@rcsdk8.net
Nick Fanourgiakis, nfanourgiakis@rcsdk8.net
Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
Kennedy Counseling Team February update
See document links
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Kennedy Middle School Redwood City