Kennedy Cougars

Dear Kennedy Families and Caregivers,

Mid Trimester Update - Powerschool will be updated today to reflect mid-trimester progress in grades 6-8. Grade 5 comments will be ready for viewing next week. Please check back next week for details on progress for 5th grade.

Response to Intervention at Kennedy - Our first round of Response to Intervention (RtI) is ready to kick off in the next week. Natick Public Schools has organized this informative website for all that is RtI in Natick. Take a look for information about our programs and how RtI works in your child's school.

Laps at Lunch Update - This week we started the new Laps at Lunch plan running two sets of laps simultaneously, one in front, one in back. So far, this has been better. The lower number of students in the space is much more manageable for the staff and parents. In order for this to work, however, we really need a total of 4 parents signing up - 2 per location. Any fewer than 2 parents per location will require us to cancel laps for that grade as it will be an unsafe level of supervision. Please volunteer if you are able. We deeply appreciate it.

Signed forms in PowerSchool - If you have not completed your required PowerSchool forms, please take care of that as soon as possible. These forms are required and must be filled out for every student in the building. Your cooperation would be deeply appreciated. If you need support on how to do these forms, reach out and we will assist you.

Late Bus Routes and Timing - There are 3 late buses that leave Kennedy Monday - Thursday afternoons. Here is a direct link to the Kennedy Bus Routes on the Transportation website. The last three tabs are the late bus routes and are titled LATE BUS #22, LATE BUS #14, and LATE BUS #11. Please know that these buses can drop students off at their stops as late as 4:30. The timing is dependent on the numbers of students at each stop and the number of clubs and after school activities each day. Please plan accordingly for later drop offs.

Bus behavior reminder - Just as in school, students are required to meet our Kennedy behavior expectations when riding the bus to and from school. Please take some time to refresh your child(ren) of the expectations on the bus. The policy can be found in the Kennedy Middle School Handbook 2022-23 on pages 39 - 41.

Kennedy sports update - It's been a fabulous week of athletics here at Kennedy. Here are the highlights:

• Girls Field Hockey defeated Needham 3-0
• Boys Cross Country defeated Weymouth 64 - 20
• Girls Cross Country lost to Weymouth 24 - 35
• Girls Volleyball defeated Weymouth 2-1

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Warm regards,

Jodie Cohen, Principal

"May you always remember to enjoy the ride, especially when it's a hard one." ~ Kobe Bryant

Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick

Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick

1 - Veterans Day Event, Nov. 10th

On Thursday, November 10th students will participate in the annual Kennedy Veterans' day breakfast. Eighth grade students will have the opportunity to speak with active military members, as well as WWII veterans. Prior to the event, students will spend time making posters to give to the veterans at the end of the breakfast. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about history and civics through first hand accounts and a great way for them to connect with the community. We are looking forward to continuing this tradition this year at Kennedy.

2 - 7th Grade Vision Screenings are coming to the clinic this October

Kennedy school nurses will be conducting mandated distance vision screenings for all 7th graders in the last two weeks of October. Here is the link to the KMS Parent Notification Letter for Vision Screenings Grade 7.

3 - Spark Kindness Upcoming Presentation

Changing the Game: Making Youth Sports a Positive, Character Building, and Growth Experience

Thursday, October 27 at 7pm via Zoom — For youth sports coaches at all levels of play, parents and caregivers of active kids (young people involved in sports and teen athletes welcome to attend)
John O’Sullivan, internationally known bestselling author, speaker and podcast host, will offer strategies to promote a positive and character-building sports experience for young people. Youth sports should be focused on learning sport-specific skills, as well as helping kids get the most out of their sports experience, all while growing as a person, learning life lessons, and having fun. ASL Interpretation will be provided at this event. Learn more about this FREE online program and register at www.SPARKKindness.org

4 - PHOTO DAY IS THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20th

Forms were sent home this past week via your student. Orders may be placed online at CoffeePond.com.

5 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar

• Thursday, October 20: Picture Day
• Wednesday, October 26: Staff Professional Development Half Day
• Thursday, November 10: Kennedy annual Veterans' Day Breakfast
• Friday, November 11: Veterans' Day - NO SCHOOL

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. They are working diligently to bring great activities to our school community. Please check out their website for more information.

Natick Public Schools does not discriminate in employment nor its educational programs, services, and activities based on race, creed, color, age, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, physical and intellectual differences, immigration status, homeless status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Please be aware all electronic communication to and from Natick Public Schools is public record and subject to public disclosure per Massachusetts General Law Chapter 66, Section 10.

• Title I: Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990Title II
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990Title VI
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964Title IX
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• MGL, Ch.76, Section 5: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 76, Section 5