Kennedy Cougars

Dear Kennedy Families and Caregivers,

A big shout out to our Kennedy PTO for awarding two grants to our staff this week. Below are the winning applications:

• The first grant went to Kennedy's new social worker, Ms. Potts, and the PACE program, a transitional regular education program at Kennedy Middle School designed to provide extra academic and emotional support for students in need. PACE can also offer a preventative intervention prior to special education referral. The goal of PACE is to create a safe space for students within the walls of Kennedy Middle School. This grant will provide funding for sensory items, fidget toys, therapeutic decoration/furniture, social emotional games, and therapeutic art supplies for students in the program.
• The second grant went to our amazing librarian, Ms. Murphy, who will be enhancing equity for all learners by making books in other languages available to our 78 ELL students. Our English language learners speak a total of 21 languages other than English. With this award, Ms. Murphy will be able to provide these students with novels in their native languages with accessible titles for pleasure reading.

Thank you Kennedy PTO for supporting our faculty and our students. We are VERY grateful!!!

Mid Trimester Update - Grade 5 comments will be ready for viewing today. Here is a link to directions on accessing comments for grade 5. Grades 6 - 8 were updated as of last week in PowerSchool.

Response to Intervention at Kennedy - RTI at Kennedy started this week. Families will be receiving notification home on Friday, October 28th as to which group, targeted intervention or enrichment, and the focus area for this first of three cycles. If you do not receive an email notification, please check in with your team leader.

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.

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

• Intramural Volleyball defeats Wilson 2-1
• Field Hockey
• Beat Needham 1, 1-0
• Lost to Needham 1, 2-1
• Beat Needham 2, 6-0
• Cross Country:
• Boys defeat Wilson 19-51
• Boys defeat Needham 19-89
• Boys defeat Wellesley 26-35
• Girls defeat Wilson 48-69 (first win of season!)
• Girls lost to Needham 30-69
• Girls lost to Wellesley 17-38
• Girls Vollyeball:
• Beat Wellesley 3-0
• Beat Milton 3-0
• Beat Weymouth 2, 2-1
  

WOW...what a week!!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Warm regards,

Jodie Cohen, Principal"

"It always seems impossible until it's done." ~ Nelson Mandela

Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick

Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick

1 - For 7th and 8th Grade Band/Chorus Students

Sectionals are a wonderful opportunity for our students in performing classes to get the support they need on fundamentals specific to their instrument or voice. Starting next week, once a rotation during the RTI block, students in Band/Chorus in 7th and 8th grade will be split by instrument family or vocal range to work in a focus group led by one of our KMS music faculty. They will have the chance to get extra help on parts from their pieces in band and choir and have time to explore the finer points of technique particular to their voice or instrument.

2 - Yearbook Orders

The full-color, 64+ page, hard-cover yearbook that chronicles the highlights of the 2022-23 school year is on sale now! We are discounting the book until November 14th. If you reserve your copy before 11/14 the price is only $30. After the 14th, the cost increases to $35. All orders must be placed by January 10, 2023, to be guaranteed a book! Any orders placed after January 10th will cost $40 and are subject to availability. Order your book today! 8th-grade students who qualify for financial aid should speak to their guidance counselor about seeing if they qualify for a free book.

3 - 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.

4 - 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.

5 - 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

6 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar

• Wednesday, October 26: Staff Professional Development Half Day
• Thursday, November 10: Kennedy annual Veterans' Day Breakfast
• Friday, November 11: Veterans' Day - NO SCHOOL
• Wednesday, November 23: Release Day
• Thursday, November 24: Thanksgiving holiday - NO SCHOOL
• Friday, November 25: NO SCHOOL
• Monday, November 28: NILS Teacher Professional Development 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