Kennedy Middle School Update

Greetings Crusader Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the festivities that this season brings.

At Kennedy, we believe in helping others. This is evident in our many efforts to provide support to local groups across the community. So far, in our first quarter, we have had multiple KMS teams doing great things for Germantown and surrounding areas. Ms. Quigley's class collected used shoes for a sneaker recycling program and collected toys for Our Kids Closet. Our KMS Key Club collected 582 items for St. Gabriel and Boniface Food Pantry. They also collected toys and household items for Friends. Inc. Our FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) had a “SOCKtober” to collect 209 pairs of socks for Hope House and are currently running a March of Dimes. Our Student Council holds a KMS Cares Popcorn and Soda Sale to support Seasons of Giving. Our students, staff and families are committed to helping others. Thank you for all you do to support these efforts and inspire good will throughout our community. It’s truly inspirational.

Happy December to you all.

Sincerely,

Jessica Gieryn

KMS Principal

262-253-3452

jgieryn@gsdwi.org

• December 7th: Grade Level Spelling Bee

• December 8th: No School Students, Professional Development for Staff

• December 12th - 15th: Winter Book Fair

• December 13: School Level Spelling Bee

• December 21st: KMS Ski & Snowboard Excursion

• December 25 - January 1st: Winter Break

Academic and Career Planning Update

Goal Setting Update: As part of Kennedy’s academic and career planning, on Dec 13, 2023 all students will review and revise their October 11th goal. Please ask to see your child’s revised goal and have some discussion regarding their goals and current academic progress as we are midway through the second quarter. You can find this information in your child’s google drive in the College and Career Readiness folder.

8th Grade G-Talk Update & NEW Dates: January 9th & 10th, 2024

Due to a change at the high school level for the freshman orientation meeting, and course scheduling process, the KMS G-Talk conferences have been rescheduled to better align with the new dates selected by District Office and Germantown High School.

CONFERENCE DATES & INFORMATION:

• NEW DATE: Tuesday, January 9th, 2024 - Becky Wittemann will be available for a 30-minute conference between 2:35-6PM

• NEW DATE: Wednesday, January 10th, 2024 - Deni Topitzes will be available for a 30-minute conference between 2:35-6PM

Sign-up here: G-Talks Conference Sign-up Form

Please note, even if you previously selected a date; those dates have been canceled, and you MUST choose a new date option. Please only sign-up for one time slot, even families with multiple children.

KMS School Counselors lead 30-minute sessions where 8th graders share their plan for their educational goals, academic success, and career development with their parents and guardians. Please visit the G-talks tab on the KMS website for more information G-Talks - KMS Webpage

Conferences will be held in the Gold Activity Center, on BOTH nights, and students should bring their CHROMEBOOK!

If you have any questions, please reach out to Stacie Karrels in Student Services, skarrels@gsdwi.org, or 262-502-7326.

8th grade families, we look forward to seeing you at the G-talk meetings!!

7th Grade Career Fair: WE WANT YOU! Save the Date - Wednesday, March 6th from 7:15 - 9:30 am.

KMS and Junior Achievement will be hosting a career fair at KMS for all our 7th graders! Please consider presenting. The success of this events depends on our speakers, so if you want to help our students learn about different career paths, then please click on the link below to get all the details and save the date. JA Career Day - Save The Date!

2024-25 Student Coordinated Arts Course Scheduling:

Coordinated Arts Course Selection for the 2024-25 school year will be taking place for 6th and 7th grade students, in the upcoming weeks. The process will be going from a paper selection format to online through Skyward - stay tuned for more details!

UPDATES - For more information about exciting activities and athletics at KMS, see the following links: KMS Activities, KMS Athletics.

• Boys Basketball and Wrestling is in full swing! click on the link above for game and practice schedules.
  
• Key Club Meeting on December 12th from 2:45 - 3:45 in the GAC
• Join us at Science Club every other Wednesday! At Science club we have fun learning through experiments, challenges, inventions, and current events! We meet in Ms. Schilling's room E-7 from 2:45-3pm. If you have any questions please see Ms. Schilling or Ms. Betanzos.
• AV Club meets Tuesday and Thursdays from 2:45-4pm in room G141
• Mathcounts will meet on Monday, December 18th from 2:45 - 3:45 in Mrs. Rohde's Room, E3

• Attention anyone interested in joining Forensics! Forensics gives students the opportunity to practice public speaking, helps develop self-confidence and communication skills, all while having fun. If students are interested in finding out more information they can attend an informational meeting Tuesday, December 5th in G116 (Mrs. Hillshafer's room in the 8th grade hallway) during their IDR. Click on this link for more information and forms needed to participate. Any questions, please contact Mrs. Hillshafer at khillshafer@gsdwi.org

• Responsible care of Chromebooks is an integral part of life at KMS. Please ensure students are plugging their Chromebooks in to charge overnight and bringing them fully charged to school each morning. This will help set everyone up for success each and every day at KMS!
• The KMS Book Fair is rescheduled for December 12th - 15th. See below for more information.

Our library is excited to be hosting a Winter Book Fair December 12-15th! Shopping our book fair is a great way to encourage our Crusader students to develop a love for reading AND support our school library and reading initiatives at KMS! Families are also welcome to shop for the whole family, in-person, during our OPEN sales hours Tuesday - Thursday (7:30 - 3pm). Please note that our sale in the library will be cash or credit only (no checks or ewallet). You can also find an expanded selection of books by shopping online. Online shopping will be open from December 11 - 24th and all orders over $25 ship directly to your home for free! You can find all the information related to our upcoming book fair including a preview and online shopping link on our Book Fair Homepage (https://www.scholastic.com/bf/kennedymiddleschool). A special "THANK YOU" to our volunteers that have signed up to make our fair possible! Interested in volunteering? We've had two shifts open up that we need covered and would love your help. You can check our volunteer schedule and sign up HERE (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F084DAEA629AAFF2-fall1#/). If you have any questions about book fair or volunteering please reach out to Katelyn Letourneau (katelynletourneau@yahoo.com).

The 2024 KMS Library Battle of the Books tournament is underway! Battle of the Books is a great way to motivate students to read and discuss a variety of books and enjoy some fun and friendly competition. The competition will have teams of up to four students reading a total of twenty selected books over approximately ten weeks. Teams will come together after reading ten books to compete against the other teams by answering trivia style questions about the books they read. So far there are 16 teams made up of 45 students participating and there's still time to join in on the fun! So far the library has 45 students making up 16 teams signed up and there's still room for more! If your son/daughter loves to read and would like to have fun competing in a friendly environment, encourage them to sign up in the library. Click here for more battle information including the reading list for this year's competition. Participating students are encouraged to loan copies of the books from the KMS library or the Germantown Community Library which has a Battle of the Books display with copies of all titles on the reading list. A special "Thank You" to our community library for supporting our readers and our Battle of the Books competition!

Hold on to every best moment of this school year by ordering a yearbook. Yearbooks are on sale now and if you order before December 30th you'll save $4. Use the following link to order from our KMS Yearbook Store...https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A09296230

KMS Ski and Snowboard Club is ready to hit the slopes with their first outing on Thursday, Dec. 21st. We are excited to see more than 140 members on the hill!

Future outings: Thursday, January 4th, Wednesday, January 10th, and Wednesday, January 17th.

The KMS Physical Education classes will be kicking off their Kids Heart Challenge fundraising event for the American Heart Association on December 21-22, 2023. All money raised will help fund community initiative, education, research, and quality of care -- to help fight the No. 1 killer in the world, heart disease. Information will be sent to all families prior to Winter Break on how students can help in our fundraising efforts here at KMS!

The KMS PE classes will participate in Kids Heart Challenge during their PE classes on January 18 & 19, 2024!!

What is Scrip? A tool to raise money for our school PTA by purchasing gift cards (or reloading gift cards) for most places you shop already (Target, MetroMarket, BP, Kohl’s, Amazon, Starbucks and the list goes on and on). The gift cards are worth what you pay for them. You can buy gift cards to pay for your family’s expenses (pay up front for things you would spend anyway). Or purchase gift cards for upcoming birthdays/holidays. Reloading or e-cards can be done any time and is easy. You could be at a restaurant and reload a card to pay. Win-win!

How do you access Scrip/place an order? Go to https://shop.shopwithscrip.com or download the app (RaiseRight). They often have promoted gift cards with additional percentage given to the school. You get what you paid loaded right to a gift card, e-gift card or reload. When you create or login to an account, you will need to link to KMS PTA. Our enrollment code is below. KMS School Code: 1623242L4867L

How do I get physical gift cards? You can purchase physical gift cards during one of our PTA order periods (dates to be announced). Please let me know if you have questions!

Coordinator: Faith Petska - faith.petska@gmail.com

Students who are attending after school sporting events, without a parent, need to report to the designated location immediately after school. Students are encouraged to quietly work on homework or other academic tasks during this time. If students have completed all their school work they are allowed to quietly socialize with their peers. If students do not want to stay after school but would still like to attend the sporting event, they will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

During the sporting event, students are expected to sit in the student section which is supervised by KMS staff. Students will not be allowed to sit in other areas of the gym unless they are accompanied by an adult. Spectators are not allowed to sit on the players side of the gym. If a student is attending a sporting event with an adult that is not their guardian or parent, that individual is responsible for supervising that student during the event.

Cell Phone Use - We are aware that students will need access to their cell phones during these events for a variety of reasons including but not limited communication with parents when they are to be picked up, change in plans, and or for emergencies. Students' cell phones should be stored in their backpacks, which will be placed next to the bleachers, and if they need to use them they will be allowed to with the supervision of a KMS staff member. Students are allowed to come to the Gold Office throughout the day to contact parents so that plans can be made or clarified. If students are not following cell phone expectations or using their cell phones in inappropriate ways, KMS supervisors do have the right to confiscate the phones and give them to parents when the student is picked up. Students who are not following expectations for after school sporting events will meet with KMS administrators and their participation in future sporting events will be discussed.

Students who receive school-based consequences (such as an in-school suspension) during the day may not be allowed to attend after school events for that day.

Please be kind and efficient while dropping off your child in the morning. Pull all the way through the circle (by the bike rack) before dropping off. Remind your child to be ready to exit the car upon drop off so other families are not waiting too long. Be kind and courteous, thank you!

Principal: Jessica Gieryn

Assistant Principal: Brandon Kohl

Website: https://www.gsdwi.org/o/kennedy
Location: N118 W15860 Williams Drive Germantown, Wisconsin 53022
Phone: 262-253-3450
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KennedyGSDWI