Kennedy Cougars

Dear Kennedy Families and Caregivers,

What a great way to finish out 2024! Four grades of chorus concerts performed on Wednesday and Thursday and the Natick High School Band performing for our grade 7 and 8 students on Friday! That was just what we needed to ring out this year. Thank you to our chorale directors, Mr. Griffin and Ms. Campanelli, for preparing the students so well the past few months. All the hard work paid off. BRAVO!

Parent Conferences in January

We wanted to share some details about our upcoming parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, January 15. These 15-minute virtual conferences will take place from 12:30–3:30 PM. The purpose of these conferences at the middle school level is for families to connect with the team of teachers, world language and specials teachers to discuss student progress, celebrate successes, and address any areas for growth. Some teams and teachers have reached out directly to families while some will after the holiday break.

If you do not receive an invitation, please know that you are always welcome to contact your child's team to schedule a conference at a later time during their team meeting hours. Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting your child's education. We look forward to connecting with you!

Kennedy Lost and Found:

Kennedy's Lost & Found will be bagged up and be donated over winter break. The building will be open Monday, Thursday and Friday 7:30-2:30pm, Tuesday 7:30-12:00 and Closed Wednesday Christmas Day in case parents want to rummage through the piles.

Students after school pickup time reminder:

Students seem to be waiting for long periods of time after school for parent/guardian pick up. Clubs and extra help sessions with teachers are released between 2:50-3:00pm. Parent pick up is by 3:10pm. Please make sure you pick up your child by that time as there is no after school supervision past 3:10pm, unless students are enrolled in ASAP. Students staying for a music lessons should be picked up when the lesson ends. Thank you!

2025 Annual Community MLK Celebration Writing/Art/Performance Piece Contest - see link to contest and prompts HERE.

On Monday, January 20, 2025, from 10:00-11:00 AM at Natick High School, the 20th Annual Community MLK Celebration will take place (more details HERE on the event website, event registration link is HERE).

Students at Wilson and Kennedy Middle Schools are invited to submit an essay, poem, creative writing (400 words or fewer) OR performance OR presentation of an art piece. Both Middle Schools will select the winning submission(s) to represent the school at the MLK celebration. The creator of each winning entry will win a $100 prize; additionally, other submissions will be featured in the event program and/or on the event website. Students who collaborate on a winning entry will share the prize money.

Students must SUBMIT ENTRIES by NOON on MONDAY, January 13th, 2025 (Please submit on this Google form). Students who are selected as contest winners will be expected to join in person at the event on 1/20 from 10-11 am.

Kennedy Athletics Update:

It's been a great start to winter athletics so far. Check out how basketball has been going below:

• Kennedy Girls defeat Wilson 36-18!
• Kennedy Boys defeat Wilson 56-34!

Great work cougars!!!

Clubs information:

For the full list of clubs and the days they will be held, please check out the link HERE.

Late bus information:

Please note that late buses are not completely predictable for student arrival home. The buses have been picking up at Kennedy later than usual (3:30 - 3:45 or later) and, depending on the number of students on the bus, can delay your child arriving home significantly (4:30 or later). The late bus route information can be found HERE.

Laps at Lunch information:

Please consider volunteering at Laps at Lunch. We are looking for help during all 4 lunches, grades 5 - 8. Please follow this LINK for information on how to volunteer. Thank you VERY MUCH for your consideration. We could not do this without our parent/caregiver volunteers.

I hope everyone has a fabulous winter break.

Regards,

Jodie Cohen

Proud Principal of Kennedy

"The things that make me different are the things that make me.”

~ A.A. Milne, "Winnie the pooh"

Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick

Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick

website - kennedy.natickps.org

1 - Kennedy Middle School Student Handbook

Here is a link to our newly updated Kennedy Student Handbook. Please take some time to review this handbook with your students. It is chock full of helpful information about our school policies and procedures for students and caregivers.

2 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar:

• Thur, Jan 2 - Return to school!

• Mon, Jan 6 - No after school clubs - Faculty meeting day

• Wed, Jan 15 - Early Release Day - dismissal at 11:30 - conferences

• Mon, Jan 20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School

3 - Directions to view grade reports and ROSPs:

Below are the links to directions to access grade reports and ROSPs in PowerSchool.

VIEWING ROSP (Grade 5) AND GRADE REPORT (Gr. 6-8) DIRECTIONS

For your convenience, here is a link to the Kennedy Trimester Schedule 2024 - 2025

4 - Drop off and pick up important reminders:

I want to share an important reminder of the rules for driving around the Kennedy Middle School property. These driving regulations are in place to provide a safe environment for all our students as they arrive and leave school. Please follow these guidelines when dropping off or picking up at school:

• ALL drop off during the morning before school and ALL pick up in the afternoon after school will be done around the back of the school at the cafeteria entrance. Please wait in line and only pass other vehicles when a faculty member signals that it is safe to do so.
• Parents/caregivers MUST NOT drop off children in the front parking lot at the beginning of the day. This significantly prohibits faculty the ability to park quickly and enter the building to be ready for your children each day.
• Parents/caregivers MUST NOT wait for their children in the front faculty parking lot next to the buses at end of day dismissal. We understand that everyone is in a rush and it is hard to wait in the pick up line, but ALL PICK UP after school is done IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
• When picking students up following after school activities (clubs, extra help from teachers, music lessons, etc.), please be aware that the late buses also board students in the back of the building. It is imperative that cars DO NOT PASS while students are boarding the late buses. This is a huge safety concern. Because most teachers are helping students after school, we do not have many staff available outside during the boarding process to ensure the rules are being followed. We are counting on you to help with this process. If you are in the line after the buses start boarding you MUST wait until the students are done boarding (usually takes at most 5 minutes) and leave the property before driving around any buses.

The safety of our Kennedy students is our first priority. By following these simple rules, you will help us keep our student and staff community safe while they are traveling to and from school every day. Thank you for adhering to these guidelines.

5 - Dismissal from School Information:

Here is a link to the dismissal policy found on our Kennedy website. Please read for a refresher of the guidelines.

Paper is an online, on-demand tutoring service that provides students with around the clock academic support. Visit their FAQ site for more info: https://paper.co/faqs. All students using the Paper online tutoring program must login via Classlink https://launchpad.classlink.com/natickps.

Our Kennedy Middle School PTO works hard behind the scenes to support our school in a variety of ways. Check out their website for more information about all PTO sponsored events.

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