John F. Kennedy School

We have a lot to be thankful for as a school community. We appreciate your active involvement in your child's education. Together, we ensure JFK is a positive and nurturing place where students thrive! Many families were able to attend Parent-Teacher Conferences, which are a valuable opportunity to discuss progress, strengths, and areas for growth. We will continue to keep you informed about your child's progress throughout the school year and will send home progress reports at the end of each trimester. The end of the first trimester reports will be sent home on December 12th.

We've enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and have been able to do a lot of outdoor learning throughout the month of October and into November. This time of year it's particularly important to dress for the weather, which means we need mittens and coats in the morning and are able to wear light jackets by the time we have recess. We encourage you to send your child with layers and to remember mittens, hats, coats, and boots (once snow arrives). Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our Inclement Weather Procedure so you don't miss any important announcements.

As a reminder, students will have Early Release on Tuesday, November 26th. We will begin dismissal at 11:50am. There is no PreK. Thanksgiving Break begins November 27th, and we return to school on Monday, December 2nd. We wish you and your family a restful and joyful break. Take this time to connect with loved ones and recharge.

Thank you for your continued partnership. We are grateful for the privilege of working with your children and being a part of their educational journey. Please take a moment to check out Our Month of Learning (below), a quick summary of the wonderful learning experiences this month at JFK.

Warm regards,

Meghan Schrader and Bryan Litchfield

Sounds Sorts help build foundational phonemic awareness—the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds in words. Sorting pictures or objects by beginning sounds allows young learners to focus on isolating the first sound in a word, an important step toward learning to read and spell. This activity also enhances vocabulary, strengthens listening skills, and prepares students for more advanced phonics and reading skills. Starting with beginning sounds sorts makes the learning process interactive and hands-on. Brandon and Nahiara from Mrs. Berube's class are working on sorting words with the beginning sounds /e/ and /b/! Maurice and Raegan sorted words with the beginning sound /m/ and /s/. Way to go, Kindergarten Friends!

Mrs. Vasalle's friends worked to build monsters and arranged sentences with adjectives to describe their monster!

We loved being able to take our Wiggle Wednesday Dance Party outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather. Our PreK and K friends all had so much fun dancing and laughing with their teachers and with one another.

During choice time and center time, students get to learn many new skills through play. Whether building, painting, or working in groups -- students develop fine motor skills, patience, cooperation, and more as they have fun through creative play!

Ms. Chretien and Mrs. Ross proudly show off their class Friendship Tree. Students used paint to add their handprints to the tree to make beautiful leaves and talked about how important it is to show kindness both in and out of their classroom!

• November 26: Early Release / No PreK
• November 27-29: No School; Thanksgiving Break
• December 11: Early Release / No PreK

Mainers can now view, download, and share their immunization records from Maine's Immunization Information System (IIS) using a health record mobile app called Docket®.

Docket® is an application that searches Maine’s Immunization Information System (IIS) using basic demographic information (name, date of birth, and sex) to display immunization record information on a mobile device. Phone number verification is required. The app displays vaccination history to anyone with a record in the IIS whose identity has been verified through the Docket® app. This application is not a vaccine passport.

You must be 18 years of age to use Docket®. You can also access vaccine records on behalf of someone for whom you are the parent/legal guardian or authorized personal representative, usually for a minor child or vulnerable adult. You can export PDFs of your records by clicking the “share” button and clicking “Download PDF” within the Docket® app. You can then show or send the PDF as you choose.

To get started, click Here to learn more or download the Docket® app.

We use a variety of communication tools to reach families. Please make sure you're connected with JFK and Biddeford Schools so we can maintain the home to school connection!

Stay informed by downloading the Biddeford Schools mobile app! It will allow parents to choose JFK and receive notifications from us, access the live feed, important documents, emergency notifications, and more! Simply download the relevant app at the link below:

• Download for Android: https://bit.ly/3fu8z4q
• Download for iPhone: https://apple.co/2QFUBST
• Video - https://youtu.be/IEc79nbB43c