KES 2024 October Newsletter 🎃

Our school year is off to a great start with expectations, routines, morning meetings, school spirit, sharing assemblies and lots of academic learning.

Thank you for attending this year's Curriculum Nights. If you would like to read about each grade level's curriculum, you may access our Curriculum Guides HERE. The description of the programs will provide you with a general understanding of the content and skills taught during the year. Each of the KES Newsletters includes a Curriculum and Instruction section with K-5 Curriculum Updates with information about what students are learning in the core content areas during the upcoming month.

We recognize the benefits for families to have the opportunity for their child to ride home on a different bus for the purpose of childcare as well as play dates. Starting on Tuesday, October 1, we will be accepting bus notes sent into school with children in the morning to ride home on a bus with a friend. If you plan to have your child go on a different bus, please either send a note to school OR email Maria Horton by 12:00pm.

There will be a Emergency Early Dismissal Drill on Friday, October 11. Schools will dismiss 15 minutes earlier on this day. The school will follow students' emergency dismissal plans. If there is no plan on file then students will be placed on their assigned bus home.

*EARLY PICK UP IS BETWEEN 2:55-3:05 PM ONLY.

FRIDAY STANDARD PICK-UPS WILL NOT BE HONORED.

CCC AND ASA WILL TAKE PLACE AFTERSCHOOL AT KES.

WALKERS WILL BE DISMISSED AT 3:15PM.

*If you plan to pick up your child(ren) early on Friday, please send a note in the morning. You must come to the Main Entrance and your child will be called down to meet you. You will need to sign-out your child.

Halloween is quickly approaching!!! We hope you will all join us at the 44th Annual PTO KES Halloween Fair on Saturday the 28th from 11:00am- 3:00pm.

On October 31, in staying with our KES tradition, kindergarten students will have an opportunity to parade in their costumes for the rest of the school (student/staff only event) to cheer and admire them. Kindergarten classroom teachers will communicate more details soon. Please encourage your child in grades 1-5 to wear orange and/or black.

• 11/6 Interim Reports Available on Infinite Campus Parent Portal, 4pm
• 11/7 Early Dismissal, Conferences from 6-8pm
• 11/14 Early Dismissal, Conferences from 1-3:45
• 11/18 Early Dismissal, Conferences from 6-8pm

You will receive a communication during the month of October letting you know that PTC Fast is open to schedule these conferences online.

Alison Porcelli is the instructional coach for KES three days a week. While at KES she supports teachers with creating and implementing instructional plans for student-centered goals. She is passionate about staying on top of the research and bringing research-aligned instructional strategies to teachers. When she is not at KES she supports teachers across the district with literacy instruction and curriculum alignment. Alison has been a part of the KLSD faculty since 2018 and is now in her 26th year as an educator. Prior to joining KLSD, Alison was a kindergarten teacher, a school-based administrator, and a literacy consultant.

We hope all KES families consider joining us for a beautiful fall walk to school. There are three locations where groups will leave from and walk together to school. KES has partnered with members of the Bedford PD to join us at all three meeting places to ensure our safety. Upon arrival at school, students ONLY will make their way to the Lower Plaza.

Please make note of the REVISED meeting places and times below:

Leaving Katonah Village Library @ 8:40am

Leaving Cherry/Lakeside @ 8:55am

Leaving Huntville/Hillside @ 8:50am

All students arriving to school (walkers, bus, and drop offs) will enjoy being greeted by BUDDY and music on the Plaza. This event is certain to be a truly PAWSome experience!

While we work hard to develop a sense of belonging here at KES, the district also strives to make sure that all students feel seen, heard and accepted. For the fifth consecutive year, the district is reaching out to invite all interested middle and high school students, colleagues, community members, and parents to join the district-wide Equity and Racial Justice Committee (ERJC). Full team meetings will take place in-person again this year from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm in the JJHS Library on the following dates: October 30, December 10, March 10, May 6, and June 9.

Please RSVP using this link.

Reach out to COMPACT with any questions or suggestion at compact@kespto.com.

This book celebrates diversity and encourages kids to speak up, unite with others, and act when they see something that needs to be fixed or changed, bullying or an injustice. There are many examples of everyday activism at the elementary level during a busy school day.

There are so many different ways for a student to speak up and make their voices heard. From shouting out gratitude for a special treat to challenging a rule that isn’t fair, the young characters in the book show that simple, everyday actions can help people and make the world a better place.

No matter how quiet or loud your voice is, or how young or old you are, everyone is capable of making a difference. When something really matters, one voice can make a difference!

Clinicians will be teaching the lesson bullying versus teasing. They will discuss the difference between good natured teasing and bulling using the acronym BOO- Being mean, On purpose, Over and Over.

Students will review different ways to be an UPSTANDER (confront the bully, get help and/or connect with the victim) and how being a BYSTANDER contributes to the bully's power.

Children will have an opportunity to share personal examples of being an UPSTANDER or BYSTANDER.

Under state regulations each school must conduct four (4) lockdown drills. These drills will ensure that students and staff are prepared in the event of an emergency. The lockdown protocol is utilized anytime there is a perceived or actual imminent threat inside the building.

This month, we will practice the first lockdown drill at KES. All lockdown drills are ANNOUNCED meaning a message (from administration) to all staff and students will be made over the PA system prior to signaling the drill. For the first lockdown drill, only members of the KES Safety Emergency Response Team will respond. At future lockdown drills, we expect police presence and support. Parents will be informed through a Thrillshare message after each lockdown drill is practiced.

On October 9, the Katonah Fire Department will be at KES teaching our kindergarten and first grade students about fire prevention and safety, both at school and at home. The children will go outside to see the fire trucks and watch as the ladder is extended up on our roof, meet the local firefighters, and learn about some of the equipment used. Students are exposed to a firefighter with an oxygen mask on so that they know it’s nothing to be afraid of. We are thankful to our local fire department for their hard work and commitment to our school and the community.

The KLSD will be promoting its annual Red Ribbon Week celebration, an alcohol and drug prevention event. This year, all K-12 students will once again be participating in age-appropriate prevention activities during the week of October 21st-25th.

Red Ribbon Week has grown into the most far-reaching and well-known drug prevention event in America. It began to honor a drug enforcement agent who was killed in 1985 while working undercover in Mexico. In response to his murder, friends and family wore red ribbons in memory of his crusade against illegal drug use in this country. Today, schools across the nation continue the tradition of wearing red ribbons to promote choosing a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. At the elementary level, the focus is on making healthy choices in general (i.e., food, exercise).

In order to raise awareness throughout the KES community, we will be sharing ideas about healthy choices daily on “Good Morning, KES.” The district encourages you to take this opportunity to discuss the concepts of Red Ribbon Week with your family. Following this letter (below) we have provided some tips to help you get started.

This year, we are sending home a PAW print for your KES student(s) to decorate with their idea for a healthy choice. For example, playing soccer, dancing, meditating, washing hands, drinking water, eating fruits and vegetables, etc. Students may return the PAW to a box located outside the library. PAWS will be displayed on our “PAW-some Healthy Choice” bulletin board.

Thank you!

Jessica Fulton, KES Social Worker

As per our District’s Response to Intervention Plan, students will be assessed in both reading and mathematics.

· Interventionists and teachers will be administering the fall benchmarks to all students from October 9-25.

· These short screenings are administered both whole class and/or individually.

· The results of the screenings, along with other relevant school data, is reviewed by the KES RtI Team (principal, school psychologist, interventionists, and classroom teachers).

· If your child meets KLSD eligibility criteria and qualifies for RtI services, you will receive a communication from your child’s teacher and a formal RtI Entry Letter in early November.

Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.

Students in kindergarten look forward to our reading and writing workshops and drawing upon their growing knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to add letters and words to their writing pieces. In math, students will compare numbers to 5 and then begin to explore numbers to 10 using manipulatives, games, and pencil and paper. In science, we will continue our unit on the needs of plants and animals, and also work in the KES garden.

Students in first grade will learn the importance of being flexible word solvers, monitoring their reading to make sure it makes sense, and to self-correct so they are able to read with greater accuracy. In writing, students will use stories from their own lives to write small moments (personal narratives). Students will learn to stretch these stories across pages by touching each page and saying what they are going to write to plan each small moment they write. Students will apply what we have learned about making numbers 1-10 to solve addition and subtraction word problems during our math time this month. We will be taking our first field trip to Ward Pound Ridge which will connect our learning to our social studies unit families now and long ago. In science, students will take on the role of aquarium scientists and explore what Spruce the sea turtle needs to do to survive.

Students in second grade will be building their reading muscles by learning strategies to help them decode new syllable types. Learning new vocabulary and deepening comprehension is also a focus as we work toward becoming “Big Kid” readers. In writing, the 2nd graders will be teaching us about themselves through their narrative stories. Handwriting and sentence structure will continue to be a focus. Strengthening number sense will be keeping our mathematicians very busy. We’ll explore how to break apart numbers to help us add fluently while also learning strategies for double digit addition. In social studies, we will have fun exploring rural, urban and suburban communities with an emphasis on what makes Katonah a special and unique place to live. In science, students will take on the role of glue engineers!

Students in third grade will be immersed in nonfiction reading, reading for fluency, and learning to make mental summaries. These summaries will contain the big ideas and supporting information they take away from the books as they read. This month, third graders will write an information book, and will be teaching a unit of study on a topic they feel they are experts.Third graders will continue to explore multiplication and division by making bar diagrams, building arrays, and using repeated addition and subtraction in math. In science, third graders will begin the unit on Forces and Interactions. They will engage in a fun, hands-on investigation of how magnets can be used for low impact environmental cleanup. In social studies, third graders will continue to learn: Where in the world is our community? Where in the United States is our community? How does geography affect the way we live?

Students in fourth grade are wrapping up our class read aloud, Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate. We have worked with readers to ask themselves, “What does the author want me to understand about the issues coming up in this book?” In writing, we are beginning the unit "Spinning Stories into Gold," which will introduce students to the art of keeping writers’ notebooks, and to reinforce and extend students’ understanding of the essentials of narrative writing. In math, we are working on strategies for multiplying multi-digit numbers. In Social Studies, 4th graders will be learning about New York State and some of the indigenous inhabitants. In Science, we are studying Earth's features, acting as geologists to investigate how a series of fossils got into rocky outcrops in the fictional Desert Rock Canyon.

Students in fifth grade will start drafting, revising, and editing personal narratives to capture meaningful small moments in their lives. They will continue to read books independently and work on developing their interpretation and writing about reading skills. Estimating and calculating decimals—adding and subtracting— using models and the standard algorithm, will be a focus in math. The fifth graders will be starting a mini-research project supported by Jamie Nedwick, our new librarian, on a topic from American History. In social studies, fifth graders will be studying early peoples of the Western Hemisphere, while in science students will continue their study of the stars and constellations.

Workshops

Welcome to our year-long Family and Caregiver Workshops! We created this series to help support the literacy development of children outside of school. These workshops will provide essential guidance and suggestions of ways to work with children outside of the school day to help them become powerful and life-long readers and writers.

Workshops will be offered 2-4 times per month and will support students from grades PreK - 12. Some workshops will be offered in Spanish. We’ll discuss a variety of topics including early literacy and reading; spelling, punctuation, and grammar; essay writing; AI/ChatGPT; storytelling and oral language; social justice; new book suggestions and more.

You will see, across the year we have three major time slots for these sessions:

• 8:00am ET- Book Buzzes: What’s new and exciting in children’s literature (30 minutes)

• 2:00pm ET - What’s happening in Education and Schools that Caregivers and Families Need to Know (45 minutes)

• 7:00pm ET - Helpful ways to support children outside of school to develop robust reading and writing lives (45 minutes)

Click here for a list of all Family and Caregiver Workshops dates and topics throughout the year. First workshops are September 25 and September 26 at 7:00pm ET.

Not sure you can attend all sessions? Register below and the link is valid for every session all year. We will send you reminders before each session.

Click here to register for Workshops in English

Haga clic aquí para inscribirse en los talleres ofrecidos en español

Videos

In these family videos—each less than ten minutes—we draw on a combination of research, classroom experience, and educator knowledge to help parents and caregivers support young people, PreK to grade 9, with their reading and writing. Some videos show you games to play at home while others help you support phonics, avid reading, creative writing, study skills, research, vocabulary, or abstract thinking. We’ll add to this collection periodically. We’ve tried to make these accessible and joyful and to support you in ways that will make a difference for your youngsters.

View all on our YouTube Channel

K–2 Family Videos

3–5 Family Videos

6–8 Family Videos

Book Collections

Want help finding some books your child will love to read? We’ve curated book collections of all-time and brand-new favorites, designed to hook readers young and old. We have lists for fantasy novels and graphic novels, for high-interest series, and even a collection of courses of study for your teen readers. We update these lists regularly, so check back for more.

As part of the implementation of the new Computer Science Digital Fluency Standards, please see below the first (of several) lessons that our Technology Teaching Assistant, Tenesha Mezzo, will be teaching to the children in each classroom, K-5. You can find the complete CSDF Standards HERE.

Mrs. Altizio joins us again this year to teach two art classes on Thursday mornings in collaboration with Mrs. Eckler, our full time art teacher.

For the first two art classes all young artists worked to help create a massive color wave mural inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ instant classic book, The Dot. The wonderful message reminds us to never give up, you’ll never know until you try, and “just make a mark, and see where it takes you.”

Did you know that book The Dot has its own day? The message in this book is so meaningful that creatives around the world celebrate “International Dot Day” on September 15th (ish) by reading it and creating artwork inspired by it.

Come see our all-school collaboration outside the nurse’s office next time you visit!

Welcome, Luis Vazquez to the Music Department! Mr. Vazquez is at KES on Mondays and Fridays teaching students in grades 1 and 3. Mr. Cuzzi is in his second year of teaching at KES and is working with students in grades K, 2, 4 and 5.

In addition to enjoying music from the Hispanic Culture and learning how to Salsa Dance in the upper grades, here's an overview of the skills students will be learning in General Music class this month:

Kindergarten:

• Establish proper vocal tone production
• Demonstrate and maintain pulse through clapping and patting
• Experience dramatic play through song
• Identify and perform on unpitched instruments

1st Grade:

• Maintain a steady beat
• Develop a singing voice (head voice)
• Identify and perform quarter notes and eighth note rhythms
• Call and response songs

Second Grade:

• Identify and perform separated eighth notes
• Identify and perform ostinato
• Develop a singing voice
• Identify and perform the musical dynamics of forte and piano

3rd Grade

• Develop a singing voice (head voice)
• Develop part independence: sing rounds and partner songs
• Identify and perform eighth notes, half notes and dotted rhythms

Fourth Grade:

• Develop a singing voice
• Identify and perform syncopation
• Read music on the Treble Clef
• Perform songs in Rondo form

Fifth Grade:

• Develop a singing voice
• Sing songs in 2-part harmony
• Identify and perform sixteenth notes
• Conduct in 4/4 time signature
• Distinguish between major and minor melodies

Here's what's happening in PE this month!

In grades K and one, we have been focusing on basic skills, concepts and modified soccer related activities. We are currently in our soccer unit for grades two through five. Next will be Field games such as Capture the Chicken, Rule the Kingdom and Crossover for all grades.

Ghosts and Goblins along with other Halloween related activities will be part of the fun this month!

DASA seeks to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all students, free of discrimination, intimidation, harassment, taunting and bullying. If you are aware of an incident or have a concern, please contact one of us listed below. You will be asked to complete the BOE Incident Reporting Form (see "button" below for attachment).

Cristy Harris, Principal and KES Dignity Act Coordinator 763-7700 or charris@klschools.org

Kweon Stambaugh, Assistant Principal (designee) 763-7705 or kstambaugh@klschools.org

Jessica Fulton, Social Worker (designee) 763-7669 or jfulton@klschools.org.