Kennedy Cougars
Your Weekly Update from Kennedy Middle School
Principal's Message
Is it Fall in New England?
Dear Kennedy families and caregivers,
This past week, our students participated in a bus evacuation practice session. All students riding the bus were able to quickly and efficiently evacuate the rear of the bus. The students did a wonderful job and we feel confident that they could safely exit the bus in any situation. Thank you to Connolly Bus Company and their bus drivers in partnership with our Vice Principals, Mrs. Hatt and Mr. DiStefano, for running the drill with as little interruption to the school day as possible. We look forward to our next evacuation later in the year.
Really great work grade 7 percussion sectionals...check it out!
Click this LINK to check out what Mr. Drapeau is doing in his percussion sectionals group. You will LOVE it!
Halloween:
Students and staff are allowed to wear costumes to school on Tuesday, Oct. 31st for Halloween. No halloween masks are allowed. Face paint must be completed at home and not brought to school. Glitter is discouraged as the mess is challenging for our custodial staff. No weapon props are allowed.
Veterans Day Event, Nov. 9:
On Thursday, November 9th 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.
Lost and Found update:
If you are missing clothing at home, please have your child take a look at the lost and found table that is currently in the front hallway. The table is overflowing with left behind items found in various places in the building. Remaining items will be donated the week of Thanksgiving.
Vandalism in the bathrooms:
I am saddened to share that there has been a large increase in the level of vandalism in the bathrooms of our beautiful building. Please speak with your children about being respectful of our wonderful building that is arguably one of the nicest middle schools in all of Massachusetts. Vandalism of our spaces is disrespectful on so many levels and increases the large workload our custodians already have here at Kennedy.
Important information about drop off and pick up:
Please remember, all drop off and pick up, before and after school, is at the back of the school near the cafeteria. Drop off in front during those times interferes with bus and van drop off and pickup in the front of the building. In order to provide a safe environment for our students getting rides, please adhere to these guidelines. Thank you!
Picture Retake Information:
Picture retake day will be Thursday November 2, 2023. If you are interested in ordering a new set of pictures, please go to the photographer website link: https://kennedy.natickps.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=120878&pageId=16168587
Open House 2023-2024
If you missed our open house night, check out the opening presentation on our website in the current news section.
Mass Bay/Natick High School STEM Tech Career Pathway Partnership Information
Mass Bay Community College is proud to partner with Natick High School for a STEM Tech Pathway starting next year at the high school. For details about this exciting new collaboration, see the flyer below. Click on the QR code for more details about the program or to apply. A zoom link to an information session coming up on November 9th from 6:00 - 7:00pm can be found at the bottom of their info page via the QR code. Please refer questions to Mr. Heller (rheller@natickps.org), 8th grade school counselor.
Mass Bay CC now has three more information sessions taking place through the end of November on the academy that will all be virtual on Zoom. No registration necessary. Detailed information on how to get to the Zoom links and our webpage (www.massbay.edu/stemtech ) with information on the STEM Tech Academy is all in the attached flyer.
Students interested in the academy should attend an information session along with their parent/guardian. Each session covers the same information so they only need to attend one. Our goal is to record one of the virtual sessions to make available as well should someone not be able to attend one of the scheduled sessions.
Attention grade 8 families - Upcoming event at Keefe Tech High School:
Annual Field Trip to Keefe Tech - November 9th
The annual 8th grade field trip to Keefe Tech is scheduled for Thursday, November 9th. The field trip permission form will be passed out to your child in their homeroom early next week. Please complete the Parent/Guardian section and have your child return the form to their homeroom teacher by Friday, October 13th.
If you're interested in learning more about Keefe Tech
There will be a Family Night Open House for interested students and parents at Keefe Tech on Thursday, November 16th from 5:30-8:00pm. Please visit their website for more information.
Mr. Heller, our 8th grade guidance counselor, is available to answer any questions you may have about these events. Please email him at rheller@natickps.org
Laps at Lunch information:
Laps at Lunch is trying something new this year. In the past we’ve asked for a weekly time slot commitment. This year we’ve set up time slots on a Sign-Up genius to get us through November. We’ll create additional sign-ups for Dec – Feb and March – June. Please sign up for the same weekly time slot if that works for you, or for individual times slots if that’s better. The link is below:
Please sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448ABAD2EAAFF2-kennedy
Kennedy Athletics Update:
It's been a great couple of weeks of sports. Here are the results:
Field Hockey:
- Kennedy lost to Wilson 2-0
- Kennedy lost to Wellesley
Volleyball:
- Kennedy beat Wellesley 2-1
Intramural Volleyball:
- Kennedy Intramural Volleyball defeated Wilson 2-0
Cross Country:
XC Girls beat Rivers & Wellesley
- XC Boys beat Rivers & Wellesley
- XC Girls defeated Wilson
- XC Boys defeated Wilson
Unified Bocce:
- Kennedy defeated Wilson
Good work on the fields, track, and court this week Cougars!!
Warm regards,
Jodie Cohen
Proud Principal of Kennedy
"Fall is PROOF that change is beautiful."
~ author unknown
Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick
Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick
website - kennedy.natickps.org
Check out these great pics from around school or the fields/courts this week...
FOUR Things You Need to Know
1 - Picture retake day
Picture day was a huge success! If you still would like to order pictures, it's not too late. Check out the information posted on our website for details on how to order HERE. If your child missed picture day, don't worry. Kennedy picture retake day has been scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd.
2 - 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.
3 - Sexual Education Health Notification Letter
Here is the LINK to the notification letter. For your convenience, the letter is translated at the top of the document.
4 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar
- Saturday, October 28 - PTO sponsored Glow Dance, Grades 5&6, 5 - 6:30pm
- Saturday, October 28 - PTO sponsored Glow Dance, Grades 7&8, 7 - 8:30pm
- Tuesday, October 31 - Halloween Day
- Thursday, November 2 - Picture Retake Day
- Sunday, November 5 - Daylight Savings
- Monday, November 6 - Faculty Meeting Day - No afterschool clubs
- Thursday, November 9 - Veterans Day Breakfast at KMS
- Friday, November 10 - Veterans Day Holiday - No School
- Wednesday, November 15 - Parent/Caregiver/Teacher conferences - 11:30 dismissal
- Wednesday, November 22 - Early Release day for Thanksgiving break
- November 23 - November 24 - No School
Paper - On-Demand Tutoring
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. Check out their website for more information about all PTO sponsored events.
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