I hope you all had a wonderful 3-day weekend, and enjoyed some time with those you love! Here’s our 4-day week at a glance:
Monday, September 7th No School – Labor Day
Tuesday, September 8th *New SEL Rotation Aimsweb Benchmarking (1st-3rd)
Wednesday, September 9th Aimsweb Benchmarking (1st-3rd)
CPT Meetings
Thursday, September 10th Aimsweb Benchmarking (1st-3rd)
*Virtual* Curriculum Night (6:30pm-8:00pm) –
See info about our Virtual Curriculum Night here
1:1 Zoom appointments can take place (if parents reach out requesting one with teacher) on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. You may conduct your zoom curriculum night appointments from home, as long as you utilize a virtual background that is a photo of your classroom, and you can guarantee a quiet, uninterrupted workspace. For those who wish to be in their classroom spaces at Kennedy, the building will be available on Thursday evening, but you must email me to let me know if you plan on working in the building after 4pm on Thursday.
Friday, September 11th 5 by Friday! Make those positive connections with families!
As you embark on the second full week of school, please know your feelings are totally normal and we are right there with you, feeling uncertain and that many things are out of our control right now.
George Couros said, “Change will come our way. We can go through it or we can grow when we seek out solutions rather than let obstacles hinder us.”
The start of this school year may seem very overwhelming, but I want you to know that you’re all doing an AMAZING JOB!
I’m proud of your thirst to learn new things, to embrace the uncertainty, to make this a positive experience for our students.
The message in this video below was just what I needed to hear today….and I wanted to share it with all of you because I am sure there are many of YOU, who, like me, need to hear it! Have yourself a good cry & remember that your children are watching you and recognizing that you are doing a good job! You are dedicated to our Kubbies and to each other…..remember to give yourself and others grace! You are doing a GREAT JOB!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, August 31st
Tuesday, September 1st Bilingual Coordinators Meeting @ 1:00pm
SELF-CARE SEPTEMBER (click on this link to access the calendar below)
Wednesday, September 2nd CPT Meetings
Thursday, September 3rd
Friday, September 4th Make those Positive Connections!
The first week of this crazy, remote learning is DONE! Well, technically the first 2 days with students.
Thank you for your patience, grace, understanding, flexibility, and perseverance.
Thank you for making connections with your students, despite the circumstances.
Thank you for supporting your families, and keeping them calm, even when problems occur (which they have and they will).
Thank you for beingkind to one another. We are all in this together, and the only way we’ll get through this is by supporting one another. Thank you for all you’ve done to help your colleagues and support one another. As I shared last Friday in the opening day presentation, nothing can stop what we can do together. Please know that you are valued and appreciated. Regardless of the platform, each one of you has the opportunity to make a positive impact your Kubbies. Thank you for treating them with love, modeling flexibility, challenging them to be thinkers and problem-solvers, and nurturing their growth as students & little humans.
We will SEIZE this opportunity and make the BEST of this situation.
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, August 24th Starting Week 2 of E-Learning
Tuesday, August 25th PreK/PATS Supply Bag Pickup (11am-1pm) – Door 22 (bus lane)
Faculty Meeting (See Kennedy Calendar for Zoom Invite)
Wednesday, August 26th PreK/PATS Virtual Meet the Teacher
CPT Meetings (see Kennedy calendar for links – *Team Leader should have shared/created a weekly running agenda – all members can contribute to the agenda)
Thursday, August 27th 1st Day of School for PreK/PATS *remote
Friday, August 28th 5 by Friday!
*Please be sure to compliment our parents, too! This has been challenging for everyone! I’m sure they’d enjoy hearing compliments, too!
Congratulations on the completion of the 2019-2020 school year!
It’s hard to believe the year has come to an end. Please accept our thanks for all the wonderful experiences you provided the children this year and your incredible FLEXIBILITY as we were literally thrust into Remote Learning for the last 10 calendar weeks.
Thank you for always making our Kubbies feel loved, safe, happy and for nurturing their growth. Thank you for being that constant source of LOVE and SUPPORT, even during these very scary, uncertain times. We are confident the children will never forget how you made them feel. They will neverforget this time of their lives.
We look forward to our continued work together next year and we are confident that our collective staff will continue to keep our eyes on the children and support each other….we WILL get through this TOGETHER and be STRONGER as a result of our experiences.
Have a wonderful summer. Enjoy your time with those you love. You certainly deserve it!
E-Learning — love it, hate it or indifferent to it — should provide us with some critical reflection opportunities. If we’re only using our own experiences to reflect, we’re missing out on hearing students’ voices. What has theirexperience been like? Students provide some of the most insightful observations we need to grow as educators. The questions below are perfect for the last week of school — or generate your own! But before the week is over, I encourage you to engage with your students and get some feedback on what they liked/disliked about eLearning!
What E-Learning assignments helped you learn the best/most?
How do you know you were learning?
Which subject/topics do you feel the most confident with after eLearning?
What type of assignments were the most thought-provoking/fun for you during eLearning?
Identify your effort level for (insert subject area) class during eLearning?
What type of feedback was the most motivating for you during eLearning?
How much time did you spend on (insert subject area) work each day?
How did you grow as a learner during this time? (what did you learn about yourself – your skills, your study habits, your knowledge, your mindset, etc).
How clear was the big picture of why you were learning these skills and concepts?
Keep in mind, the end of the year is not always happy for some of our students, whose only security and love comes from US. Thank you in advance for loving the students and reassuring them that we love them and can’t wait to see them again soon!
For those of you moving on to new adventures, remember that you’re only as good as your last exit…….and for those of us returning, know that students remember the educators that we are the last week of school…..so let’s make sure they remember the best of what we have to offer!!!!!
Here’s our FINAL week at a glance for the 19-20 school year:
Monday, May 18th 8th Grade Graduation 7:00pm via Zoom
Congrats to our 8th grade graduates!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 19th REPORT CARDS DUE
SPED PROGRESS REPORTS DUE
Wednesday, May 20th Please be sure Pinks/Blues are completed by today!
K-3: Transportation Reports due by today!
CPT Meetings
Thursday, May 21st Virtual “Fly Up Day”
Tenured Teacher Summative Meetings via Zoom (afternoon)
Friday, May 22nd Last Day of School
Tenured Teacher Summative Meetings via Zoom (afternoon)
PreK Supply PickUp (8:30am-12:00pm)
(5/25) Happy Birthday Monica LaCapra Memorial Day
(05/26) Kindergarten/1st Grade iPad Drop Off/Student Belonging PickUp
(05/27) 2nd Grade/3rd Grade iPad Drop Off/Student Belonging PickUp
***Remind parents to either have their Car Rider Pro tag hanging from their rear view mirror, or put a SIGN with their child’s LAST NAME in the passenger window (large enough for us to see as they drive into the bus lane).
If any parents have questions, or concerns, please direct them to me, or have them email me directly! Thanks!
WOW! What an amazing parade! It was such an incredible feeling to see the support and love from the District 81 community! Parents and students lined the parade route, and even our SD81 community members without students in our district came out to show their support and love for our school district. It was the most heartwarming, loving hours that I can say, without a doubt, will leave a lasting memory in my heart. It’s one of the most memorable, special days in my professional career, and I’m sure many of you feel the same. Thank you for the 82 Kennedy staff members who participated in the parade! I’m sure you can attest that it was an emotional day, filled with love, happiness, smiles, tears — and while it wasn’t the way we wanted to end our school year, it gave us a sense of closure and gave us all the desired opportunity to see our students one last time (albeit driving by and waving). It was a wonderful day where the community of District 81 came together as one. Thank you to Dr. B, Pasquale, Mike Deany & our SRO Roger Orozco and the police department for making this day possible! I’m still smiling from ear to ear, just thinking about the day and how much love it brought to our students, parents, community members and staff….heck, even strangers who were driving were waving at us, clapping and commending our dedicated staff for showing up for the parade!
Tomorrow marks the start of Teacher Appreciation Week! The entire week is about celebrating ALL OF YOU who influence the lives of our Kubbies. I certainly appreciate all the little things you do, but what I appreciate the most is the safe, nurturing learning environments you create for our children. I can see how hard you work, especially despite our circumstances, to make a difference in your students’ lives and maintain a sense of normalcy via e-Learning. Thank you for being a constant presence of SAFETY, LOVE and HOPE in the lives of your students. I hope you know how much I enjoy working with you and how proud I am to be your colleague. Thank you for all that you do here at Kennedy School. You are changing lives!
Wednesday, May 6th Nurse’s Appreciation Day! Let’s celebrate and recognize ANNA virtually! HERE’S a FLIPGRID: Staff/students…..Add a video! SD81 Car Parades (Kennedy’s is at 11:00am)
**Meet at LMS at 10:45am!
CPT Meetings (reschedule to Tuesday or Thursday)
Thursday, May 7th SD81 Mentor Celebration (Virtual) @ 4:00pm
As we enter Week 6 of E-Learning (7th week since we’ve been able to hug our students)……..remember how PROUD we are of your efforts to continue connecting in MEANINGFUL WAYS with our Kubbies!
Continue to make CONNECTIONS and RELATIONSHIPS your primary focus! Thank you for caring for ALL of our KUBBIES, even from a distance. Please know that Donna, Sara and I are here to support you and support our families in any way!
Are you the carrot, egg, or coffee beans?
Our 6th and 8th grade BUDDIES at LMS are definitely COFFEE BEANS…..during online meetings with their teachers, our LMS students talked about how the quarantine has affected their everyday lives and regular school routines. Out of this conversation sparked an amazing idea — and the LMS students wanted to spread some joy to the younger students at Kennedy during this uneasy time. HERE IS A LINK to a folder that the 6th and 8th grade students recorded videos of themselves reading picture books. Please feel free to share with our Kubbies!
This week is our Autism Acceptance VIRTUAL SPIRIT WEEK!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, April 27th Pokemon Monday: Wear your favorite Pokemon character or create your own!
Tuesday, April 28th Sensory Friendly Tuesday: Dress in your comfy clothes, or wear sunglasses
Wednesday, April 29th What’s Your Passion Wednesday? Wear something to share your passion CPT Meetings
Thursday, April 30th Neurodiversity Thursday: wear rainbow or tie-dye clothes to school
Friday, May 1st Show Your Support Friday: Wear Kennedy Blue to show your support of Autism Acceptance
School Lunch Hero Day! (*Let’s celebrate Miss Cindy and ALL of our amazing cafeteria team ladies virtually! Cindy, Chris G, Marta, Maria & Betty).
As we head into the final weeks of the school year, here are some tips/phrases on how we can frame a positive mindset, despite these unfortunate circumstances:
Consider end-of-the-year activities that you would normally do with your students, and engage in conversations with your team this Wednesday during CPT on how to make adjustments to ensure your students can still experience some of those things….just differently!
HOT TIPS!!!!!!!!
If you’re like me, every morning I need MULTIPLE different tabs to start my day! Head over to @aprimarykindoflife on Instagram and check her “TIDY BROWSER” story highlights — she’ll show you can, with one click, you can open all of your tabs automatically!
Do you have an OSMO at home?
Did you know you can download a free app called OSMO PROJECTOR and you can turn your iPad into a document camera? Use it to airplay/show a book while you do a read aloud on Zoom, or use the SCREENRECORD button on your iPad and record a lesson!
If you haven’t had a chance already, please take a minute to complete this survey re: a car parade!
Dear #BestStaffEVER:
We see you! We know you didn’t sign up for e-Learning. You’re probably tired, stressed, and worn out! And you’re allowed to feel that way! But we also see you showing up EVERYDAY for our Kubbies! We see you learning new things (Loom…can you say AMAZING) to help them learn! And above all, we still SEE your passion for teaching/learning …. and your LOVE for your STUDENTS!
I hope you still remember to take time to recharge……and take ONE DAY AT A TIME! You can do hard things!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, April 20th Happy Monday! Thank you for your continued commitment to the students of District 81!
Tuesday, April 21st Happy Birthday Anna Kaminska (Yellow Bus Driver)
Wednesday, April 22nd Administrative Assistants’ Day! Let’s celebrate Eva, Sue & Mirta virtually and show our love and appreciation for them 🙂
Earth Day!
CPT Meetings — be sure to contribute to your team’s weekly agenda!
Please be sure your virtual meetings (zoom/Google Meets) with students for this week are updated in the school schedule here.
Check out this Reading Challenge below…..how else can we foster and continue a love of reading at home? While our Kubbies can access Scholastic resources, EPIC and NewsELA resources…..did you know that MyOn News has been activated for our district? Students should now be able to find a NEWS tab next to their Library tab where they can access 5 daily news articles written specifically for kids.
While West40 has unfortunately cancelled the Butterfly Kits, if you’re still interested in ordering a cup of butterflies for your students to learn/observe, check out www.insectlore.com where you can purchase a cup of caterpillars, or a butterfly kit! Are there other learning opportunities that our Kubbies are missing out on, that we can still re-create via e-Learning???
Looking for an easy way to plan your week out & communicate with parents?! Sharing information for the whole week in one place will be well-received by our families! Please be sure you are communicating your weekly zoom times, as well! Remember — our parents may be feeling overwhelmed with e-Learning, just like the students. Please be sure you are regularly communicating with families about what students are learning about throughout the week, and how parents can support their child/children at home. How did you communicate with families prior to COVID-19? Are you at least communicating that same level of engagement? What would you want to know as a parent?
Remember, Donna, Sarah and I are a phone call/text away! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, feedback or concerns! We are here to support you. Please let us know howwe can help!
Let’s have an amazing week!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, April 13th
Tuesday, April 14th
Wednesday, April 15th CPT Meetings!
Thursday, April 16th
Friday, April 17th ABC COUNTDOWN BEGINS!! (click to see the PDF version)
A – ARTIST DAY! WEAR BLUE to PROMOTE AUTISM ACCEPTANCE!
5 by Friday! Continue making positive connections! Parents would love to hear how their children are CRUSHING e-Learning! Pick up the phone or consider sending a positive postcard!
(04/19) Happy Birthday Chris Gonzalez
Looking Ahead……
(04/22) Administrative Assistants’ Day
I hope you were able to enjoy time during your Spring Break resting and relaxing and making new memories with those you love (while social distancing).
As we welcome our students back tomorrow, and return to e-Learning, please remember that you are just as instrumental in developing the social and emotional needs of your students as you are in developing their academic needs.
You have risen to the occasion and done an amazing job implementing e-Learning. The love, purpose, grace, compassion and innovation you’ve demonstrated are commendable! Our Kubbies have been amazing, too — adjusting to the new world of learning they’ve been thrown into! Thank you for supporting our students and families. We will come out of this stronger, living and loving differently than we ever have, with new levels of appreciation and gratitude that we never even knew we had! This may be the toughest thing we’ve ever done, but let’s keep going! Our Kubbies and their families are counting on us!
We all became educators because we care about kids…..now more than ever, they are counting on our presence (albeit, via an iPad). Your relationships with your students and your commitment to their well-being will sustain your connections in the weeks to come. Relationships matter, now more than ever!
Focus on COMMUNICATION, CONNECTION, CARE, COMPASSION, and COMFORT!
Let’s kick off another amazing week of e-Learning tomorrow. Remember, no e-Learning on Friday.
Donna, Sara and I look forward to connecting with each grade level/team tomorrow via a ZOOM meeting to catch up and look ahead together. Please check the Kennedy calendar for your grade level’s timeslot & ZOOM link.
Have a great Sunday….and see you all (virtually) tomorrow!
We’ve got this!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, April 6th Welcome Students Back to e-Learning: Week 3
As you embark on the second full week of school, please know your feelings are totally normal and we are right there with you, feeling uncertain and that many things are out of our control right now.
***Remind parents to either have their Car Rider Pro tag hanging from their rear view mirror, or put a SIGN with their child’s LAST NAME in the passenger window (large enough for us to see as they drive into the bus lane).
