**Check out the SLT Notes from last Thursday

Monday, September 21st

Tuesday, September 22nd
Curriculum Facilitator Meeting @ 3:15pm

Wednesday, September 23rd
1/2 Day of School
*PreK Day ends at 10:30am
*K-3 Day ends at 10:55am
*No Afternoon Specials/SEL
MyView Literacty Training Webinar (12-3pm)
Happy Birthday Amanda Quinlan

Thursday, September 24th
Happy Birthday Britney Lane

Friday, September 25th
Happy Birthday Marta Ocon

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, September 14th

Tuesday, September 15th
Supply Pick Up!

Wednesday, September 16th
CPT
Board of Education Meeting

Thursday, September 17th
SLT Meeting

Friday, September 18th
MAP Testing Begins (3rd grade)

(09/20) Happy Birthday Michelle McMorrow

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.

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!

(09/07) NO SCHOOL: LABOR DAY

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 their experience 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!

1. What E-Learning assignments helped you learn the best/most?
2. How do you know you were learning?
3. Which subject/topics do you feel the most confident with after eLearning?
4. What type of assignments were the most thought-provoking/fun for you during eLearning?
5. Identify your effort level for (insert subject area) class during eLearning?
6. What type of feedback was the most motivating for you during eLearning?
7. How much time did you spend on (insert subject area) work each day?
8. 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).
9. 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! 

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, May 11th
Happy Birthday Alena Craft 🙂
SPED Articulation Meetings

Tuesday, May 12th

Wednesday, May 13th
Happy Birthday John Grobe 🙂
CPT Meetings

Thursday, May 14th
Kennedy Field Days
Kennedy’s Virtual Talent Show

Friday, May 15th
Kennedy Field Days

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!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, May 4th
Teacher Appreciation Week!
Happy Birthday Abby Domingo 🙂

Tuesday, May 5th

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

Friday, May 8th
Happy Birthday Jen Mauck 🙂

(05/10) Happy Mother’s Day!

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!    

ONE FINAL THING…….

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!

Thursday, April 23rd

Friday, April 24th
Virtual Spirit Assembly Day!

***Be sure to remind your Kubbies to tune into Stephanie’s art zoom calls this week to do a guided drawing together for Autism Awareness Month !