I hope everyone had a wonderful 3-day weekend, enjoying the beautiful fall weather, making new memories with those you love and getting much needed rest and recharging!
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, October 12th NO SCHOOL –
Tuesday, October 13th
Wednesday, October 14th Kennedy Supply Pickup (11-12pm) *Please email Melissa if you plan to work in your classroom Wednesday morning (in order to help distribute supplies)
CPT Meetings
Thursday, October 15th Happy Birthday Kirby Luczak & Rose Karas!
CF Meeting @ 3:15pm
Thank you for all you’re doing to prepare for our Kubbies who will be returning in-person on Monday! We are so excited to see the students!!!! WE CAN’T MASK OUR EXCITEMENT!!!! Despite school looking different from pre-covid school, I’m confident HOW our Kubbies will feel when they are learning with you, will remain the same…..AMAZING, SPECIAL, LOVING, SAFE, and ENGAGING! Thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to providing incredible learning opportunities for our students, despite the method and despite the obstacles. You are doing an incredible job!
*Please be sure to read the Friday 10/2 update email
Monday, October 5th First Day of Hybrid (In-Person) for Kindergarten & 1st Grade Students *Hybrid Schedule for students adjusts, effective today
Please take a moment to read this blog post that was shared in my email over the weekend with the Updated Hybrid Schedule & the napkins you received this morning will make a little more sense 😉
Here’s our week at a glance:
Monday, September 28th *Hybrid Schedule Begins for All Staff (M,T,T,F 1/2 Day minimum)
Happy Birthday Gina Cacioppo
Tuesday, September 29th Curriculum Facilitator Meeting @ 3:15pm
Wednesday, September 30th *Everyone Works Remotely on Wednesdays*
CPT Meetings
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
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!
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).
