KES Family Newsletter

The holiday season is here! Though our fall was packed full of exciting events that we all enjoyed, we know that there are still lots of exciting events in store for our students and families at KES this December. Keep reading these family newsletters throughout the school year to learn about other exciting events and important information!

This year, our Christmas Band Concert is scheduled for Wednesday December 6th at 7pm in the elementary cafeteria. Mr. Wagnitz and our band students have been hard at work preparing for this event, and we are looking forward to a wonderful performance!

This year our KES Christmas Program is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th. We will have two performances of our show open to the public, one at 1pm and another at 6pm. Each grade level is hard at work preparing their song for the performance! We have a mix of some familiar songs, as well as some unique ones we think everyone will enjoy. We look forward to seeing all our friends and families at this exciting Christmas event!

This year our KYAP will be hosting their annual Breakfast with Santa event on Sunday December 10th in the Elementary cafeteria. This event is scheduled to take place from 11am-1pm. Please put this exciting event on your calendars and stay tuned for further details!

In our November edition of this newsletter, we asked for donations toward our Thanksgiving Meal Program. As of this writing, we are happy to announce that we were able to provide Thanksgiving meals to ALL of our KES families in need, plus more! The amount of generous donations we received will also allow us to provide these same holiday meals to more families this Christmas. We are so thankful to be part of a community as generous as Kingston! Thank you to all who donated to this cause!

As the weather gets colder, we are beginning to think about our students' holiday needs. If you and your family could use some assistance this year, please reach out to one of the below contacts. Your information will remain confidential. If you and your family are in a position to donate and would like to help a local Kingston family, please reach out as well.

Raeann Gentner (Elementary) 989-683-2284 ext. 34215 or rgentner@kingstonk12.org

Beth Hunter (Jr./Sr. High) 989-683-2294 ext. 34305 or bhunter@kingstonk12.org

When we return from Christmas Break, students will begin eating breakfast in the cafeteria. We believe this change will not only reduce food messes and increase instruction time in our classrooms, but also allow our cafeteria to provide more hot breakfast items and healthier choices. A letter containing additional information about this change will be sent home with students soon. Here are the main details to note about this change:

• This change will take effect starting 1.3.24
• Breakfast will be served daily from 7:30-8:00. Students being dropped off after 8:00 will not be able to get school breakfast. Exceptions will be made on mornings when buses are running late.
• This change is for all our students from Young 5's - 6th grade. Our Cardinal Center and GSRP students will still have their breakfast and lunch delivered to their classrooms.

If you have any questions about this upcoming change, please contact Mr. Campbell.

At KES, we are seeing an ever-increasing number of students coming to school with cell phones. While this is a topic pertaining mostly to our upper elementary students, we wanted to take the opportunity to outline our cellphone expectations for all our KES families:

• KES students with cellphones at school must keep them in their locker during school hours. No student cell phones are permitted in classrooms.
• Students may use their cell phones to contact family members before/after school hours only. Our front office staff will be happy to contact families for any student needs during school hours.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact Mr. Campbell.

Since each of our students at KES has their own Chromebook device, we encourage every family to supply their student with the type of headphones that they would like. Students can leave these at school and keep them safe in their desk or locker. As a courtesy to our families, we do have a supply of earbuds that we can provide to students. Here is our policy regarding school-provided earbuds:

• The first two sets of earbuds provided by KES are free.
• Any set after that must be purchased by sending $2 to the front office.

Making Changes to Transportation

We have been hard at work updating our transportation information for each student to ensure that we are getting everyone home safely each night. If you have not contacted the office to update this year's transportation information for your student, please contact Mrs. Nicol as soon as possible. Reminder: Any daily transportation changes need to be reported to Mrs. Nicol in the office before 1:30 pm!

Morning Drop-off Expectations

• There are no adults in the cafeteria to let students in until 7:30AM. Please refrain from dropping students off before this time. Any vehicles here prior to 7:30AM can wait on the curb with students in vehicles.

• If you pull up to the entrance and are the only vehicle on the curb, please pull 1-2 car-lengths past the entrance. This allows several more vehicles to pull up behind you and drop off their students at the same time as you to keep our drop-off line moving.
• If you pull up behind another vehicle, leave room for your vehicle to pull out of line before the vehicle in front of you moves. If your student gets out quickly, you will be able to exit the drop-off line as soon as it is safe to do so.
• We know that some students need a few extra moments to collect their things or get one more hug or word of encouragement before they are ready to exit the vehicle each morning. If you know your student needs these things, we ask that you park in our south lot and walk your student to the cafeteria entrance when they are ready.

Afternoon Pick-up Expectations

• No vehicles may pull up to the curb for pick-up. Please park in the south lot and walk to the correct door.
• Students with last names A-M can be picked up at the doors closest to the kitchen (red canopy doors). Students with last name N-Z can be picked up at the doors closest to the stage.
• Please pick up students promptly. Parents can begin arriving to pick students up at 2:50PM, and we would like all students picked up from the cafeteria before we release our buses at 3:05PM.

Thank you for helping make our morning and afternoon transportation systems as efficient and safe as possible for all our KES families!

-12.6.23: Christmas Band Concert in Elem Cafeteria at 7pm

-12.10.23: KYAP Breakfast with Santa in Elem Cafeteria from 11am-1pm

-12.14.23: KES Christmas Program (Elem Cafeteria @ 1pm and 6pm)

-12.15.23: Popcorn Friday

-12.22.23: 12:10 Dismissal (Christmas Break Begins: End of MP2)

-1.3.24: School Resumes (Begin MP3)

-1.15.24: No School (MLK Day)

-1.26.24: Popcorn Friday

-2.16.24: 12:10 Dismissal

-2.19.24: No School (Presidents' Day)

-2.23.24: Popcorn Friday

-3.8.24: No School (County-Wide PD)

-3.15.24: End MP3

-3.22.24: 12:10 Dismissal (Begin Spring Break)

-4.2.24: School Resumes

-4.19.24: Popcorn Friday

-5.17.24: Popcorn Friday

-5.31.24: 12:10 Dismissal (Last Day)

Email: jcampbell@kingstonk12.org
Website: kingstonk12.org
Location: 3644 Ross Street, Kingston, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 683-2284