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Cougar Connect

Week of August 12, 2019

CougarConnectWeek of August 12, 2019

Maze Day

Maze Day is this Tuesday and Wednesday in the Kennedy gym. Your student is encouraged to come with you to Maze Day. Here are the times:


Tuesday, August 13, 12:30-3:00 pm (6TH GRADE ONLY & WEB Leaders)

Tuesday, August 13: 5:00-7:00 pm (All Grades)

Wednesday, August 14: 3:00-6:00 pm (All Grades)


The prior two years has been a learning experience for me being new to Kennedy, and I have made some changes this year that I hope will be helpful based on what I observed.


Like in the past, you will receive a passport as you enter the gym. (We will have an English and a Spanish version). The gym has been really crowded in past years, so we have spread it out a little bit this year to include nearby classrooms to help with the chaos. We have a lot of great partners and there are just too many of them to fit in the gym. Also, I know it has been hard to see the signs on the tables when it is really crowded, so we will have signs on the tables and signs above on the walls.


This year you can preview the passport ahead of time, which includes the locations of each table, and we have descriptions for all of the stations (attached below) so you can decide where you want to visit. This year the front of the passport has the required stations and the back has the optional stations. You must complete the required stations to receive your schedule. (All required stations are not located in the gym because we want to make sure you are exposed to all of our optional partners as well). If you complete at least five of the optional stations then your student will earn cougar cash to use at the student store. I know some of you are in a rush to get in and out, so on the passport descriptions there are a few ways that you can get in and out faster.


As mentioned, the last station will be picking up your student’s schedule. We will not be making elective changes unless your student should have been scheduled into music class and wasn’t.


I do want to give you a heads up that we are limited on the codes we can use in PowerSchool for electives. The District is working on this. So here is a little cheat sheet, which we will have up at Maze Day, too.


Yearbook Enrichment = Digital Storytelling

Musical Theater = Drama

Enrichment (7th Period, Jorgensen) = Robotics

Computer Lab Enrichment (2nd Period, Marinos) = Project Lead the Way

Computer Lab Enrichment (4th Period, Marinos) = Robotics

Computer Lab Enrichment (6th Period, Marino) = Technology

Computer Lab Enrichment (7th Period, Haynes) = Technology

Computer Lab Enrichment (7th Period, Khan) = Project Lead the Way


PTO needs some extra help with their booths. If you are able to help, please sign up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805094aaeae2ba6fd0-maze

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WEB Orientation

We are looking forward to seeing all of the 6th grade students at WEB Orientation this Tuesday at 8:30 am in the gym. Students will check in as they enter the gym and get their name tag. We will be doing some fun competitions in the gym and then students will head out with their WEB leaders to a classroom to get to know each other better through some ice breakers. The WEB leaders will take them on a campus tour to get to know important locations and staff. We will conclude with pizza and water for lunch. Students should wear comfortable clothing they can move around in.


The WEB leaders tried to call as many of their students as they could on Thursday or Friday last week. (Some of the numbers in PowerSchool were incorrect or we didn’t have numbers). Thanks for being patient with them. This was a daunting task for them, but a good life lesson on how to dial phones (learning how to dial out from somewhere and how to incorporate different area codes) and communicate with others.


7th and 8th Graders New To Kennedy

All 7th and 8th graders new to Kennedy are encouraged to attend the new student orientation on Friday, August 16, from 10 am to 12 pm in the gym. We will do fun ice breakers and activities, make sure students know where their classes are for the first day, and end with some pizza.

PowerSchool Portal

Some of you have asked when you will receive your PowerSchool portal login information (where you can check grades, etc). This will occur after Labor Day, hopefully that Tuesday, September 3. Often there is a lot of movement the first ten days of school between schools in our district, so we would like to wait until everyone is a bit more settled to generate all of the letters with the login information.
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Construction Update

The new drop off and parking lot located at Goodwin/Connecticut is on track to open for the first time on the first day of school. I was informed this past week that all parking spaces will have the EV chargers, but anyone can park in these spots. (We may decide later to designate certain spots where only electric cars have access to park). The EV chargers may not be fully installed by opening day. Below are some pictures. There are also some pictures of the new building, which I got to walk through on Thursday.


Please be patient the first two weeks of school while people are learning the new drop off/pickup area. There is a hallway towards the end of the drop off lane where students will now enter campus.


I went to a meeting at the police station this past week that went over traffic plans for all of the schools that had a second school merged with them. (Kennedy is one of those schools because the majority of Selby’s middle school will now attend Kennedy). Police and police volunteers will be at these sites the first two weeks to help with traffic and to correct inappropriate driving/parking behaviors.

Back To School Packet

You should have received your back to school packet from Kennedy in the mail. For those who didn’t receive it, we will have extra copies in the office or at Maze Day. For your convenience, I have scanned and attached each packet by grade level below.

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PowerSchool Back To School Information Update

You should have received an email on Thursday, August 1, to update your student’s information in PowerSchool. (The District is no longer using SchoolMint). It is really important that you fill this out completely so that we can contact you and also have emergency contacts should we need them. If you did not receive this email for some reason, we can help you at Maze Day. Each student has their own unique code that must be used to update this.

Donations

If you are able to donate some supplies to Kennedy, that is always helpful. We get a limited supply budget and almost half of that budget goes straight towards copier expenses. Items that are helpful:


  • Boxes of Tissues

  • Hand Sanitizer

  • Disinfecting Wipes

  • Cases/packs of bottled water (we use these for dances, student activities, events. They are hard to get reimbursed, as we can’t use any District money allotted to the school to pay for these).

  • Colored Pencils

  • Markers

  • Reams of white paper and colored paper

  • Scissors (adult and student-sized)

  • Note Cards (3x5 and 4x6)

  • Highlighters

  • #2 pencils
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Box Tops

Many products that you buy have “box tops.” Box tops can be turned into Kennedy and then we receive $.10 for each box top. This money goes towards supplies and student activities. If you have some, you are welcome to bring them to Maze Day or turn them into the office any time it is open this year. Students will also compete every other week to see which fourth period class brings in the most box tops to earn a prize. We can’t accept expired box tops unless they are from 2019.

Amazon Smile

A reminder that you can give back to Kennedy at no extra cost by using Amazon Smile when you purchase items on Amazon. Here is a link for more information: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas
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6th Grade Potluck

A reminder that our 6th Grade Potluck is the first week of school, Thursday, August 22, from 6-7 pm in the B-Quad. The Yosemite Information Night will follow in the gym from 7-8 pm. Mark your calendars.

Pictures For This Week - WEB Leader Training

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August Events

Tuesday, August 13: 6th Grade WEB Orientation, Gym, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm; Maze Day - 6th Grade Only, Gym, 12:30-3:00 pm; Maze Day - All Grades, Gym, 5:00-7:00 pm

Wednesday, August 14: Maze Day - All Grades, Gym, 3:00-6:00 pm

Friday, August 16: New Student Orientation 7th/8th Grade, Gym, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Monday, August 19: First Day of School, 8:25 am - 3:05 pm

Thursday, August 22: 6th Grade Potluck, B-Quad, 6:00-7:00 pm; 6th Grade Yosemite Information Meeting, Gym, 7:00-8:00 pm

Tuesday, August 27: PTO Meeting, Library, 7:00-8:30 pm, Wednesday, August 28: 7th Grade Grand Canyon Information Meeting, Gym, 6:30-7:30 pm

Friday, August 30: Yosemite Applications Due, Office, By 3:30 pm