Kennedy Cougars
Your Weekly Update from Kennedy Middle School
Principal's Message
The rain stopped for a second...
Dear Kennedy families and caregivers,
This week has been a week of truly taking care of each other here at school. I have been more than impressed with the careful way in which our teachers led discussions and lessons around the recent events abroad. Teachers volunteered their time to meet with students who reached out or simply made themselves available to lend an ear for students who needed them. Teams came together to plan support for every student in need. Even our Kennedy therapy dog, Jax, made a special mid week appearance to be there for a special hug when needed (see pics of Jax below). It warmed my heart seeing all the ways in which we gave every student exactly what they needed. As always, we will continue to meet our students where they are and support them along the way.
Open House 2023-2024
If you missed our open house night, check out the opening presentation on our website in the current news section.
Mass Bay/Natick High School STEM Tech Career Pathway Partnership Information
Mass Bay Community College is proud to partner with Natick High School for a STEM Tech Pathway starting next year at the high school. For details about this exciting new collaboration, see the flyer below. Click on the QR code for more details about the program or to apply. A zoom link to an information session coming up on November 9th from 6:00 - 7:00pm can be found at the bottom of their info page via the QR code. Please refer questions to Mr. Heller (rheller@natickps.org), 8th grade school counselor.
What's new from Spark Kindness?
I am thrilled to announce that our next program on October 18th at 7pm will be in-person at Natick High School! Details are below for this special event with world renowned author/expert (NYTimes, CBS This Morning) on teen mental health, Dr. Lisa Damour.
Dr. Damour will discuss her new book “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers” and offer the concrete, practical information parents/caregivers need to steady their teens through the journey into adulthood. The talk will be geared towards caregivers of adolescents 10-25, though everyone (no matter where you are on your caregiving journey and/or working with youth) is welcome to attend. Seats are filling up fast - and registration is strongly encouraged. This program is generously co-hosted by The Resilience Project, A Newton-Wellesley Hospital initiative to support youth mental health. ASL Interpretation will be provided at this event.
Attention grade 8 families - Upcoming event at Keefe Tech High School:
Annual Field Trip to Keefe Tech - November 9th
The annual 8th grade field trip to Keefe Tech is scheduled for Thursday, November 9th. The field trip permission form will be passed out to your child in their homeroom early next week. Please complete the Parent/Guardian section and have your child return the form to their homeroom teacher by Friday, October 13th.
Keefe Tech Informational Presentation for Students - October 18th
On October 18th, Keefe Tech’s Director of Guidance/Admissions will be visiting Kennedy to give a brief informational presentation to 8th grade students. Students will then be choosing two programs that they would like to visit during their trip on November 9th.
If you're interested in learning more about Keefe Tech
There will be a Family Night Open House for interested students and parents at Keefe Tech on Thursday, November 16th from 5:30-8:00pm. Please visit their website for more information.
Mr. Heller, our 8th grade guidance counselor, is available to answer any questions you may have about these events. Please email him at rheller@natickps.org
Kennedy Newsletter updates and where to find helpful information on our website:
Our biweekly Kennedy Newsletter will be sent out every other week this year in the district Engage communication every other week. Did you know, however, that our newsletter is accessible on our website in the NEWS section under the CURRENT tab? You might want to bookmark this page for further school notifications. Another helpful website page is the CLUBS AND SPORTS tab. On this page you will find everything extra-curricular going on at Kennedy. DAILY ANNOUNCEMENTS are also available on our website under the NEWS tab and are read each morning. You can click on this if you want to hear all that is shared at our building each morning.
Laps at Lunch information:
Laps at Lunch is trying something new this year. In the past we’ve asked for a weekly time slot commitment. This year we’ve set up time slots on a Sign-Up genius to get us through November. We’ll create additional sign-ups for Dec – Feb and March – June. Please sign up for the same weekly time slot if that works for you, or for individual times slots if that’s better. The link is below:
Please sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448ABAD2EAAFF2-kennedy
Kennedy Athletics Update:
It's been a great couple of weeks of sports. Here are the results:
Field Hockey:
- Kennedy lost to Wilson 2-0
- Kennedy lost to Needham 2-0
- Kennedy lost to Needham 4-0
Volleyball:
- Kennedy defeated Needham 2-1
- Kennedy defeated Needham 3-0 (and sent some awesome pics our way....see below!)
Intramural Volleyball:
- Kennedy lost to Wilson 2-1
Cross Country:
- Girls lost to Newton (Oak Hill)
- Girls beat Wilson
- Boys beat Newton (Oak Hill)
- Boys beat Wilson
Good work on the fields, track, and court this week Cougars!!
Warm regards,
Jodie Cohen
Lucky Principal of Kennedy
"Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect"
~ Brene Brown
Twitter - @KennedyMSNatick
Instagram - @KennedyMSNatick
website - kennedy.natickps.org
Check out these great pics from around school or the fields/courts this week...
FOUR Things You Need to Know
1 - Picture retake day
Picture day was a huge success! If you still would like to order pictures, it's not too late. Check out the information posted on our website for details on how to order HERE. If your child missed picture day, don't worry. Kennedy picture retake day has been scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd.
2 - Kennedy Middle School Student Handbook
Here is a link to our newly updated Kennedy Student Handbook. Please take some time to review this handbook with your students. It is chock full of helpful information about our school policies and procedures for students and caregivers.
3 - Sexual Education Health Notification Letter
Here is the LINK to the notification letter. For your convenience, the letter is translated at the top of the document.
4 - UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS for your calendar
- Wednesday, October 25 - Staff Professional Development Day - Early Release 11:30
- Saturday, October 28 - PTO sponsored Glow Dance, Grades 5&6, 5 - 6:30pm
- Saturday, October 28 - PTO sponsored Glow Dance, Grades 7&8, 7 - 8:30pm
- Tuesday, October 31 - Halloween Day
- Thursday, November 2 - Picture Retake Day
- Sunday, November 5 - Daylight Savings
- Saturday, November 11 - Veterans Day
- Wednesday, November 22 - Early Release day for Thanksgiving break
- November 23 - November 24 - No School
Paper - On-Demand Tutoring
Natick Public Schools is excited to announce our partnership with Paper for on-demand tutoring for NHS students. Paper is a secure, online tutoring service that provides students with unlimited, 24/7 academic support. Whether they’re stuck on homework, studying for a test, or need someone to read and make suggestions to their essays, there will always be experts available online to assist students in over 200 subjects and more than 4 languages.
Paper tutors have been specially trained to conduct expert, academic support in a secure, chat-based platform. With a commitment to helping students learn, they’ll never give students answers, but rather interact with them in an encouraging tone to lead them forward.
This is a free service that we’re providing, so students are encouraged to use it as much as they need, whenever they need. Our teachers also have accounts and will be able to review all student activity to see what they’re working on and provide more targeted instruction as needed.
If you’d like to learn more about Paper you can sign up for a Paper hosted Parent Info Session, available in both English and Spanish.
To see Paper and the help it offers firsthand, we encourage you to login with your students. To get started, simply visit PAPER’s student login page, type your school’s name, and log in via Google using your school credentials
We’re thrilled to offer our students the unlimited, 24/7 support that Paper provides and we can’t wait to see what we’re able to accomplish together.
Our Kennedy Middle School PTO works hard behind the scenes to support our school in a variety of ways. Check out their website for more information about all PTO sponsored events.
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