Hello JFK Families,
Hope everyone enjoyed the snow day today!
We are looking forward to Read Across America Week, which will start Monday! Thank you to Elise Rosengrant and Gina Depuma, our Literacy Coaches, with the support of our amazing PTO, for organizing a week of themes and events.
I am looking forward to our next PTO meeting this Wednesday, March 2nd. We will send a reminder early next week with all the details.
We also are excited for our Virtual Family Literacy Night titled, The Masked Reader! This will be a fun event for the whole family. See you all then!
Have a great weekend!
Mr. Brennan
District Communications: Please review:
Dr. Cutaia’s 2/18/22 letter regarding masks.
Dr. Cutaia’s 2/23/22 letter regarding voluntary at home tests sent to families
Kindergarten Registration - We are pleased to announce that Kindergarten Registration for the 2022-2023 school year will take place during February and March. If you have a child who will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, registration information will be posted to the district website www.milforded.org on February 22, 2022. You must register your child for Kindergarten at the school determined by your street address, unless placed by Pupil Personnel Services. School/Street Assignments are available on the district website under “District Information.”
Students must be at least age five (5) on or before December 31, 2022, in order to register for Kindergarten.
Current MPS preschool or Ready To Learn students do not need to complete an online registration packet.
If you need assistance with the registration portal, please contact the main office for your district assigned school. School contact information can be found on the district website under “ Schools.”
We are excited for your children to come to our schools! Fully registered families, please be on the lookout for more information from your school’s Principal about an in person kindergarten event in the spring. In the meantime, click here for a sneak peek of what to expect in Kindergarten!
We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2035!
Read Across America Week - Read Across America Week is February 28th - March 4th, 2022! Throughout the week, we will be celebrating authors, books, and the love of reading! We have several fun activities planned, which are listed below. More details will be forthcoming!
Community Virtual Guest Readers
March Madness Class Book Bracket
Book BINGO with prizes
Virtual Family Literacy Night- Thursday, March 3rd - “The Masked Reader!”
Author of the Day (with featured book/spirit day)
Monday- Laura Numeroff- If You Give a Pig a Party- Party Clothes~Dress Your Best Day
Tuesday- Jeff Kinney- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot- Sports Jersey Day
Wednesday- Dr. Seuss (Birthday)- My Many Colored Days- Dress in as many colors as you can Day
Thursday- Mo Willems- Knuffle Bunny- Bring your favorite stuffed animal to School Day
Friday- Peter Reynolds- Be You! - Dress Like a Book Character Day
Community Connection Center - In this week's CCC Newsletter you will find information about choosing your dentist, where to find food pantries, and how to start your garden! Click here for this week's CCC Newsletter! And don't forget that the CCC website is also updated with links to community resources.
Spring Conferences - We are pleased to announce our Spring 2022 Elementary School Virtual Conference Schedule:
Wednesday, March 30th 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 31st 1:45-3:45 p.m.
Friday, April 1st 1:45-3:45 p.m.
*Please note that we will have a modified early dismissal time on the conference days to accommodate the conference schedule. Therefore, students will be dismissed on March 30th, March 31st and April 1st at 1:15pm.
Our spring conferences will be held virtually and parents/guardians will once again have the opportunity to select a conference time through My Conference Time. We are looking forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s learning! Spring conference sign up information will be live on our school website from February 28 at 9:00 a.m. through March 25 at 12:00 pm . Quick tip: Look for emails from “noreply@myconferencetime.com” when searching email for conference confirmation communications.
Specialist Spotlight - Media
First and foremost, thank you to the PTO for sponsoring an awesome author visit with Janet Lawler! She spoke to K, 1 and 2 earlier this month and inspired the students to write about their own life experiences. The added perk? Janet grew up in Milford! PTO is also sponsoring a visit with Lauren Tarshis, the author of the popular I Survived series, for the upper grades in April. Thank you for your strong support of literature, families!
And speaking of literature, Read Across America Day is this upcoming Wednesday. We are turning it into a weeklong celebration at JFK! In Media, the students are creating book brackets (similar to the NCAA tournament bracket) and working together to select a class favorite book. These titles will be incorporated into morning announcements. We have partnered with Jonathan Law High School to have some of their students record read alouds for our students, too. Please see above for additional information on Read Across America activities. Looking forward to seeing some of the spirited clothing choices next week!
If you have a student in the upper grades, see if they can tell you what a pourquoi tale is (a how / why story) and give you an example of one; that’s something we talked about in recent weeks. I am also sharing some pictures of the fun we had around Valentine’s Day (like a heart cup stacking challenge!). Enjoy the final weeks of winter and let me know if I can do anything for you!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z2SY3r43jfemdbX27
Important Dates:
Read Across America Week 2/28-3/4
Virtual Family Literacy Night Thurs March 3, 6PM
Wednesday, March 9th: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Learning
Friday, March 11th: Trimester 2 Ends
Wednesday, March 30th, Thursday, March 31st, Friday, April 1st: Early Release day for Spring Conferences NOTE: Students dismissed at 1:15 (10 minutes earlier that normal)
Older, but still relevant news!
Swipe Card Rollout - Elementary schools recently began using a swipe card system. All students were issued an ID card that is specific to them. To begin with, the cards will be used for school bus attendance and checking out books from their school libraries/media centers. The cards, along with a lanyard and plastic card holder, will be distributed to the student beginning on Monday.
Students will be required to carry their cards at all times during the school day.
Lost or damaged cards should be reported to the school secretary right away.
If you have any questions please call Judy Messologitis at 203-783-3438
School Attendance
Regular school attendance and overall student safety and well-being are always vital for laying a foundation for success during the school year. Paying attention to attendance is even more essential this year, given the unique challenges created by COVID-19 for schools, families, students, and community providers.
Stay home if you are sick! Complete the COVID-19 Daily Self Checklist at home before you send your child to school. If your child(ren) has any symptoms, no matter how mild they seem, do not send them to school. Notify your school of the absence using the current MPS Student Absence Reporting Procedure and your School Nurse will follow-up regarding next steps.
If your child is feeling well and answered “no” to the COVID-19 Daily Self Checklist, please send your child into school. We know that students learn best with regular attendance. In-person attendance each day is the best school experience for our students when other challenges do not prevent students from getting to their schools.
PTO News
Read Across America
JFK PTO will be supporting the school in a number of ways during our upcoming Read Across America week by providing crafts and gift cards! We also organized a book donation for all classrooms from Barnes and Noble. Thank you to Kate Aldrich for taking the PTO lead on this for us!
2s-Day was two-rrific!
Thank you to everyone who participated 2s-day this week. We’re grateful for the donations collected for 2 amazing Milford charities: Purple Pantry Boxes Food Bank and the Milford Animal Control/Shelter.
Attention 5th Grade Families - time is running out and very few photos have been submitted!
Please submit a baby photo of your 5h grader! We are also collecting any other photos you may have from your years at JFK. We do not want any student to be left out of this memorable yearbook. Please send all photos to Stjohn.l@gmail.com by Monday, February 28th. Thank you to the talented Laura Schulze for taking on this big project for us!
Stay Connected With Us!
Sign up for our email list, join our FB page, or just reach out via email to get all the latest info about PTO plans and how you can get involved. ptojfk@gmail.com We’re always talking about something or sharing new information, so come check it out!
Spirit Wear Store is stocked!
We have updated our JFK PTO store with some items from our recent spirit wear sale. Orders will be sent home from school with your student or you can arrange for alternate pickup. We have adult and youth size t-shirts, baseball tees, baseball hats, masks, bows and even a few hoodies! https://john-f-kennedy-elem-pto.square.site/
Spirit Fridays
At JFK we celebrate the first Friday of every month with a SPIRIT DAY!
Friday, March 4, 2022* - Book Character Day celebrating Read Across America
*Changed from original schedule
Friday, April 1, 2022 - Mismatch day
Thursday, April 14, 2022 - Hat day
Friday, May 6, 2022 - Dress like a teacher for Teacher Appreciation Week
Friday, May 27, 2022 - Red, white and blue day!
Friday, June 3, 2022 - Crazy sock day
Friday, June 10, 2022 - Tie Dye Day
Look at all the great learning that occurred at JFK this week
