Hello JFK Families,
I am so excited for our first in person family event since the beginning of the pandemic! A special thank you to the PTO for organizing, planning, setting up for this event. I Can’t wait to see everyone tonight at the PTO sponsored Paint Night!
We are also excited to see our PTO Spring Plant Sale back this year! Families and friends can pre-order hanging baskets for pick-up at school, and students will be able to purchase and take home small plants during the day on May 6th. See below for more information.
Have a great weekend!
Mr. Brennan
Spring Concert - Come join us for the Spring Concert on May 10th at 6:30 PM featuring our grade 4 Chorus and the grade 4 and 5 Band and Strings.
6th Grade Music Selection - Attention all current 5th grade families!! Music selections due by April 14th. See the attached letter.
5th Grade Spelling Bee - Come support JFK and Gabriella Meda from Ms. Stuart's class on April 13th! She'll be representing our school at the Citywide Spelling Bee at City Hall!
Kindergarten Kickoff - For our incoming Kindergarten families who are fully registered or currently in a MPS preschool program, be on the lookout for an email on our Kickoff to Kindergarten school visits in May. If your child is eligible for Kindergarten but you have not yet registered, please click the link to register and be included in this Kickoff to Kindergarten experience.
Career Day - Please see the attached letter.
Community Connection Center -In this week's CCC Newsletter you will find information about the MPS Parent University & the Milford CCC Family Music Night taking place on April 26th titled, "Around the World with Your Whole Family!" Click here to register. Find out the details for a Pop Up Food Pantry on Thursday April 21st. PARENTS has an article that suggests ways to help your child use money in a responsible way. Also a Can, Bottle & Coin drive to help cure Pediatric Brain Cancer sponsored by Milford Bank & Beachside Nutrition.
Click here for this week's CCC Newsletter! And don't forget that the CCC website is also updated with links to community resources. You are also welcome to contact the CCC office at 203-882-6094 and speak with Mrs. Williams.
Specialist Spotlight - Media
Happy spring! If you are starting your spring cleaning, please be on the lookout for school library books. Ours have a JFK sticker barcode (typically covering the ISBN barcode), a spine label, and usually a stamp on the inside cover. Thank you for your help tracking down our books!
In the month of March, the upper grade students worked on a Women's History Month research project that also had a "makerspace" component. The students turned cardboard boxes into "purses" (or similar containers). The younger students learned about fairy tales and poetry, with a focus on Shel Silverstein. All of the students will review principles of good digital citizenship in the days around Spring Break.
The upper grade students just had the pleasure of meeting Lauren Tarshis, best-selling author of the I Survived series! Thank you, PTO, for being so generous and for sponsoring so many events that inspire our students!
Wishing you a happy and healthy vacation with lots of good family time! As always, reach out if you need anything!
Important Dates:
Wednesday, April 13th: Early Release Day: Students dismissed at 1:25
Friday, April 15th: No School: Good Friday
Monday, April 18th-Friday, April 22nd: No School for Spring Recess
Please click here for the revised Academic Calendar for 2021-22.
Older, but still relevant news!
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
JFK Paint Night - TONIGHT!
If you registered for our paint night - we look forward to seeing you tonight! Doors open at 6:15PM and painting begins promptly at 6:30PM. We will be set up in the multi-purpose room/gym at school. This event is for paid, pre-registered attendees only and it is NOT a drop off event. We can’t wait to paint!
The Spring Plant Sale is Back!
We are so excited to be able to bring back our favorite spring plant sale! You have two easy ways to bring fun spring colors into your home - First, you can pre-order beautiful hanging baskets from our online store. Orders are due by Friday, April 22nd and you will pick them up at school on Thursday, May 5th. Second, we are bringing back our popular, in-school sale on Friday, May 6th where students can shop with their class during the day and bring home beautiful flowers just in time for Mother’s Day! Thank you to Susann Smith for organizing this on behalf of JFK PTO. Check out the flyer for more info
Lauren Tarshis was Amazing!
Grades 3-5 had their virtual author visit today with Lauren Tarshis and she was AMAZING! She discussed her struggles as a young reader and how despite the challenges she still became a bestselling author. She also went into detail about her writing process including how she researches her diverse topics including cover designs. We hope that she inspired some new authors today in this engaging presentation and appreciate the time she took to thoughtfully answer lots of questions from our students. JFK PTO was also able to donate a graphic novel version of her work to every classroom and one for the library too!
Save the Dates
We are in the process of planning many spring events - some dates are still being confirmed but be on the lookout for:
Teacher appreciation week May 2-6
End of school family LUAU celebration June 10 (rain date June 17)
Field Day - date TBA
5th Grade celebration - date TBA
There are also many opportunities coming up for VOLUNTEERS! Stay tuned!
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!
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
Pictures from the school - Another great week at JFK!!
