Hello JFK Families,
We wanted to give a big thank you to the PTO and all the families in our community for making the entire staff feel so special during Teacher Appreciation Week! A special thank you to Terri Van Vlierdan for taking the lead on organizing this week’s events! The generosity, efforts, and time to make this a great week for our staff was thoroughly noticed and appreciated! We are very thankful to have such a thoughtful and caring community. You are a significant part of the reason that JFK is a great place to learn and grow. Thank you again!
These next few weeks are going to be very busy with activities. As a result, our weekly newsletter will be full of information. Please take some time to review this information carefully. If you have any questions, please let us know.
This past Wednesday, we voted on our new PTO Board Members for the 2022-2023 school year. I would like to extend a big thank you to our current board members for all they have done this year to enhance the experience of our students and staff! I also wanted to welcome our new PTO board!! We can’t wait to start planning for next year! Thank you in advance for taking on these important roles!! Next year’s board will be:
President: Kate Aldrich
Vice President: Loren Mahler
Secretary: Terri Van Vlierdan
Co-Treasurers: Colleen Tuba and Dana Scoran
I hope everyone has a very special Mother’s Day on Sunday!
Mr. Brennan
Parent Input for Class Placement - Please take a moment to complete the following Google Form to provide us with some input to help place your child into a classroom for next school year. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with this information. The Form can be found here
Middle School Transition - On April 25, a letter was sent to each Grade 5 family listing the district assigned Middle School for the 22-23 school year along with information on the May 19, 2022 middle school visit day. Please contact the main office if you have any questions. As always, thank you for your continued support. We value your involvement, partnership, and support in your child’s education!
Middle School Virtual Transition Night - Thursday, May 26th from 6:30 to 7:15.
Harborside Middle School Information is here.
East Shore Middle School Information is here.
West Shore Middle School Information is here.
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.
Lost & Found
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 May10th titled, Shake , Rattle & Roll! Click here to register. May is "Mental Health Awareness Month" & CT Connecting to Care has a calendar full of ways to keep us positive! Our CCC has the link to this helpful calendar. You'll also find a link to a new program for heating & water assistance from the State of Connecticut. Don't forget this Sunday is Mother's Day!
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 - STEM
Science is all about plants right now! Students in all grades are taking the opportunity to get more involved with nature, including actually planting seeds. We have also been discussing how they grow, and what sorts of habitats different plants and animals might live in. Finally, in some of our older grades, we have discussed the topic of adaptations and survival!
Video blurb
In today's video, we discuss Charles's law, and how temperature and pressure are related to create a unique effect!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hS6LJ062l-tU09G2PTytBejZwaW5JYOV/view?usp=sharing
Important Dates:
Please click here for the revised Academic Calendar for 2021-22.
PTO News
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week
A huge Thank You to everyone who helped make Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week such a success! We owe a special shout out to Terri Van Vlierdan for coordinating a million moving pieces all week, so we could show our JFK family how grateful we truly are for everything they do. We are so lucky to have all of you!
JFK PTO In-School Spring Plant Sale
We also owe Thanks to everyone who helped us pull off our first in-person Spring Plant Sale in two years! Kids got to shop around during school today for pretty little flowers to bring home to celebrate Spring. A major hat tip to Susann Smith for organizing all the blooming chaos!
Congrats to the Newly Elected PTO Board
At this month’s PTO meeting, we elected a new slate of officers to pick up the reins into the 2022-2023 school year. Please give a big congratulations (and extra supportive hugs!) to the following:
President: Kate Aldrich
Vice President: Loren Mahler
Secretary: Terri Van Vlierdan
Co-Treasurers: Colleen Tuba and Dana Scoran
Save the Dates
We are in the process of planning many spring events, so be on the lookout for more info on how you can get involved in the following:
June 10 - End of school family LUAU celebration (rain date June 17)
June 9 - Field Day
June 14 - 5th Grade celebration
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
There are only 3 Spirit Fridays left! Mark your calendars!
Friday, May 27, 2022 - Red, white and blue day
Friday, June 3, 2022 - Crazy sock day
Friday, June 10, 2022 - Tie Dye Day
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.
Pictures from the school - Another great week at JFK!!
