Kennedy Elementary School Family Connection
February 2010
Dates for Your Calendar
Tuesday, February 9
Thursday, February 18
Tuesday, February 23
Friday, February 26
Monday, March 1
Friday, March 5
Tuesday, March 9
Monday, March 15
Friday, March 26
March 29 – April 5
Tuesday, April 6
PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m. LMC
5th Grade Celebration Planning, 6:30 p.m., LMC
Culver’s Night for Kennedy, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
No School - SWEIO
Kindergarten Registration for 2010-11
1:00 – 6:00 p.m., Main Office
PTA Family Fun Night
PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m. LMC
Staff Development, Release @ 11:30 a.m.
End of 3rd Quarter; Release @ 11:30 a.m.
Spring Break – No School
School Resumes
From the Principal
Welcome to the 2009-10 half way mark. What an important time it is for each of us to reflect upon what has
been accomplished so far, as well as our hopes and dreams yet unfulfilled.
As you review your child(ren)’s report card, please be sure to talk with your kids about how they are
perceiving the school year so far, and help them to identify personal goals for the balance of the school year.
The goals might be in certain areas of learning or relationship building with peers or in general school work
habits and behavior. I also hope your talk might include goals about what each of us might do (action) to
make Kennedy Elementary School an even more inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.
Nancy Caldwell
Principal
Report Cards
Second quarter report cards were sent home with students on Friday, January 29. The
contents of the report cards will give you a strong indication of your child’s strengths and
needed areas for growth. If you have any questions concerning your child’s progress, please
contact his/her teacher. The path to success is a team effort, and the Kennedy staff values
your input
Kennedy Cares Week → February 8-12, 2010
We have tagged the week of February 8-12 this year as our "Kennedy Cares" week. In recent years, as part
of Kennedy Cares, several classrooms have chosen to approach it from a service
learning perspective, working with various local charities and nursing homes to make donations or visit our
elderly neighbors. Other classrooms have focused their time on helping students acknowledge in various
ways/activities, the strengths and gifts each person brings to our school. I anticipate this year, many
similarly engaging and meaningful opportunities for our students.
As part of our school-wide effort during Kennedy Cares, we will also be raising funds to donate through
Pennies for Patients. Our Service Committee for Student Council will be taking a leadership role with this.
We hope to have your support. Here is some information:
Pennies for Patients: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission is to raise
funds to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve
the quality of life of patients and their families. Since 1993, millions of dollars have
been raised in pennies and other spare change by more than 10 million pre-school,
elementary, middle and high school students throughout the country. The funds,
collected during February 8-19 will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s
mission.
We are excited about our focused efforts on creating more authentic ways to show we care and further
develop student friendships during this week. If you have ideas, please be in communication with our
child's teachers to share. Our hope each year is to further expand our outreach efforts during Kennedy Cares
to develop the civic and social responsibilities our school's namesake, John F. Kennedy, called upon us to
do.
Kennedy Spelling Bee
Incredulous may describe the emotion any one of the 21 Kennedy Spelling Bee participants may have felt as
they carefully spelled their word, but it was Malaika Maka who spelled i-n-c-r-e-d-u-l-o-u-s correctly to
become Kennedy’s 2010 Spelling Bee champion. The alternate for Kennedy’s competing speller is 4th
grader, Katie Wise, but it is Malaika Maka who will go on to compete at the Wisconsin State Journal AllCity Spelling Bee event which will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2010 beginning at 9:00 a.m. The bee
will be held at Edgewood College's Anderson Auditorium (on Edgewood's campus, located inside Predolin
Hall).
The Spelling Bee was held on Wednesday January 20, 2010 and participants included: Maddie Fedorowicz,
Tyler Duncan, Avery Kuhlow, Kevin Dunn, Adam Parizo, Paige Peterson, Pierce Nienhaus, Tyree Hill,
Meghan O'Connell, Jared Christy, Alex Middleton, Sam Jaramillo, and Jacob Bruce, Skyler Imhoff, Tracy
Ray, Suzy Vanderbloem, Evan Loken, Jake Gilchrist-Kienitz, and Maddie Loeffler. A special thanks to Ms.
Caldwell for serving as the pronouncer, Ms. Nicka and Mrs. Palmiter for assisting as judges, 4/5 homeroom
teachers, parents, and Mr. Spoerl for taking care of the equipment set-up. Congratulations to everyone who
participated and helped make Kennedy’s Spelling Bee a success!
2010-11 Kindergarten Registration
Kennedy School will hold Kindergarten Registration for children entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2010 as
follows:
Monday, March 1st at Kennedy School Office, 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Please note: Children do not have to accompany parents to registration.
A child must be five years of age on or before September 1, 2009, to attend kindergarten. A birth certificate
and proof of residency are requirements for kindergarten registration. The school does not need to keep
these documents but must verify them with the registration form. Please note: Proof of residency can be a
utility bill, phone bill, lease, or mortgage.
Screening of new kindergarten students will take place in late March and April. You will be able to sign up
for a screening date at the registration. The purpose of the screening is to evaluate the readiness skills of all
students; screening does not indicate whether or not your child can attend kindergarten, but rather how to
best serve your child’s needs.
Parents who have serious questions about their child’s readiness may discuss their concerns with Bridget
Cremin (Social Worker), Sarah Carlson (School Psychologist), or Nancy Caldwell (Principal).
Also, if you are unable to register your child on March 1, please come in between 7:30 and 3:30 p.m. any day
during the rest of the week or call the School (204-3420) to make arrangements. Please spread the word
to your friend and neighbors who may have a Kindergarten student next year.
Desperately Seeking . . . PTA Leadership!
The 2010-2011 PTA Board has numerous openings. Several of our longtime serving members have decided
to step down to allow other parents the opportunity to help out with our PTA leadership next year.
Fortunately many of them will be able help out and guide new members in these leadership roles.
Current openings include our School and Community Vice Presidents, Fundraising Vice President, President
and Secretary. Listed below is information about each position.
School and Community: It would be ideal if four parents would volunteer for this
position. We would like two parents to form a committee to plan Family Fun Night
and the Silent Auction for 2011. We would like two additional parents to team up
and form a committee to plan the fall and spring community events (family picnic and
ice cream social/fun run). It takes a lot of volunteers to make these events successful!
Without new leadership we will not be able to continue these events next year.
Please consider helping out!
President: The PTA president works with the principal, assistant principal and interested parents to plan the
agenda for each PTA meeting. There are usually seven PTA meetings held throughout the school year which
are run by the president.
Secretary: The secretary takes notes at the PTA meetings and sends them via email to interested parents.
Fundraising: Ideally it would be good to have three or four parents working on the PTA fundraisers. The
fundraisers could be run cooperatively or divided up among the vice presidents. We generally have two
larger fundraisers each school year, as well as two to four smaller fundraisers. At this time we do not have
enough volunteers to keep up our fundraising efforts for the 2010-2011 school year. It is imperative that
more parents volunteer for these positions. Without fundraisers the PTA will not have enough funds to
support our school effectively. The PTA provides funds for field trips, school assemblies, family events at
school, as well as providing important curriculum support for our teachers. Please consider helping out!
If you have any questions about these positions, please contact Kris Simon at 221-0843,
kas@c21affiliated.com or Anne Jungwirth at 226-8854, jungwirth5@sbcglobal.net. We will be
discussing these openings at the next PTA meeting on Tuesday, February 9th. Please join us if
you would like to hear more! Thank you for supporting our school and our students.
Kennedy Family Fun Night → Friday, March 5th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Save the Date! Join us for games, pizza, cake walk, book fair, basket raffle and silent auction.
We are in need of silent auction items and many volunteers in order to make this night a success!
If you have an item/service that you are able to donate or are interested in volunteering, please
contact Renee Abel-Collinge at 223-9459 or Renee_Abel_Collinge@yahoo.com.
PTA Fundraising Updates
My Menu will continue to donate 10% of each purchase designated to Kennedy Elementary on the first
Thursday of each month. Upcoming dates: February 4th, March 4th, April 1st, and May 6th.
Our Cookie Dough Sale is here. The order forms will be sent home on Friday, February 5th and are due with
payments by Friday, February 12th. This sale was very popular last year and we make a 40% profit! We
have decided to sell a healthier recipe which is made with fresh ingredients and contains no preservatives.
Please help make this a successful fundraiser! We need volunteers for sorting cookie dough too. Please let
us know if you can help out.
Culver’s Kennedy PTA Night! This is a new addition to our fundraising efforts this year. Mark your
calendars for Tuesday, February 23rd and visit our local Culver’s on Cottage Grove Road between 5 and 9
p.m. Culver’s will donate 10% of the net sales during that time!
America’s Best Gift Cards will be sold once again this year. We will be selling the gift cards toward the
end of March. Please watch for additional information and order forms coming home in a few weeks.
Thank you for supporting our school! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Anne Jungwirth
at 226-8854 or Verla Barnes at 242-1552. Or email us at kennedyfundraising@yahoo.com.
Belay Training Opportunity for Parents
We are looking for parents that may be interested in getting belay training in order to help out the
4/5 classes when they go on the high ropes course behind Kennedy in May. This is a great
way to bond with some of the students at Kennedy and see them in action as they do some
high climbing. Carla Hacker, Nancy Seymour and other MMSD staff will be teaching the
training. The class is free and you can sign up through the district web-site
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us under Professional Development and look under Winter/Spring Course
offering. The title of the course is stress/challenge belay training. You can also email Carla Hacker
chacker@madison.k12.wi.us or call her to sign up (cell 608-516-2207 or office 608-204-6895.)
The classes are on the following dates:
Monday, March 1st 3:30 - 6:00 at Hamilton Middle School Gym
Wed., March 3rd 3:30 - 6:00 at Hamilton Middle School Gym
(You must attend both of the above classes)
or
Saturday, April 10th 9:00 - 3:00 at Kennedy ropes course behind the school
Thank you for considering this opportunity. If you have any questions, please contact me at 204-3477.
Nancy Seymour, Physical Education Teacher
Kennedy Website
Garrett Hagenbucher, Kennedy parent and MMSD Computer Technician, has added a new feature to the
Kennedy website. The 'KENNEDY KORNER' is coming soon! We will be sharing fun pictures of events at
school and from our families here at Kennedy. If you would like to participate by submitting a picture of an
event, an outdoor scene, or a picture taken on a trip that you and your family have taken, please submit it to:
ghagenbucher@madison.k12.wi.us. We will then select a picture to post, with your caption, for several
weeks.
It’s yearbook time!!
Get your pictures in the yearbook! The Yearbook Committee invites teachers, students and parents to submit photos
for the yearbook. If you've got great photos of Kennedy school and community events we'd like to see them. Our
photographers can't be everywhere. Help us get as many photos as possible to create a terrific book everyone will want
to have.
Like in years past, each homeroom will have their own page with class pictures on top and group pictures below. We
would love for anyone who took pictures to send the best our way.
Here is how you can submit photos online:
• Go to: https://images.jostens.com/login
• If it does not automatically log you into the site, enter username: 400029112
and password: cougars
• Browse to select the photo(s) you wish to upload.
• Enter information about the photo & teacher name - and provide contact information in case the staff needs
additional information.
• Click "Save Details".
It's that easy! Submit your photos today! The last day to submit photos is 3/1/2010 – sooner is better.
Contact Lisa Curley with questions – 244-4332. The Yearbook Staff will review all photos and determine final
yearbook content. We cannot guarantee that all submissions can be used in the book.
Look for Yearbook Order Forms soon! The books are $10 each and will be delivered in early June.
Student Supervision Before/After School → Mid Year Reminder
Just a reminder of Kennedy supervision times and locations:
 Before school duty
o 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast in the lower level
o 8:15-8:30 a.m. Outside days: Playground/front of building. Inside days: Interior hallways/classrooms.
 After school duty
o 1:45 – 2:00 p.m. (Mondays) Front of building.
o 3:17 – 3:30 p.m. (Tuesday-Friday) Front of building.
Please do not drop off your child before these times in the morning and please make arrangements for your child
to be picked up on time. Thank you!
YMCA Camp Fair – Sunday, February 28
Come join us for an afternoon of fun at our annual YMCA Camp Fair on Sunday, February 28 th from
12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at each of our YMCA branches. Summer camp registration materials will be
available and staff will be on hand to answer any questions that you may have about camps. Also, if
you sign up for any of our summer camps on this day you will be entered to win a FREE WEEK of
summer camp! So stop on in and join us as we sing camp songs, do camp activities and get all of
your questions about all of our YMCA summer camps answered.
Summer School Enrichment 2010
Think summer in January! The Madison Metropolitan School District will offer Summer School Enrichment courses in
2010. Course offerings and registration information will be contained in the Madison School and Community
Recreation (MSCR) Program Guide that will be attached to the Wisconsin State Journal in March (watch for the
information regarding Summer Enrichment in the BACK of the program guide). If you do not subscribe to the Journal,
you can receive the program guide in hard copy by calling MSCR at (608) 204-3000 or visiting the website at
www.mscr.org. Please see additional information below.
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Enrichment courses are offered to students in grades 1-8 in the fall of 2010.
All registrations for Summer School Enrichment are handled and completed by MSCR.
The registration deadline is May 10, 2010. No late registrations or changes will be accepted after this date.
Find the MSCR Program Guide at www.mscr.org. To register, click on: “Registration Info & Policies” and “2010
Summer Program Guide.”
 Summer Enrichment courses will be held at five sites in 2010. The sites are: Allis Elementary, Schenk/Whitehorse
Middle School, Hamilton Middle School, Huegel Elementary, and Thoreau Elementary.
 Most classes are held for three weeks (June 21-July 9 or July 12-July 30). Please see MSCR Program Guide for
details.
Questions: Call Barbie Klawikowski at (608) 663-5245.
Long Range Planning Committee Update
Since November, 2009 there have been several meetings held to discuss and generate recommendations for possible
ways to address the over enrollment at Kennedy as well as Allis/Nuestro Mundo in particular. Participants in the
meetings have included a representative group of parents, teachers/principals from each of the LaFollette attendance
area elementary schools, along with district office personnel including Sue Abplanalp, Assistant Superintendent for
Elementary Schools.
The process has been comprehensive, considering various possibilities to address the issues of concern. Many possible
scenarios have been generated with three being proposed to the Board of Education (BOE). The BOE will review these
proposals and provide the committee feedback at their February 1st meeting. Subsequent to this meeting, there will be
several committee meetings for the purpose to respond to the BOE feedback. Additionally there will be public forums
on Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February 17 -Time and location TBD. The BOE is scheduled to take action
on recommended plans at their March 8, 2010 meeting.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sue Abplanalp at 633-1639 or Nancy Caldwell at 204-3428
Annual Multicultural Dinner – March 3rd
On Wednesday, March 3rd at 6:15 pm, the Schools of Hope AmeriCorps Project will be
holding the 5th Annual Multicultural Dinner fundraiser at Schenk Elementary School at 230
Schenk St, Madison, WI. This event will include dinner with an array of food from local
Madison ethnic restaurants, a silent auction, and lively entertainment. All proceeds from the
fundraiser will be used to support the Schools of Hope Project and their efforts to increase
literacy in our community. Please join us! $5 per adult, $2 per child, or $10 per family.
Receive E-mails with ‘District News’
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Would you like to receive school district news via your e-mail?
How about an e-mail when MMSD schools are closed?
You can get both by simply subscribing to “District News & School Closings” at
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/node/4446
Then you will receive about once a week an e-mail with a few news briefs, and a timely
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