Class of 2020
Kennedy High School
First Time Kennedy HS Parent Information
What is high school like….
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7 period day
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Start 7:45
1st hour
End 3:10 7th hour
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Semesters; two 18 weeks grading periods
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50 minutes classes
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Lots of choices for lunch
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Transcripts: record of your high school performance
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Lots of activities-get involved
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Credits are earned by passing classes
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End of each semester: FINALS…10-20% of grade
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Help is definitely available: teachers before or after school, SMART Lunch??
Graduation Requirements
High School Diploma
40 credits
4 years/8 credits of Lang Arts
3 years/6 credits of Math
3 years/6 credits of Science
3 years/6 credits of Social Studies
4 credits Physical Education-daily, one semester
10 credits of elective
CPR course
College Contract
Four Year University Considerations
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4 years in all core areas a plus
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Math: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2
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Science: two distinct lab sciences as a part of the three years
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Two years of the same World Language: each college sets their own standard
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Regents Admission Index
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www.regents.iowa.gov/RAI/index.html
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Well rounded student: community service, activities, leadership
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IHAPI: I Have A Plan Iowa
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Great resource
www.ihaveaplaniowa.gov
Freshmen Schedule
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LA required
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Math required
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Science required
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Elective
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Elective
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Elective or PE
School day 7:45-3:10 Periods 1-7
Language Arts
All freshmen take LA 9; some sections are
co-taught IEP students
Students with IEPs will be integrated for LA
9 and receive support during Directed
Studies time
Math
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Many different levels of math:
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Advanced Geometry
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Geometry
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Advanced Algebra
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Algebra 1
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Four Term Algebra
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Algebra Prep
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EO students: other options as recommended
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Students with IEPs as required
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Students will no longer be in a pull out math class, will be integrated
Science
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If earth science has not been taken and successfully completed in 8 th grade, it will
be required in 9th grade

Teacher Recommendations

Additional science class may be taken if teacher recommended and meet pre-requisite
New Science Graduation Requirements
2 credits of Earth Science
2 credits of Life Science
2 credits Physical Science-must include chemistry component and physics component
Social Studies
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Not required as freshman
Should consider if four year college bound
Will be required 10th, 11th, and 12th grade
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World History 10th
United States History 11th
Government and Economics 12th
Electives: these electives are mixed grade levels
World Geography
Personal Law-no longer will fulfill Government requirement
Psychology
Social Psychology
Philosophy
Sociology
AP Human Geography: college level course/year long …..intensive work load;
big focus on research; projects, very strong reading comprehension
Physical Education
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One daily semester PE class of your choice.
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PE classes 9-12 mixed—there are no 9th grade only PE classes
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Daily classes only
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Health & Fitness One 1 cr classroom, once only
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Health & Fitness Two 1 cr classroom, once only
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Performance PE 1 cr
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Personal Fitness
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Swimming 1 cr
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PE 9-12 Team Sports
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Early Bird PE—7 am??? 1 cr **
1 cr
1 cr
Pacer Test used in most PE classes
Business Ed
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Electives 1 cr/1 semester
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Entrepreneurship
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Video Game Design
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Personal Finance
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Money Management
FACS
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Electives- 1 cr/1 semester
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Teen Issues
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Independent Living
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Foods & Nutrition
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Early Childhood Development
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School Age Development
World Language-year long course
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Chinese
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Japanese
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Spanish
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French
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German
Daily practice and homework completion is essential for success.
World Language is an elective!
(Ms. Herrity opinion: if your child struggles with LA/reading, or
with homework completion, I would wait a year to start)
Music
Not automatically scheduled
 Must register/not required
 Earns credit
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Orchestra
String Orchestra 2 credits
 Golden Strings-audition
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Vocal Music-Kennedy Singer 1 credit for the year
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Chanteurs-audition 1 cr for the year
Band
1st semester Marching Band or Concert Band 1 cr
2nd semester Concert Band 1 cr
Jazz Band offered —see Mr Wacker
Art Electives
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Foundations of Art : Freshmen are urged to take this
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This course must be taken for any student wanting to take advanced art
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Introduction to Drawing 1 cr
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Introduction to Ceramics 1 cr
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Introduction to Sculpture 1 cr
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AP Art History—year long, 2 cr, weighted grade
Computer Science
under going some changes…
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Computer Coding
 Advanced
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Computer Coding
Computer Science
 Advanced
Computer Science
Recognition at KHS
Academic
Honor roll: 3-3.39; 3.40-3.69; 3.70 +
Academic Letters and Numerals: 3/3.33
Iowa Core Assessment awards
GPA improvement: .35
Attendance: perfect and excellence
Citizenship: Above and beyond
Sports Banquets
Graduation Awards-list will be in info booklet
Long term awards
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LA Scholar: 5 years of LA
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Math Scholar: 4 years of math
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Science Scholar: 4 years of science
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Social Studies Scholar: 4 years of social studies
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World Language Scholar: 4 years of world language
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Academic Honors
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Valedictorian
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Salutatorian
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President’s Award for Academic Excellence
Support in High School
-Co taught classes
-9th grade interventionist
--IEP/Directed Studies
-Teachers are available for help before and after school
-?????SMART Lunch: Split into two 30 sessions. One and only one=lunch; the other 30
minutes=PRODUCTIVE…extra help, homework completion, speaker series, class
meetings, computer lab, etc
-PowerSchool and CANVAS
-We will help your child!!!
Sports
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Women
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Men
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Basketball
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Baseball
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Bowling
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Basketball
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Cheerleading
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Bowling
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Cross Country
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Cheerleading
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Dance Team
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Cross Country
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Golf
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Football
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Soccer
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Golf
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Softball
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Soccer
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Swimming
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Swimming
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Tennis
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Tennis
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Track
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Track
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Volleyball
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Wrestling
Clubs, Organizations, and more….
There are too many to fit on this screen
Complete list is available on Kennedy Website
But to get your attention, here are just a few:
Best Buddies, Guitar, Martial Arts,
SPCA, Table Tennis,
Dance Team, Drama, Science Bowl, Torch, Academic Decathlon
Lunch
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SMART Lunch is a works in progress and a huge learning curve for students
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Many choices for lunch…we currently run 6 different lines
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Freshmen are NOT allowed to leave the building during lunch times
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Excited freshmen sometimes go over board on spending. Talk to your
child about your expectations on spending. You can lock accounts.
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High school students are NOT allowed to “charge”. You cannot go into
debt.
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This is a change from middle school. Students need to pay attention to balance.
Lunch menus posted on line/Kennedy website, posted daily in lunch room
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Save time by know which line you want to eat in for the day
Lockers
Kennedy students are NOT required to have a locker.
Most students carry a back pack from class to class.
If students want a locker, they will share with another classmate: same
gender/same grade
During registration in February, your student will be given a locker sheet. They
can elect to opt out of a locker, sign up with a friend to be locker partners, or be
assigned a random partner. These sheets can be turned in to middle school
counseling office. I would like these sheets no later than April 15th.
Transportation
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Yellow school bus: students must live 3 or miles away from Kennedy to qualify
for yellow school bus.
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In middle school, the distance was 2 miles so this is a CHANGE.
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City bus routes run past Kennedy. City bus passes can be purchased at school.
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There is no late yellow school bus or activity bus. Parents are responsible for
this transportation.
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Kennedy does not arrange yellow school bussing. Our transportation
department does this and bus routes will be issued in August. Any questions
over the summer should be directed to the transportation department.
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After the school year begins, our main office can assist with transportation
issues.
The long and winding road of
registration……
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Registration is a REQUEST for classes
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Registration determines the number of sections/classes
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Master Schedule is built in April and May based on these requests
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Requests are then run against the Master Schedule
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Tweak, run again, more tweaking, run again
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Master Schedule locked
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Schedules are then reviewed and finalized by counselors
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Fall schedules will be mailed in late summer/August
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Freshmen schedules are run last..
Schedules
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Schedules will be available late summer/August
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Should your student change their mind about courses, please understand the
change may NOT be possible. It is important to make the best potential
course choices NOW.
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There is a schedule change procedure. Schedule changes are prioritized.
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Changes in math course recommendations/requirements will happen during
the spring.
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You can view most current request list via PowerSchool at any time.
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Schedule change forms will be available in August after counselors return to
work.
On line registration
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If your child is currently enrolled in a Cedar Rapids middle school, you are
requested to complete on line registration at home. The directions to
complete this activity are in the Class of 2020 Registration Materials.
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Kennedy staff will return to each public feeder school to assist students who
were not able to complete the on line registration, tweak existing
registrations, answer questions, distribute locker request forms, etc.
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Students not currently enrolled in the CR public school system and CR home
school students will need to register by attending one of two sessions offeredFeb 16th and 25th. You cannot register on line—this will be done for you after
attending one of the session.
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All students will be asked to complete a hard copy of the REGISTRATION Form.
This will done at registration time. This is in addition to the on line
registration…it will help Kennedy better understand your requests.