About KES

Thank you for your interest in Kennebunk Elementary School! If you are looking for an exceptionally exciting and progressive community-centered public school, then you have found it! Our beautiful school is located in a woodsy area with close proximity to the center of coastal Kennebunk, Maine. Maine’s pristine Eastern Trail is a wonderful resource that can be accessed directly from the school yard by students, staff, and families. 

KES opened in 2004 and is a 21st century facility in every way. Thanks to a dedicated technology department, we feature Interactive Whiteboards in each classroom, a livestream forum, a STEM lab, Lightspeed FM classroom audio enhancement, Identakid online check-in and visitor screening, Power Announcement automatic communication system, and a parent portal on our live website. Students are assigned their own Chromebooks starting in Pre-K. We also boast a full live-performance stage with lights and sound, and separate amphitheater, a multi-purpose Learning Lab, separate playground and courtyard areas, and separate beautiful gymnasium and lunchroom areas. You can join us for lunch at Sharkbites: The KES Cafe, any day school is in session! 

KES is a pre-kindergarten through second grade school with 7 pre-k classrooms, 6 kindergarten classrooms, 4 first grade classrooms and 6 second grade classrooms. At KES all teachers are Highly Qualified and are dedicated to helping every student achieve success. We boast excellent NWEA assessment scores: 70% of our students in 1st and 2nd grade generally score above the National average in both reading and math.

At KES, we offer full-day pre-k, full-day kindergarten, and enrichment opportunities at all levels from pre-k to second grade. We take advantage of today’s most progressive and effective curriculum programs including Opening the World of Learning (OWL), Fountas and Pinnel, Everyday Math, Saxon Math, and Handwriting without Tears. We meet the needs of all learners with a full array of individualized learning opportunities and special services ranging from Gifted and Talented consultation to Special Education, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for academics (formerly known as Response to Intervention). 

With only 16 students in each pre-k classroom, an 8 to 1 student/adult ratio is maintained by having both a full-time certified (early childhood) teacher and a full time certified ed tech in each pre-K classroom. Pre-k students access most of their primarily play-based experiences and their daily curriculum, Opening the World of Learning (OWL), right in their own classroom. Their day  includes two recess periods, family style lunch, daily free choice time and an afternoon rest, in addition to daily investigations in literacy, math, social studies and science. The pre K program is aligned to Maine’s Early Learning Standards and encompasses eight domains of early childhood development including creative arts and physical development in addition to the more typical “academic” standards.

Beginning in kindergarten, the student experience at KES expands to encompass six weekly specials in addition to daily Literacy and Math classes including Art, Music, Physical Education, Library, World Language (Spanish) and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). With a full-time School Resource Officer, two School Counselors, a full-time School Nurse, and a part-time School Social Worker, KES staff utilize proactive and restorative practices including monthly character education, Responsive Classroom methods, Collaborative and Proactive Solutions, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for behaviors.

Both the Kennebunk Elementary PTA, and the Education Foundation of the Kennebunks and Arundel meet regularly onsite at KES. These organizations fund field trips, artists-in-residence experiences, special events, and academic programs throughout the year. Kennebunk Parks and Recreation offers before-school and after-school programs at KES throughout the week, including summers, and both Kennebunk and Kennebunkport Parks and Recreation offer athletics and programming in the KES gym and on the KES fields most weekends. 

Approximately 100 students participate each spring in our K-2nd grade values-based running club, “Running with Character.” The KES Kids Chorus, more than 80 students strong, is open to all first and second grade students, and performs every other Friday morning throughout the year at 8:30am during KES Friday Morning Meeting, our whole school community assembly. We encourage you to attend!  With our superintendent and district offices located in-house at Kennebunk Elementary School as well, it is easy to understand why KES is thought of, by many, as the center of our community.

Please contact us if you would like a tour of KES, and follow along @KbunkElementary…

Yours in Education, 

Mr. Quinn