KES Newsletter December 22, 2022

December 22, 2022

Dear  KES Families,

I hope you are all well today. In the spirit of the season, I just want to share that one of the nicest things about the month of December has been all of the wonderful donations (many of them anonymous) and philanthropic work which happens in our school community. These efforts, in many ways, define this time of year. Special thanks to the Kennebunk Rotary, CS3, Lifetouch Photography, and so many anonymous donors for helping make this month a little brighter for everyone, including children and families, who are struggling this year.  

If you did not see the district’s recent Tweets, KES First Grader, Fin Titcomb, and his mom, Sandy, volunteered to load 47 hand-made hats and scarves into their car last Friday in spite of the sloppy, snowy weather and transport them to Mail-it-Unlimited to send off to Operation Gratitude. These hats and scarves were collected and donated by the KES Community over the past few weeks as an annual contribution and continuation of the school's work with this wonderful program. Operation Gratitude includes these items as a part of large "Care Packages" that are sent to US military personnel actively serving during the holidays.  This donation totals 727 hand-knit items sent to Operation Gratitude by KES families over the last 12 years. If you or someone you know was one of our anonymous knitters, THANK YOU!! The items sent in this year were particularly beautiful. For more information on Operation Gratitude access this link: Operation Gratitude: Homepage.

Second, I want to share that throughout the month of December, Second grade classrooms at KES once again participated in a whole-grade effort to support Lucky Pup Rescue.  Each year, Lucky Pup is one of the beneficiaries of an "Adopt-A-Tree" event where fully decorated themed trees are donated to be raffled off. The theme for the KES second grade tree was "all about dogs". Students made homemade dog biscuits, tree ornaments made from tennis balls and Milkbones, as well as a newspaper garland with dog and cat faces. Student families donated dog toys and treats to put under the tree. The second grade teachers took all of the decorations and gifts and assembled the tree together the night before the event and lots of our students brought their families to check out the tree! For more information on Lucky Pup Rescue, follow this link: Dogs | Lucky Pup Rescue Maine | United States

We know that a lot of illnesses are circulating in the community. The nurse’s office here at KES has been out straight with sickness including Influenza A, COVID19, and other infectious illnesses. We appreciate the degree to which parents have kept children home over the last couple weeks when symptoms are present. I know this can be extremely challenging, especially for parents who work, but if the pandemic taught us nothing, we have learned that erring on the side of caution can significantly decrease the spread of infection. Thank you for continuing to be supportive in this regard.

We also appreciate that families are using the KES Absence Reporting Form when your children are absent for any reason. This is important as the nurse accesses this information to track health trends here at KES. When we have an absence that is not on the report or hasn’t been communicated, we require office personnel to follow up by phone each day to clarify all unexcused absences. Thank you for your help with completing the absence report whenever your student will not be in school.

And finally, I want to say again how nice the first half of this year has been when it comes to normalcy regarding family involvement. In fact, it was so nice seeing so many parents and caregivers here at KES for Gingerbread activities this week. We hope you continue to join us in 2023 for special opportunities, school events, and general volunteerism.  For the coming days, whether you celebrate big, small, or not at all, we wish you all warm wonderful moments with family and friends, and both good health and happiness in the new year. We look forward to seeing everyone right back here in 2023! 

Yours in Education,
 

Mr. Quinn
KES Absence Reporting Form