Don't Miss These Announcements
Upcoming Events
District News
Signs of our upcoming Board of Trustees election are literally popping up throughout our district. Five candidates are vying for three of the seats on our five-member Board in November. The community has an opportunity to meet the candidates and learn more about their views thanks to the forum hosted by the PTA and the League of Women Voters on Tuesday, September 27, at 7 p.m. in the Kent Multipurpose Room.
Another opportunity for gathering and enjoying friends is coming this Sunday at kik's Family Fun Day, one of my favorite events in the fall. Games, the Fun Run, a BBQ lunch, and the Cake Walk combine to make for a thoroughly enjoyable day on the green.
I hope to see you at both of these events, and I thank our parent groups for making them possible.
Thank you,
Liz Schott
Superintendent
School Board
Next Meeting: October 9, 2018 at 5 p.m. in the District Office.
- The Agenda will be posted by 5 p.m. the Friday before the meeting.
2018-2019 LCAP
The District's Local Control and Accountability Plan describes the District’s key goals for students paired with the actions the district will take to achieve the goals and measure progress. The 2018-2019 LCAP, the District's strategic plan, was approved at the Board meeting on September 11, 2018 .
- 2018-2019 LCAP Overview
- 2018-2018 LCAP - Complete document
Parent Partners Meeting
- Tuesday, October 2, 2018, 9 am, District Office
Parent Partners is a group for parents of students with learning differences.
The group meets three times per year with the primary goals of providing parent perspective and feedback to the school districts, supporting children with exceptional needs by increasing knowledge and acceptance of learning differences in the community, and supporting other parents of students with exceptional needs.
New Website
We recommend typing the website address into your internet browser rather than using a search engine to find our website. It takes time for the search engines to update with the new website and versions of our previous website exist on the internet.
- To get to the right site, please replace your old bookmarks with: www.kentfieldschools.org | bacich.kentfieldschools.org | kent.kentfieldschools.org
Please let us know what you think of the website (webmaster@kentfieldschools.org) and if you encounter any areas where you would like more information. We will be refining organization and layout as we receive community feedback.
- Website Tip: Visit our Calendars page to learn how to subscribe to calendars for the entire district, Bacich, Kent, KSPTA so that events will automatically sync with your iCal or Google calendar.
Bacich News
Student safety is something that we take very seriously at Bacich School.
During the school year, we regularly practice fire drills, earthquake drills and lockdown drills. We require students to have a buddy, as they travel across campus during instructional time. We ask all parents and visitors to sign-in to the office and wear a school badge while on campus. Dozens of parent volunteers help us with drop-off and pick-up each week to keep our students safe. Teachers and paraprofessionals monitor playgrounds before school, at recess, and lunch each day. We are always considering ways to keep our students and staff even safer.
Many of our students travel on foot or bicycle to and from school. This requires a home-school approach to remind our children about walking and bicycling safety. Bacich and Kent partner closely with federally funded Safe Routes to School to increase awareness about walking and bicycling safely to and from school. Our Fourth Graders will participate this week in Safe Routes to School’s Bicycle Safety Rodeo, and our Second Graders will participate in a Pedestrian Safety Unit. These two programs are specifically structured for these grades and age levels.
We encourage you to talk to your child about bicycle and walking safety. The following link to the Safe Routes Program offers some excellent conversation points to address with your sons and daughters: www.saferoutespartnership.org/state/bestpractices/curriculum
If you are a parent who drives in and around our school, please remember to drive carefully and pay close attention to children who might forget their safety manners. Stay off your cell phones when you enter our parking lots and follow the directions of our parent volunteers when dropping off or picking up our students. This year we ask you to be particularly mindful of the students and their families who use the cross walk in the Sir Francis Drake parking lot.
The severe injury or loss of a Bacich or Kent child due to an accident would be devastating to our entire school community. Please do your part to keep our special community safe for our children.
Thank you,
Sally Peck
Bacich Principal
The first day of art class at Bacich; the new Bacich Broadcast featuring Principal Sally Peck and Assistant Principal Methinee Bozeman; and Bacich Librarian Susan Warnick and Bacich's most cuddly library patron.
Bacich Site Council
Next Meeting: October 1, 2018, 3-4 p.m., Bacich Library. All parents are welcome to attend.
- Please visit our Site Council page for meeting dates, agendas, and minutes.
Parking and Pick Up/Drop Off at Bacich
Due to construction, there are no parent/community member parking spots on campus at any time during school hours, except for three ADA permit parking spots for community members who need them. Bacich has 14 parking spots for 65 staff members.
- We are now offering Early Drop-Off to provide a wider window for direct drop-off at Bacich and relieve traffic congestion at drop-off time. The Bacich playground opens at 7:30 a.m. each day for Grade 1–4 students. Staff is supervising the playground.
- Carline begins at 7:45 a.m. Please follow the Carline Procedures.
- Please reference this Bacich map that Safe Routes to School created that identifies parking locations. Safe Routes to School is a great resources for finding a walking/biking group to Bacich from your neighborhood.
- Don’t forget to get a FOB at the District Office to enter campus gates during school hours.
- Families driving to Bacich must use the Carline or park off campus. This Bacich map will help you find the right area to park or enter the carline.
We ask that all members of our school community be particularly respectful and mindful of our neighbors this year with the increase in traffic and congestion due to school construction. Thank you for your understanding, cooperation, and patience as our school undergoes significant renovation.
Bacich Resources
Please visit our Bacich Families page for information such as the Bell Schedule, Parent Handbook, and other important resources and forms.
Bacich Construction
Kent News
Greetings Kent Community,
Over the past week I have appreciated many opportunities to sit-in on Kent classrooms, learning alongside our Falcons as they engaged in their studies. I’ve observed curious fifth graders exploring with decimals, determined seventh graders manipulating complex fractions, and confident eighth graders discovering quadratic equations. I’ve witnessed passionate sixth graders debate the appropriateness of text messages in Life Skills, self-assured seventh graders bellow on trombones, and persistent eighth graders speak Spanish. In each room I’ve noticed engaged students, taking the first steps on their learning journey for the year.
While I have the unique opportunity to witness teaching and learning first-hand at our school, I would like to share with you one way you can keep up to date with your child’s growth and progress. Our new student information system, Aeries, allows for each parent/guardian to sign up for weekly progress updates. This report arrives once a week via email and includes your child’s progress in each of their classes in the form of a grade percentage.
- To sign up for weekly progress report updates in Aeries, log on through the parent portal, click on your email address in the upper righthand corner, select "parent notification preferences," then click "receive weekly progress reports." While teachers traditionally wait a little further in the year to enter scores into grade books, it could prove helpful to get this communication routine set-up now. I hope this tool can illuminate some of the growth and progress happening in your child’s classes, and start a dialogue about work and assignments between you and your child at home.
The Intake Conference Scheduler will accept sign-ups through next Friday, September 28, 2018 at 9 a.m. During Intake Conferences, parents/guardians can share information about your child that will prove helpful to classroom teachers as they plan instruction and student support for the year.
I look forward to seeing you at Kent soon.
Grant Althouse
Kent Principal
Kent Library
Library Lunch Clubs, Activities, and Crafts
The year is off to a busy start in the Kent Library! I am so excited to see a renewed vigor for reading this year. Every language arts class has been in to check out new books, and students are really buzzing about the multitude of incredible titles that are out right now. The books are flying off the shelves! Thanks to Nancy Mann, our Kent Library Volunteer Coordinator, we already have a steady stream of parent volunteers beginning to come in, so we are off and running and staying organized. Here are a few news tidbits:
What classes are up to in the library.
- 5th grade: Getting to know their new library and book check out procedures.
- 6th grade: A deep study of character – choosing novels to accompany this highly engaging unit of study.
- 7th grade: Studying books that have complex characters, gaining traction with our reading, and sharing our stories in social studies,
- 8th grade: Choosing novels to read across the genres.
Daily Lunch Activities: Once again we are offering daily activities in the library each day at lunch. Students may choose to eat their lunch in the library as long as they are participating! The schedule is as follows:
- Monday: Get Crafty!
- Tuesday: Kent Library Council AND the new Dungeons and Dragons Club (run by eighth graders Aaron Addis, Lia Fugazatto, and Bryce Kim)
- Thursday: Magic the Gathering Club
- Friday: Unplugged Fun and Games (no computers at lunch and board games)
- Everyday: As always, we have board games, puzzles and more for students to use.
All School Read Ahead! If you attended the gathering in the gym at the beginning of Back to School Night, you heard about our all school read of Alan Gratz's incredible book Refugee, which will culminate in a visit by the author to Kent on May 13, 2019. Click here for more information about this amazing story, and get your copy today!
Author Spotlight for September: Jason Reynolds: Looking for a great book to read with your child or is your child looking for a book to get them into the reading groove? Check out any title by the incredibly talented Jason Reynolds. Jason is a New York Times bestselling author who admits (not proudly) that he found little motivation to read when he was a kid. In fact, he says he never read a book until he was 17, a fact that motivated him to write books that really speak to kids. As I once heard him say in an interview – "kids don't really think reading is boring, they just don't like reading boring books." His titles and characters are diverse in their experiences, and include books for kids in fifth grade through high school. Click here to read about Jason and his books. Check one out from the Kent or public library today!
Overdrive: Speaking of the library, do you have an Overdrive account through the Marin County Free Library? If you have a library card, you can use this account to gain access to thousands of audiobooks and ebooks – streaming and free! Ask me or your public librarian for help with this.
Speaking again of libraries: Did you know that the College of Marin library is part of the Marin County Library system? You may use your card to check books out from the COM library and use their facility anytime!
Book Passage: Do you shop at the Book Passage? If you do not already, I highly encourage you to do so. Their experts will help you select books for the whole family. Mention "Kent" and part of your purchase goes back to our library so we can purchase more books!
Follow the Kent Library on Instagram @KentMiddleSchoolLibrary.
Rebecca Jelen
Kent Librarian
Kent Announcements
Community Service
- Kent students can get volunteer hours credit at kik Family Fun Day on Sunday, September 23rd from 10-2. Sign up here!
Intake Conferences
- 5th Grade: Wednesday, October 3, 2018; 1:30-4:30 p.m.
- All Grades: Friday, October 5, 2018
- Online portal to schedule intake conferences at conferences.kentfieldschools.org closes on Friday, September 28, 2018 at 5 p.m.
- Instructions on booking your parent-teacher conference.
Student Activities
Kent Lunch Clubs
- Eco Action Club, Garden Club, Library Council, and Games Club are starting. Listen to morning announcements for more information.
- If you are interested in hosting a club at Kent this year please contact Jenny Walsh, jwalsh@kentfieldschools.org. Some clubs we have held in the past include knitting, art, drama, and fantasy sports.
Kent Site Council
Next Meeting: October 2, 2018, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Main Office Conference Room
- All Kent parents are welcome to attend Site Council meetings. Please visit our Site Council page for meeting dates, agendas, and minutes.
Kent Athletics
Student Athletes: Please fill out an Athletics Packet from the office so you can play!
Go Falcons!
Kent Athletic Director: Ryan Palmer, kent-athletics@kentfieldschools.org
New Kent Athletics website: https://sites.google.com/kentfieldschools.org/kent-athletics
- Please note that all volleyball games are at 3:45 p.m. at Davidson, unless the venue is changed by coaches.
Kent Resources & Forms
Visit our Back to School page for the Parent-Student Handbook and important reminders and forms.
The District Resources and Forms page contains all forms and notices for the entire district.
Parking and Pick Up/Drop Off at Kent
- Please do not use Stadium Way for picking up and dropping off your Kent students.
- If you are driving to Kent, please review the Kent Drop Off/Pick Up Map.
Safe Routes News
The Kentfield School District encourages all families to actively participate in our nationally-recognized KSD Safe Routes to School Program, a neighborhood-focused initiative to advocate green travel alternatives, and address traffic safety at our schools.
A team of Neighborhood Parent Captains provide suggested safe route maps and carpooling options all customized by neighborhood. We also advocate for traffic safety concerns on behalf of the families in our district's neighborhoods.
- Locate "Safe Routes," "Park and Walk" spots, visitor parking, bike/scooter racks for Bacich and Kent. Note in particular that the designated parking lot for your neighborhood at Bacich. Determine your neighborhood and contacts with our zone map, then visit the neighborhood map for Berens Route Plan, Greenbrae Route Plan, Kent Woodlands Route Plan, Laurel Grove Route Plan, Murray Park Route Plan, and SFD Firehouse Route Plan.
- Public bus option for middle school students: The Marin Transit Bus 29 has a route designed perfectly for our Kent Middle School students. The bus picks up on SFD and Eliseo at 8:12 a.m. and drops off at College of Marin at 8:17 a.m. It's a short walk to the crosswalk and then to Kent. It costs $1 per child.
- Safe Routes to School Safety tips in English and Spanish.
kik News
Sign up here to volunteer at Family Fun Day
Family Fun 1 Miler Run Participant Form
Kent students can get volunteer hours credit at Family Fun Day on Sunday, September 23rd from 10-2. Sign up here!
Any contribution at any level makes an impact on our schools.
Help us reach 100% participation for our schools.
Save the Date! kik Auction | Dinner | Dancing
May 11, 2019
KSPTA News
Date Change: KSPTA October Meeting Now October 8, 2018
Please join us for the following KSPTA sponosored events
- 9/27/2018: Meet The Candidates Forum, 7-9 p.m., Kent MP Room
- Meet candidates running for the three open Kentfield School District Trustee positions. The event is hosted by the KSPTA and will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. View Flyer.
- 10/8/2018: KSPTA General Meeting, 8:30-10 a.m., Kent Library
KSPTA Grant Program Now Accepting Applications
KSPTA is pleased to announce the 10th year of the KSPTA Grant Program! KSPTA Grants provide specific funding to enhance and enrich the educational experience of Bacich & Kent students.
What does the Grant Program fund?
This year, KSPTA has budgeted $20,000 to fund innovative educational ideas such as:
- Instructional tools (manipulatives, books, STEAM equipment, software licenses)
- Special projects that support curriculum
- Publications (magazines, subscriptions – online and hard copies)
- Leadership & professional development seminars/classes for teachers
- Special assembly presentations/workshops for students
Information about past awards may be found HERE
Who May Apply?
Any KSPTA member: teachers, staff, administrators, parents, or students (along with a parent). If a Grant proposal is submitted on behalf of an entire grade level, every teacher in that grade must be a KSPTA member. To become a KSPTA member, please visit the KSPTA Online Store.
- The grant application deadline is Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 4:00 p.m.
Support Bacich with Good Eggs
Participation is easy:
- Fill your basket with all the best food (meal kits, fresher than fresh produce, meal, sustainable meats and seafood, kid-friendly staples and more) for same day delivery on Good Eggs
- At checkout, enter the code BACICH18 to get a 5% donation to Bacich or Kent.
- Enjoy! You just discovered the easiest and most delicious way to support Bacich and Kent.
