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.

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.