Greetings Kent Middle School Families,

Two unique opportunities lie ahead for our Kent students this school year; both experiences are brand new for Kent Middle School!

• Spring Musical – Starting at the end of January, Kent will partner with North Bay Theatrics to put on a spring musical at our school! Many roles will be available for 5th through 8th graders, including acting, singing, and dancing roles in the performance, as well as behind-the-scenes sound, lights, and technical assistance roles. Rehearsals will run on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, February through March, with performances scheduled for early April. All students interested to participate are invited to an informational meeting with North Bay Theatrics staff this Tuesday, November 8th during Study Session at Kent. Attending this first meeting on Tuesday is not a commitment, but is a chance to learn more information. Please encourage your child to participate!
• Empowerment 101 Class for 8th Graders – On November 14, 15, and 16 during PE classes, our 8th graders will be led through a class entitled Empowerment 101, led by staff from IMPACT Bay Area. The sessions are designed to help students understand boundary setting and to empower students to act if they find themselves in unsafe or potentially threatening situations. In these sessions students develop intuition, situational awareness, congruent body language, and verbal skills to de-escalate and deter potential harassment and assault. These classes are a result of advocacy from a number of our former students through their 8th Grade Social Action class at Kent last year, about the need to empower young people to respond if ever faced with harassment and physical assault. We feel fortunate to equip our 8th grade students with this important skill set.

These two opportunities for our students are made possible through Kentfield Invests in Kids (KIK), and simply would not happen without our community’s support of our Kentfield school foundation. Thank you to KIK for supporting incredible programming at our school!

In closing, please anticipate two upcoming reports for parents on your child’s academic progress so far this year. The week of November 14, student results on our recent MAP Growth Assessment in Reading and Mathematics will be shared with families through the Aeries Student and Family Portal. Next week’s newsletter will provide a wealth of information regarding how to access, read, and interpret your child’s report. Additionally, first trimester report cards will be distributed to families in December, following the conclusion of the first trimester on November 30. These report cards will include markings to show student progress on individual skill, content, and habit of learning standards explored so far in each class. We look forward to providing these critical updates on your child’s progress in school.

Let’s have a great week ahead!