Dear Kent Middle School Families,

A new year is upon us, with seemingly endless possibilities and opportunities ahead for our children. Welcoming a new calendar year prompts reflection in us all as we consider how we’ve grown and changed in the year behind, and anticipate the fresh full year ahead.

Naming specific goals as the new year begins is an important practice for ourselves and our children. Identifying areas in our lives to focus on and improve can help each of us take meaningful steps toward achieving a desired result in the new year ahead. Considering the enumerable ways that your middle schooler will grow and change in 2023, pausing early in this new year to name personal and academic goals can be a positive practice to set a trajectory for the months ahead.

Habits of Learning at school (Independence, Engagement, Work Completion, Collaboration, Community-Mindedness, and Organization) are areas that we are all continually improving upon, in the variety of environments we encounter. Setting specific goals with your child around learning habits will increase participation and academic success. On your child’s first trimester report card, teachers provided feedback on a variety of habits of learning in their classes. Perhaps there are one or two areas in your child’s schedule where goal setting around learning habits could prove helpful.

In reviewing all of our Kent student’s first trimester report cards, I noticed one standard area where many students could work to improve. In English, all grade levels share a version of the reading standard, "Reads routinely over extended and shorter time frames for a range of tasks." Teachers are supporting students to engage with a variety of texts at school and at home, and to maintain engagement with reading for various spans of time. Reading daily at home is an essential component to progress on this standard, and it is one area of your child’s schooling where we really need your support. Review your child’s marking on this standard together and decide if perhaps a new year’s goal around daily reading would be an appropriate area of focus for the year ahead. Each English class contains a robust classroom library full of engaging texts, and teachers stand at the ready to make book recommendations. Let's make 2023 a year where every Kent Falcon, and every Kent Falcon family, is reading nightly!

I look forward to a full year of learning and growth for us all in 2023, and to working with our exceptional team of Kent educators to support your children to strive to reach their fullest academic, social, and creative potential this year.

All my best,