Mr. Brown's Weekly Update:

March 2, 2024

Dear Parents/Guardians,

School Highlights

  • Click here to see this week’s Students of the Week.   We are so proud of them for being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE!  
  • Attendance Matters:  A student’s consistent attendance is so important, and it is surely a predictor of your children’s success.  Check out the statistics as reported by Attendance Works.  Please also take a moment to review the CCSD Attendance Policy Clarification
  • Please be sure your child is coming to school dressed for outdoor recess.  Jackets, gloves, and hats are required so that the children can play outside at recess.  We conduct outdoor recess as long as the “feels like” temperature is 26 degrees and above.  Thank you!   
  • CCSD’s new free breakfast and lunch program for all students began on December 1.  This program is for all students and can be of great financial benefit to our families.  If you have any questions, please visit the CCSD Food Services webpage for additional information.
  • In cooperation with local law enforcement, we conducted our final lockdown drill for the 23/24 school year on March 2, 2024.

 
Upcoming Events
 

March 6 KPS PTO Open Meeting – 6:30 PM – all are welcome We would truly welcome new faces.  Without our PTO – I’d be lost!
March 7 & March 8 Early Dismissal – 12:00 PM.  If you regularly pick your child up from school, please begin arriving at the cafeteria at 11:45 AM.   
March 7 & March 8 Parent/Teacher conferences – please be sure to secure an appointment with your child’s teacher if you have not done so already.

 
Helpful Information

  • In the interest of promoting digital safety, please visit this link BeAppSavvy.  This is just a reminder that this resource is out there, and it promotes parents’ knowledge and digital safety for our students.
  • The district has implemented the Anonymous Alerts system.  Students or parents in the school community can anonymously submit any suspicious activity, bullying or other student related issues to a school administrator(s).  
  • Our District Calendar at a Glance provides information on planned school recesses, early dismissals, report card conferences and calendar changes due to snow days. This important resource should be kept handy throughout the year! See the Board-approved calendar at a glance for the 2023-24 school year.
  • To place money on your child’s cafeteria account, please visit the Myschoolbucks page.
  • Morning Drop-off – Please remember, drop off begins at 8:45 AM.  Please don’t arrive early to avoid congestion and backups in the driveway.  Please know, if you arrive earlier than 8:45, you will be asked to move your vehicle into the parking lot.  We need to make room for buses and staff to get to their parking spots.  
  • Afternoon Pick-up – Begins at 3:15 in the cafeteria. PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR ID.  
  • KPS Website – Please monitor the KPS website for important information. You can access the website at Home Page - Kent Primary School (carmelschools.org)
  • Please contact the PTO at kpsptopresident@gmail.com to be added to their mailing list.  
  • Please review our procedures for volunteers and visitors posted in the Quick Links section of the KPS Homepage: Volunteer Policy Clarification
  • Please review our attendance policy clarification posted in the Quick Links section of the KPS Home Page Attendance Policy Clarification

 
I hope you have an amazing week.

Sincerely,

Dan Brown

Latest KPS Headlines

  • See Student Art Throughout the Community

    Art created by Carmel Central School District students will be on display at multiple locations around the community during Youth Art Month in March. The Annual Youth Art Month Student Exhibit is sponsored by the Carmel/Kent Chamber of Commerce. 

    “We have about 120 students represented this year,” said Christine Wisniewski, the district’s Art Department chair. “They have created work in ceramics, graphics, drawing, painting and mixed media.”  

    The student work is on display at Kent Town Hall, Patterson Town Hall, Carmel Town Hall, Putnam Hospital, Meadowlands of Carmel, Kent Public Library, Patterson Library and more. The Chamber of Commerce will judge the show and announce awards in April.  

    Read more

    District News
  • See Video of Carmel Schools' New Reading Program, CKLA

    The Carmel Central School District implemented a new reading program districtwide in the 2023-2024 school year. Watch this video to hear what students and teachers have to say about the Core Knowledge Language Arts, or CKLA, reading program. 

    See Video Here 

    District News
  • Athletes Inspire Next Generation at Kent Primary

     

    More than three dozen female athletes from Carmel High School visited the district’s three elementary schools on National Girls and Women in Sports Day on February 7 to show the youngsters the value of sports.  

    First graders from Daina Sinclair and Corinne Phillips classes rushed to have the athletes guide them through the gymnastics course that was set up in the gym. 

    “The athletes who came all volunteered,” Carmel’s Athletic Director Christopher Salumn said. “It is a chance to bring awareness to female sports and all the opportunities they will have to participate when they get older.”  

    Ayva Rivard, a golfer, said she was happy to work with the youngsters. 

    “We are excited to be here and to give back to the schools,” Ayva said. “It’s a great opportunity to show girls here that they can be equal to boys in sports.”  

    Katie Ross, a junior who plays lacrosse, tried to convince a group of first graders – boys and girls – that they should take up her sport.  

    “You should all play lacrosse,” Katie said. “It’s the best game.”  

    Read more

    Kent Primary School News
  • One Word Project

    As an English teacher, Mallory Gray knows the importance of choosing the right word.  

     A member of the district’s Equity Committee, Gray helped her seventh-grade students think about the impact of words as part of the school district’s One Word Project. Then she guided the students as they turned their words into works of art.  

    The same process played out in each of Carmel Central School District’s five schools, where impactful words line the hallways.   

    "We did it during homeroom," said Gray, who teaches English at both George Fischer Middle School and Carmel High School. "The students thought it was cool. Our hope is that their one word is what they will turn to and keep in mind when they face hard times."  

    The Carmel Central School District Equity Committee’s goals for the 2023-24 school year included creating an affirming environment for our students, said committee member Michele Love, who teaches third grade at Matthew Paterson Elementary School. 

    The committee decided on the One Word Project, in which students choose one word to serve as inspiration for the year ahead. Students turned their One Word into a piece of art. Now the artwork is displayed in the hallways at every school and the words inspire students in every grade. 

     

    Read more and see more photos

    District News
  • Young Doctors of Reading at Kent Primary School

    When the students in Corinne Phillips’s first grade class donned their lab coats, adjusted their masks and assembled their new stethoscope kits, they looked like a group of very young doctors.  

    “We got real stethoscopes,” said Fiona, as she turned to her classmate, “Did you try hearing your heart? It’s amazing.”  

    To an outsider this may not have seemed like a reading lesson, but that was the point.  

    Carmel Central School District instituted a new reading program for kindergarten through sixth grade this year. Core Knowledge Language Arts, or CKLA, is a science of reading-based program that emphasizes skills like phonics, decoding and blending sounds. It introduces young readers to a wide vocabulary while building on topics like science and social studies, said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Lauren Santabarbara.   

    For the past three years, we have partnered with The Reading League to train and learn about The Science of Reading, which led us to our new reading program, CKLA. We have dedicated our time to training our kindergarten through sixth grade teachers in CKLA last year, Santabarbara said. This year, teachers in grades seven through 12 are learning the method so that they can support the language, comprehension and vocabulary skills of students as they move up through the grades.  

    At Kent Primary School, Phillips’s class had just finished its first CKLA unit, which was on the human body.  

    “The reading in this unit is all about our bodies,” Phillips said. “The vocabulary is about the five body systems: muscle, skeletal, nervous, circulatory, and digestive. It is sophisticated but it is presented at their level.”  

    To wrap up the unit, Phillips outfitted her students like doctors for the day.  

    Read more and see more photos

    Kent Primary School News
  • Wampum Bracelets at Kent Primary School

    In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Kent Primary School art teacher Sarah Bell had her students work on projects inspired by Native American arts and crafts. Her fourth graders made beautiful sand paintings and her third grade students created beaded bracelets inspired by wampum belts.  It was all part of Native American Heritage Month. 

    "Wampum belts were gifted from one tribe to another to represent a treaty between two nations," Ms. Bell said. "It's a nice Thanksgiving message about working together.”   

    The students in Alison Spunt and Julie Ann Burton's third grade class helped each other out with the beading when they came to the art class. Beading on a small string loom was not easy.  

    “I’m also working on improving the students’ manual dexterity,” Ms. Bell said. “This requires a lot of dexterity." 

    Third-grader Benjamin didn’t mind.  

    "This is difficult, but I think I'm getting the hang of it," he said. 

    See more photos

    Kent Primary School News
  • Schools Host Senior Citizens for Thanksgiving Luncheon

    Senior citizens throughout the Carmel Central School District community were treated to an early Thanksgiving Luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at schools across the district.

    “Our community really wraps their arms around our seniors,” said Alice Holzmann, the family and consumer science teacher at George Fischer Middle School. “In each of our schools the students serve the seniors, make crafts for them, sing and entertain them and just spend time talking with the seniors. It is a real treat for our seniors and for our students.”

    The Carmel Teachers Association sponsored the luncheon. Holzmann, who has organized the Thanksgiving Luncheon for 39 years, said the Putnam County Office of the Aging helped coordinate the event, and that the hard work of the schools’ cafeteria staff made the feast a huge success.

    Read more

    District News
  • Getting to "One Carmel"

    More than 30 parents, students, teachers and administrators came to the Unity in Our Community event at Carmel High School on Wednesday, Oct. 25, to discuss ways to end divisions within the schools and bring Carmel Central School District residents together as “One Carmel.”  

    “Clearly, we are in a place where we are ripe for change,” Interim Superintendent of Schools Joseph McGrath said. “Just coming together like this makes our community stronger. Now, it is up to us to convert ideas into a strategic action plan.”  

    Led by Matt Latimer, the lead conciliation specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service, the event featured discussions about Carmel’s progress over the past few months.  

    Read More

    District News
View More Posts

Upcoming Events

  • KPS PTO Talen Show Act Review, Cafeteria, 5PM

    Kent Primary School
  • Spring Recess

    Schools & Administrative Office Closed

    Carmel Central School District
  • Spring Recess

    Schools Closed

    Carmel Central School District
  • KPS PTO Talent Show Rehearsal, Cafeteria, 6PM

    Kent Primary School
  • KPS PTO Talent Show, Cafeteria, 6PM-8PM

    Kent Primary School
View Monthly Calendar

Kent Primary School Mission Statement

We are a community that is dedicated to developing and inspiring children to be their best selves in all aspects of their lives.

Who We Are:
We are a cohesive community of professionals with a strong sense of family that possess, celebrate and share our unique and individual strengths. We share a common focus to help, facilitate and encourage young minds to grow and fulfill their potential. As facilitators of learning, we utilize a multitude of resources to model and promote these desired outcomes. A strong cohesive community.

What We Do:
As an academic institution we contribute to the development of minds through inspiring children to create and pursue their own goals and objectives. We accomplish this by creating a welcoming, nurturing and trusting environment for all that empowers children to work alongside their peers, regardless of limitations, ultimately becoming independent lifelong learners.  Foster personal and academic growth.

Who We Do It For:
Our service is focused on the children who will develop a solid foundation of skills, knowledge and values, maximizing their individual potential along the way. This will in turn contribute to the perpetual improvement of society. Our children.

Why We Do It:
As we practice our deep commitment to learning, we accept the roles we fulfill because we understand that children require a safe, positive environment in which to develop into self-motivated and socially appropriate adults. We realize that fulfilling these responsibilities has an even greater benefit to all of us as a growing and ever evolving global community. To inspire children to be their best in all aspects of their lives