Mr. Brown's Weekly Update:

May 10, 2024

Dear Parents/Guardians,                                                                                                                                    

School Highlights

  • Look just to the right to see our amazing students of the week.  We are so proud of them for being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE!  
  • The planning process for the 2023/2024 field trips is complete.  Grades 1 and 4 have already attended their field trips.  For grades K, 2, and 3, please be in touch with your child’s teacher to be sure your child has turned in the required permission slips and you are prepared for the day’s lunch plans.
  • Good News – KPS will be launching a new dismissal application.  The system’s use will be mandatory, and it is going to replace daily notes, address safety concerns, and will make is so much easier for parents to update their child’s daily dismissal plan.  Be on the lookout for a more detailed communication in your email about how to participate and our anticipated date of launch.  We will have a “soft launch” this year so that families have time to practice and learn.  Beginning in the fall of 2024, this program’s use will be mandatory.
  • The Elementary Summer Learning Camp has remaining space available, so we are opening it up to the school on a first come, first served basis.  An invitation will be sent out on Sunday evening to complete the online enrollment form.  Enrollment will close when the classes are full.
  • 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. 

Upcoming Events
 

May 15 Kindergarten Parent Orientation
May 15 9:30 AM KPS Cafeteria – KPS PTO Open Meeting
May 24-27 Schools Closed – Memorial Day Weekend
June 7 4th Grade Mingler

 
 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

Students of the Week:

Her are our Students of the Week for 5/10/24.  We are so proud of them for being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE.  Keep up the great work!  

           

  

Latest KPS Headlines

  • All Roads Lead to Carmel

    In the spirit of “One Carmel” Kent Primary School Principal Dan Brown sent home a survey this winter asking parents about their families’ heritage.  

    The survey was optional, of course, but almost 200 parents gladly answered.  

    “In America, most of us hail from somewhere else,” Principal Brown said. “Here at Kent Primary, we have a very diverse student body, and we want to celebrate that.”  

    When the results came in, Italy and Ireland were listed as parents’ homelands most often. A total of 71 parents (29 moms/42 dads) cited Italian as their heritage, while 42 parents (25 moms/17 dads) said their families traced their roots to Ireland. In all there were more than 60 countries – from Albania to Uzbekistan – represented.  

    After talking about their heritage, students throughout the school made flags of the country that their families emigrated from.  

    Art Teacher Sophie Bolla created a map with lines from countries across the globe all leading to Carmel.  

    The map now hangs in the front lobby for all to see.  

    Read more

    Kent Primary School News

  • Recognizing Musical Talent

    At its May 7 meeting, the Carmel Board of Education recognized music students throughout the district who were selected for the All County and Honors ensembles. The Carmel Central School District Music Department has so much to be proud of each year. 

    “This year, we had over 50 students perform in Area All State,” said Music Department Chair Meghan Cabral. “We also had students perform with New York State School Music Association's All State festival and the New York State Band Directors' Association honor bands. Our George Fischer Middle School students stood out at the Putnam County Music Educators' Association all county festivals, too. This year we had over 70 students accepted! Each year we also have students earn Excellent and Outstanding ratings at the NYSSMA solo festival.”   
     
    Carmel Schools have been recognized as one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants’ (NaMM) for seven years running.   

    Read more

    District News

  • Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage

    When a video of a young hula dancer played on the white board in Allison Keating’s classroom, some first graders caught their breath.  

    “She’s just a little girl,” Eva, who is six years old, said. “How does she know how to do that?”  

    Juliane, a classmate, quickly piped up.  

    “She’s not a little girl,” said Juliane, who is seven. “She might be six or seven years old or something.” 

    Soon the six and seven-year-olds in Kent Primary School’s four first grade classes were waving their arms, tapping their feet and doing their own hula dances. 

    The children celebrated Asian American Pacific Islander Month by dancing a Hawaiian hula, drawing Japanese cherry trees, cutting out and coloring Birds of Paradise from Papua New Guinea and creating masks of Chinese dragons. 

    See more photos 

    Kent Primary School News

  • 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
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Announcements

  • Happy Mother's Day!

    We are wishing all of our students' caregivers a very happy Mother's Day!

    Kent Primary School
View More Posts

Quick Links

Upcoming Events

  • KPS PTO Open Meeting, Cafeteria, 9:30 AM

    Kent Primary School

  • KPS Kindergarten Parent Orientation, 6:00-7:00 PM

    Kent Primary School

  • All Schools Closed

    Give-Back Day because of unused snow days.  All Carmel Schools are closed. 

    Carmel Central School District

  • Memorial Day

    Schools & Administrative Offices Closed

    Carmel Central School District

  • 4th Grade Mingler @GFMS, 7 p.m.

    Fourth Grader Mingler will be held at GFMS 7 p.m.  

    Carmel Central School District
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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