Click here to print the March Update

Dear Kent Community Members,

 This month we introduce a new idea to the community: “Kent Schools Coffee Talk.” You might say it evolved from our 2008-2013 Five-Year Plan, adopted by the Kent Board of Education in May, 2008.

 Of the seven subcommittees during the strategic-planning process, the “Communications/ Community Relations” group emphasized community outreach. Current Kent Board President Rebekah Wright Kulis participated in the Communications subcommittee, and now she has brought us the idea of Kent Schools Coffee Talk.

The first pilot of Coffee Talk took place last month, just before the February board meeting at Franklin Elementary. That evening, parents, staff members, and board members enjoyed presentations by Franklin teachers Barb Vasbinder, Jennifer Weitzel, and Jody Frank. Coffee talk and the presentations began informally at 6:15 PM, immediately preceding the business meeting of the Kent Board of Education at 7:00 PM. I would like to thank members of the Franklin Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), especially PTO Co-Presidents Tiffany Jones and Jeanie Wills, for their hospitality that evening, and Principal Todd Poole for coordinating the entire evening. The pastries and coffee were delicious!

We will be having a “Coffee Talk” before each of our board meetings in the school buildings in the remaining school months. The starting time for “Coffee Talk” at the March board meeting, to be hosted at Roosevelt High School, will be at 6:30 PM, and the actual business meeting of the board will begin at 7:00 PM. (Between now and the end of the school year, our board meetings will be hosted in the following buildings: Roosevelt in March, Holden in April, and Longcoy in May.) Please come to these informal gatherings where you will enjoy the company of the Kent Board of Education, the refreshments of each building’s parent support group or PTO, presentations by teachers, and fellowship with your building administrators and other Kent community members.

In February, the Kent Board of Education also acknowledged one of our school guidance counselors, Laurie Knuth, with a new program of recognition announced from the board president’s seat. This new outreach idea is a letter directly from the board president to a staff member for an exceptional accomplishment. Thanks to Rebekah for bringing forth these two new ideas to expand our communications program with the community!

My closing thought is a serious reminder about Ohio’s Achievement Assessments for elementary and middle school (April 19-May 6) and the Ohio Graduation Test for tenth graders (March 15-26).  We are hoping for excellent results this year in our pursuit of Ohio’s “Excellent” rating.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joe Giancola

Superintendent

On behalf of the Kent City Schools’ Foreign Language department, I would like to share some amazing news about one of our own RHS faculty members. What follows below in the “block quote” section is the text of an email sent to Fetna Mikati from Jennifer Larson, the Modern & Classical Language Studies Chair at KSU, acknowledging Fetna’s national recognition.

Fetna Mikati, who teaches French & Math at RHS, also teaches Arabic at KSU and is also an Arabic instructor for the State of Ohio’s Summer Foreign Language Academy at KSU. Read more »

Kent City Schools is proud to announce several increased opportunities for professional development in integrating technology within the curriculum.

February 1-3, 2010, Kent teachers: Chris Carman, Chris Knopick, Dan Young, Lindsay Potok, and Courtney Baliman represented Kent City Schools by presenting a variety of sessions at eTech, Ohio’s annual Educational Technology Conference.  The theme for this year was “Shaping a Path for the 21st-Century Student” and the conference included over 225 exhibitors, and acclaimed keynotes and featured speakers. Several other teachers from Kent also attended the conference and were able to experience best practices and hands-on sessions. Read more »