Weekly Family Newsletter: 8/16/21

• Registration: In Person registration days were last week; BUT, our amazing Front Office Staff is available from 7 am to 3 pm every weekday to continue to help families register. You must register each year to be scheduled into classes. See this site for more information about registration.

• Credit Recovery: We are offering a credit recovery option of one class for students that have Incomplete (I) grades or F's at 54% or above. Students can find out if they have Incomplete grades or F's (54% or above) by logging into their student portal and checking their grades from last school year. Students must be registered for the 21-22 school year in order to participate in this credit recovery program.

  Students do not need to enroll in this program and can simply show up, ready to get to work. Lunch will not be provided but snacks will be provided throughout the day. Upon arrival, students will be checked in and courses will be assigned based on the student’s most urgent need. This credit recovery option is going to be offered through our Edgenuity online platform but we will have two Edgenuity teachers present if any support is needed. The course must be completed entirely by 3:00 PM on Friday, August 20th for any credit to be received.  No partial scores will be accepted. Please review summer school expectations by clicking here as we will follow these same guidelines. We believe in you, Commanders, and want to see each and every student succeed! If you have any questions about this program, please reach out to our Assistant Principal Mr. Brewer at rick_brewer@dpsk12.org or 213-421-4745.

• MyTech School: Now that JFK is a MyTech School, we will be distributing Chromebooks to ALL students. Distribution of new devices and collection of old devices will occur on Thursday, August 26th during advisory. All students should bring their district devices in on this day to ensure they will have appropriate technology for the school year. 

• New to Kennedy Upper Classmen Orientation: If you are an upper-classmen who recently transferred to Kennedy, you are welcome to join us for an orientation on August 23rd from noon to 1 pm. During this orientation, you will get a school tour, we will go over our bell schedule, and we will answer any questions you may have about a day in the life of a Commander. 

  This will be an amazing opportunity to get to know our school and some of our staff prior to the first day back on August 24th. We are looking forward to providing you with a smooth transition to John F. Kennedy High School. 

• Schedules: Our 21-22 Bell Schedule is found here. Maintaining the 7:30 am start is a result of feedback from students and families given that so many of our students have after school commitments. 

  Schedules will be available for students through Student and Parent Portal on the first day of school. 
  
  Students can access their class schedule through the Student Portal starting on the first day of school*. Official schedules will be distributed when students arrive on the first day of school. It is the student’s responsibility to look at the schedule to verify everything is correct. With the exception of gaps in your schedule or missing core courses, no student-initiated changes will be made to schedules after the first week of class. Students had the opportunity to complete a course request up until the first day of school.
  
  Students will not be allowed to start classes without their official schedule.

• Change or Drop Requests: Students can submit an online schedule change request form through the counseling section of the JFK website up until the day before the first day of classes. Changes will be made on a space-available basis.  If a class is full, it will not be overloaded without written approval from the teacher and admin in charge, Ms. Warren.
  
  Students should see or email their counselor if they are in a class that they have already passed, are missing a core subject, have an empty class period, or did not pass the prerequisite for a class.
  
  To drop ELD, IB, CE classes you need to set up a meeting with Ms. Warren first; for the request to be granted to drop, Ms. Warren, a parent and a teacher have to sign off on it. For ELD, as it is a legal requirement, parents will have to be present.

• First Day of School: BRING YOUR DPS ISSUED CHROMEBOOK TO SCHOOL ON YOUR FIRST DAY. WE WILL BE ISSUING 100% OF STUDENTS A NEW DPS-ISSUED CHROMEBOOK ON YOUR FIRST DAY. 

  Ninth Grade Academy for ALL Incoming Freshmen (Class of 2025) begins today, 8/9/21 – 8/12/21 from 8 – noon each day. Contact Sarah Walters (sarah_walters@dpsk12.org) for more information. 

  Freshmen Orientation hosted by Link Crew is on 8/23/21 and is required for ALL Class of 2025 students. We will follow the regular Monday bell schedule, so please arrive at 7:15 am to begin 1st period by 7:30 am.

  Class of 2024, 2023, and 2022 will begin on 8/24/21 promptly at 7:30 am, please arrive by 7:15 am. We have fun events planned to ensure that all students are reacquainted with Kennedy, our values, and each other.

• Student Handbook found here.

Athletics: If you are planning to play any Fall Sports, please register here.

Please note, students are not required to get vaccinated to return in person. However, we highly encourage our students to get vaccinated. If we can continue to increase the number of people aged 12 and older who get the vaccine, we can get closer to herd immunity, and resume the fun activities that make life as a high school student so memorable. Check out this information regarding the COVID-19 vaccination and the sites located all-around Denver. 

Please read this information from our Superintendent, Dr. Marrero, for details about vaccinations, mask guidance, and safety measures.

• 8/23 — First day of school for Freshmen
• 8/23 — New to Kennedy Upper Classmen Orientation
• 8/24 — First Day of School for Upper Classmen
• 8/25 — Commander Conversations Meeting
• 9/2 — Back to School Night
  
  For more information on any of these events check jfk.dpsk12.org