Principal’s Message – December 2019
December has been such a wonderful month of celebrations, successes and giving. Thank you to each and every one of you for your contributions of time in volunteering in classrooms, on field trips, in the office, on the crosswalk and throughout our school. Thank you for supporting our families through the Giving Trees, and thank you for your partnership in caring for your children and providing them with a rich learning experience.
From JKE staff, we would like to wish you all a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year!
Thank you for your continued partnership,
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – November 2019
Thank you for your continued support of your children and open communication with their teachers. As always, I have enjoyed working with you in these past months in our partnership to support your children’s learning. We have moved into a new focus for our Character Strong virtue program and are now focusing on RESPECT. As Ms. McDonald’s class has reminded us through their bulletin board, “Respect…a great gift to give and receive!”
Character Strong’s definition of respect is “Seeing the good in people and treating them with care.” This is something that we can practise daily in our interactions with others both at school and home. The message of our respect was also delivered so eloquently at our Remembrance Day Assembly. A special thank you to all of our contributors; setup crew, hosts, readers and writers, K singers, the beautiful artwork, trumpet and piper, and to our guests for joining us. As we continue the conversation of respect both at school and at home, here are ways you as families can continue the conversation together:
- How does respect look, sound, and feel at school? How about at a sporting event? In a group or organization? At home? How about when you’re angry? When you’re frustrated?
- Who is someone that you have a hard time with? What would help you model respect for that person? How might that change your relationship?
- How does it feel to be respected? How does it feel to be disrespected?
- Who are the most respectful people you know?
- Is it easier or harder to respect someone who is very different from us? Why?
Thank you for your continued partnership,
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – October 2019
We have been so fortunate to work with your students so far this year. From Kindergarten to Grade 7, each of our students is special and comes with unique interests, skills and ways they are wanting to grow as learners.
We know how important it is to develop the whole self; not only to grow as academic learners, but also in the realm of social responsibility. As a school, we are going to be delving into different virtues so that we can learn more about what it means to be whole learners, and also make connections across our K-7 classrooms with similar focuses.
We want to help our children be courageous and learn to conquer things that frighten or scare them. Children need reassurance that fear is one of our feelings and to remind them that it’s okay to be scared and to feel afraid. The definition they are learning this month for Courage is:
To choose what is good, right, and kind even when it is hard or scary!
We will be providing families with some information, tips and tools to help build the character in your children. Please see below for articles, book recommendations and questions to guide discussion.
This post by parenting expert Dr. Michele Borba: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2017-05-11/9-ways-to-cultivate-courage-in-kids
Questions you could ask your children:
- What does Courage mean to you? Do you see yourself as courageous? Why or why not?
- Talk about a time that you’ve needed to show Courage. What was that experience like?
- Talk about a time when you’ve witnessed Courage. How did that feel? What did it look like?
- When have you wished for more Courage?
- Who is your role model or example of Courage? Why?
Principal’s Message – September 2019
It has been a wonderful start-up and I would love to officially welcome all our JKE families to our 2019 – 2020 school year! A special welcome to our newest students – both Kindergarten and other grades. We are enjoying getting to know you and truly hope that you are feeling a sense of belonging, community and positivity here at James Kennedy. Our school motto is “Success for all through learning and caring!” and we strive to demonstrate this through our work with all families each and every day.
This year we are going to continue to focus on Literacy and Social Responsibility as our school goal areas. You will see this lived out in the events we run, in the resources we provide to classrooms, and in the programs we run. We work closely with our PAC (Parent Advisory Council) in partnership to support our school Action Plan which outlines these goals.
At James Kennedy, we are Polite, Accountable, Willing and Safe! (PAWS!!!) We are also going to be starting a virtue program with a focus on character building, so watch for further information in upcoming newsletters.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership in the education of your children. We look forward to the year ahead.
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury, Principal
Principal’s Message – June 2019
Dear Parents,
On behalf of the staff at James Kennedy Elementary, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your support and partnership as we work together with the same goal in mind – to help all learners reach their full potential. We are grateful for our school community!! We hope you all enjoy our ‘note’ of appreciation.
With appreciation,
Mrs. L. Lainchbury, Principal
Principal’s Message – May 2019
It has been such a wonderful month of learning, community and celebration. This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to share the journey of James Kennedy Elementary’s year of literacy learning at the Langley School Board of Education meeting. It was an honour to speak so highly of the connection between teaching, learning, and our Action Plan. JKE continues to be a community that strives to put students and their learning at the centre of our decisions, to ensure that every child reaches their full potential. We look forward to continuing our journey together as a community that values every member; staff, students, and of course our families. As we near the end of another year and reflect on our learning, I thank all of you for your time, conversations, and support of your children. Here’s to another month!
With appreciation,
Mrs. L. Lainchbury, Principal
Principal’s Message – March 2019
Dear families,
Here we are already heading into Spring Break 2019. There is so much to celebrate as we continue to grow as a learning community! We are proud to be James Kennedy Jaguars, and are doubly proud to announce that our new logo is finally ready!!!!
Local designer, Brad Karsgaard has worked with us to create a logo that reflects our K-7 community. He has also designed the logo for Yorskon Middle School and Alice Brown Elementary School. If you would like to learn more about his work you can view his website at https://www.bradkdesign.com. We will be sending information home about Spirit Wear purchase options after the break.
Again, I wish all of our families a restful and rejuvenating Spring Break.
Principal’s Message – February 2019
Dear families of JKE,
Another month has flown by, and our JKE community continues to flourish. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our parent community for their continued support. We know that student success is a result of a shared commitment between dedicated teachers and supportive parents. Together at James Kennedy we continue to strive to build that relationship, and we are grateful for our parent community.
Parents, thank you for celebrating our staff throughout Staff Appreciation Week, for volunteering on field trips, providing hot lunch days and the fruit and vegetable program, supporting your children in their school work, and for all you do to contribute to the positive relationship with our school. Please know that you are appreciated!
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – January 2019
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Here we are at the end of January, another busy and vibrant month at JKE. There have been so many special events, and much learning happening this month. Lots to celebrate and share with the community! A reminder that you can follow us on Twitter @jkeschool for celebrations and announcements of learning, and also get information at JKEPAC on Facebook or additionally on Twitter at our new account @JkePac.
There’s so much to celebrate this month!
- Our first Ready-Set-Learn event welcomed over twenty future Kindergarten students to JKE!
- Teachers continue their focussed work on formative reading assessments and explicit reading instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 7.
- PAC Book Sale raised over $1700 thanks to your contribution and participation.
- Our Ski and Snowboard group wraps up a successful and positive season at Seymour!
- Many classes are participating in field trips including Vive les Voyageurs, skating, Flip City, Save-on-Foods, Fire Station, WGSS textiles, WG Library, and Hakam’s Grocery.
- Many committees are meeting to plan ahead for our upcoming Respect and Diversity Week, our POPS (Parents of Primary Students) Literacy/Numeracy parent evening, and our schoolwide PAWS framework.
- Our student leadership team is up and running! Watch for them serving our JKE community in the coming months.
- The Grade three classes learned about powwow dancing from Full Circle.
- A variety of literacy events took place including our visit from the Langley Rivermen.
- Basketball teams are out in full force, and games are underway.
- K’s welcomed LEPS for an in-house field trip.
- Many in-class Aboriginal workshops took place.
- Safire from ArtStarts shared an acrobatic performance.
- Grade 7’s are invited to an Open House at WGSS January 30 at 6:30!
- And more!!!
Thank you for the continued support and passion to come together as a school community. James Kennedy is a special place for staff, students and parents.
With appreciation,
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – December 2018
To our JKE families,
December has been such a wonderful month of opportunities to come together as a school community. Thank you to all our PAC and other parent volunteers for contributing your time to support our school events, field trips, hot lunches, safe crosswalk and much more. Together as a parent and staff community our students are thriving and benefitting from our partnership. There is so much to be grateful for at James Kennedy as we work together towards “Success for all through learning and caring”.
From JKE staff, we would like to wish you all a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones. Enjoy the break from regular routine, and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – November 2018
And here we are in November! What a long list of accomplishments and memories we have created over the last two months. Looking forward we will continue to focus on Literacy and Social Responsibility as guides for our JKE Action Plan. Today, we had grade group assemblies to review our school expectations (P.A.W.S. – Polite, Accountable, Willing, Safe) in a more targeted age-appropriate way. Thank you for continuing to review these with your children and reinforce positive behaviour at home.
At our staff meeting this week, teachers gathered in grade groups to discuss reading assessments in order to continue to make the right decisions and implement best strategies in classrooms for our students. We have so much wealth of knowledge at JKE, and I know we will continue to make gains in our work together. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to continue to work together as partners in our children’s learning.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership.
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – October 2018
The Vision of the Langley School District is to provide “An innovative, inspiring and unified learning community.” One of the ways we are doing this at James Kennedy is to have an Action Plan with two focused inquiry questions to guide our work:
- How can we develop in James Kennedy students the skills we believe they need in order to be motivated, engaged and successful readers?
- How can we develop in James Kennedy Students the skills we believe they need in order to be contributing members of society?
The goals of promoting growth in literacy and social responsibility are reflected in many elements of our work. They drive our staff development, influence how we spend our school funds, shape how we design our classrooms, etc. We are excited about the progress that students have already made and will be celebrating their achievements in our newsletters throughout the year.
This week, many of our staff attended the first of a series of literacy sessions with reading expert Adrienne Gear to learn how to improve their instructional strategies in reading. It is essential that they have an understanding of how to make connections with what they are reading in order to have better comprehension. At home, I encourage you to continue to follow Adrienne’s suggestion to “Talk with them, read with them, interact with them.”
At James Kennedy, we are PAWS; Polite, Accountable, Willing and Safe. These are the attributes that we reinforce as expected behaviour from our students in various environments. During your family conversations, I encourage you to ask your children how they were “PAWS” at school today! As adults, we also model these attributes and are grateful to our family community that does as well.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership.
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal, James Kennedy Elementary
Principal’s Message – September 2018
WELCOME BACK!
Dear Parents and Students:
This is such an exciting time of year for educators, parents, and students! As we move closer to the first day of school, our excitement builds and in anticipation for the first day back, we are working to prepare the school for all of you.
I am so proud to be the principal of James Kennedy Elementary. We are blessed to have dedicated, passionate professionals who work together with the parent community to provide enriching learning experiences for your children. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Mrs. Lisa Lainchbury
Principal
