2026 KES SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER
SPECIAL EDITION CURRICULUM NIGHT
This first week of school was PAWSOME; the days were filled with laughter, excitement, and joy!!!
We have truly enjoyed welcoming back our students. In the classrooms, teachers and students have been engaged in building community, developing relationships, discussing books, organizing their space and supplies, and practicing health and safety routines.
We hope to see many of you at this year's PTO Back to School Celebration and 5th Grade Car Wash. See more important and detailed messaging from the PTO at the bottom of the newsletter.
A special welcome to Ryan Conroy, our new Greeter!!!
Our Main Office is here to support you and answer your questions. You can reach the main office at 763-7700. Our office staff members include Mrs. Tara Duffy, Secretary to the Principal (7702), and Mrs. Maria Horton, Office Assistant (7709).
Information about Multi Tiered Systems of Supports (previously RtI) is located near the end of this newsletter.
A final note... we must never forget to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11, 25 years ago, and honor the first responders and all who sacrificed in the time that followed. Teachers recognize Patriot’s Day in the classroom with the students with a focus on honoring the heroes of 9/11 and keeping brave fire fighters, police officers and ordinary people who showed courage and kindness during the very difficult time. The day is important to remember to be thankful for helpers in our lives, and to show kindness and support towards each other. We remember and appreciate the strength and unity that brings us together as a community.
In all K-5 classes, students and teachers will be engaged in a variety of fun and motivating activities that foster building relationships and a collaborative and inclusive classroom community. There will be a focus on establishing classroom routines and expectations for behavior as a shared responsibility within a safe learning environment. Providing students with tools to be productive and independent learners started on day one!
As we begin the year, here is what each grade is working on in reading, writing, math, social studies and/or science.
In Kindergarten, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with the unit, Welcome to School. In this unit, students will build a strong classroom community while learning the routines and expectations of reading and writing. Through read-alouds, discussion, vocabulary, questioning, and writing, students will explore what it means to be a respectful, proud, and active member of a joyful classroom community. Our kindergarten students will continue with Heggerty and also begin systematic phonics instruction through UFLI, developing foundational skills in phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, and early decoding. Instruction will establish routines and build the skills students need to become confident readers. In math, we launch the math workshop and focus on numbers to 5. In social studies, we will be learning about our own identities and how we all work together to create our classroom community. We recognize that our kindergarten students come in with a variety of strengths and our school day is set up to support your child in all ways.
In First Grade, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with the unit, Being a Good Friend. In this unit, students will build a strong classroom community while developing a culture of read-alouds and meaningful discussion. Through reading, discussion, and writing, students will explore characters’ actions, motivations, and feelings, practice asking and answering questions about texts, and make connections to their own lives. Students will also begin building their writing skills through narrative and opinion writing centered around what it means to be a good friend. Our first grade students will continue systematic phonics instruction through UFLI, strengthening foundational skills in phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, decoding, and encoding. Instruction will build on students’ kindergarten learning and develop the skills and confidence they need to become increasingly fluent and independent readers. In math, students will strengthen their counting skills from 1–100 through Counting Jars, a familiar and engaging routine that continues from kindergarten. Students will also be learning about different ways to model addition and subtraction during our math lessons. In science, we will kick off our unit on plant and animal defenses, where students will begin to explore how living things protect themselves in nature. In social studies, students will learn about Constitution Day, observed on September 17. We will also spend time understanding the rules and expectations for both the school and classroom communities.
In Second Grade, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with the unit Cinderella. Students will read multiple versions of the classic fairy tale, exploring how different cultures and settings influence characters, plot, and lessons. Through reading and discussion, students will compare and contrast stories, analyze character traits, and explore themes of storytelling and cultural similarities. Students will also build writing fluency through daily text- based responses and develop narrative writing skills by crafting stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Our second grade students will continue systematic phonics instruction through UFLI, building on the foundational skills developed in kindergarten and first grade. Instruction will strengthen decoding, encoding, spelling patterns, and reading fluency while helping students become increasingly accurate, automatic, and confident readers. In math, students will focus on using strategies to achieve fluency in addition and subtraction within 20. Fluency is being able to find the answer by using different methods. The second graders will also be very busy investigating Properties of Matter in science. And, of course, we love kicking off the year learning about communities in social studies.
In Third Grade, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with a unit focused on identity. Through reading Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel and My Name is María Isabel, students will explore what makes each person unique, the importance of respecting others, and how our experiences shape who we are. Through reading, discussion, and writing, students will analyze characters’ traits, feelings, motivations, and actions while learning to support their ideas with evidence. Students will also build writing fluency through daily text-based responses and end the unit with a narrative writing project about an experience that helped shape their identity. Our third-grade students will also continue with Fundations and continue to strengthen their foundational reading and spelling skills while applying increasingly complex phonics and word study concepts. Instruction focuses on multisyllabic words, syllable types, prefixes and suffixes, vowel patterns, spelling rules, and word structure. Students will build accuracy and automaticity in decoding and encoding while expanding their vocabulary and ability to recognize meaningful word parts. In math, students will begin to explore and learn about multiplication and division of whole numbers. In social studies, third graders will discuss what it means to be a citizen. They’ll learn that being part of a community comes with both rights and responsibilities, and they’ll explore how good citizenship can be practiced at home, at school, and in the wider community.
In Fourth Grade, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with the unit Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Through this engaging novel, students will explore how families, relationships, experiences, and beliefs shape a person’s identity and values. Through reading, discussion, and writing, students will analyze how characters change, examine setting and themes, and explore the author’s use of vocabulary and figurative language. Students will also strengthen their ability to summarize longer texts and support their ideas with evidence. Throughout the unit, students will build writing fluency through daily text-based responses and develop literary analysis and opinion writing before culminating in a narrative writing project. In word study, students will also start Morpheme Magic where they will develop vocabulary, spelling, and word-reading skills by studying meaningful word parts- prefixes, suffixes, roots, and combining forms- and using them to determine the meaning and structure of increasingly complex words. In math, students work on generalizing their place-value understanding and fluently adding and subtracting multi-digit whole numbers. In social studies, fourth graders begin the year studying New York! We learn about landforms and landmarks, the geography of New York, and apply those skills when creating our own physical maps of New York State. Towards the end of this month, students will begin our first science unit exploring Earth's features, in which we investigate how a dinosaur fossil found in the fictional Desert Rocks National Park was formed.
In Fifth Grade, we will kick off our new ELA curriculum, Fishtank Learning, with the unit A Single Shard. Set in 12th- century Korea, this historical fiction novel follows Tree-ear, a young orphan who dreams of becoming a potter. Through reading, discussion, and writing, students will explore themes of perseverance, honesty, kindness, and the ways characters respond to challenges. Students will strengthen their ability to support ideas with evidence and build writing fluency through daily text-based responses. They will also develop literary analysis and opinion writing skills, conduct research on apprenticeships, and culminate the unit with a narrative that imagines an alternative origin story for the famous Thousand Cranes Vase. In word study, students will also start Morpheme Magic where they will develop vocabulary, spelling, and word-reading stills by studying meaningful word parts- prefixes, suffixes, roots, and combining forms- and using them to determine the meaning and structure of increasingly complex words. In math, students will investigate how whole numbers and decimals are written, compared, and ordered and utilize a variety of strategies and models to add and subtract decimals to the thousandths place. In our opening social studies unit, we will explore world geography and consider how geographic characteristics of the Western Hemisphere influence where people live, how they make a living, and what daily life looks like in different regions. In science, fifth graders will consider the patterns of the Earth and stars and explore why different stars are visible at different times.
LIBRARY & STREAM
Library Media Center
We’re kicking off a new school year in the KES Library Media Center with plenty of excitement, curiosity, and, of course, great books! Throughout September, students will revisit our KES library values and expectations and practice the skills that help make the library a welcoming, safe, respectful, and responsible space for everyone. Students will also get reacquainted with our collection, learn how to browse and discover books, and find new favorites to enjoy throughout the year.
Our library learning is guided by the NYS Information Fluency Continuum, along with the NYS Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, helping students develop the skills they need to find, evaluate, use, create, and share information effectively and responsibly.
Across all grade levels, we’ll celebrate the joy of reading with back-to-school read-alouds that spark conversation, imagination, and connection. We’re looking forward to a year filled with wonderful books, new discoveries, collaborative conversations, and endless opportunities to grow as readers, researchers, and learners!
STREAM Lab
The KES STREAM Lab is ready for another year of creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and hands-on learning! This year, every KES student will have three STREAM experiences in the lab, providing opportunities to explore, design, build, investigate, and solve problems.
Students will have a blend of unplugged and "plugged" STREAM experiences that encourage them to think creatively and collaborate with classmates to solve problems together. Through hands-on challenges, students will communicate their ideas, listen to different perspectives, test solutions, learn from mistakes, and persevere when things don’t go as planned. These experiences help students see that there can be many ways to approach a challenge and that sometimes the best solutions come from working together!
STREAM learning is grounded in the NYS Science Standards and Science and Engineering Practices, which encourage students to ask questions, define problems, plan and carry out investigations, analyze information, design solutions, and communicate their thinking. Our experiences also support the NYS Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, helping students develop computational thinking, problem-solving, and digital fluency skills.
We’re excited for a year filled with imagination, discovery, creativity, and problem-solving in the STREAM Lab. We can’t wait to see what KES students wonder, design, build, and create!
An Exciting Year of Creativity Awaits! In our K-5 art room, students will discover a welcoming and supportive space where imagination and experimentation are encouraged. Our art program offers opportunities for every child to explore a range of creative techniques and materials, from drawing and painting to working with sculpture and other three-dimensional art. Guided by the New York State Learning Standards for Visual Arts and inspired by the KLSD Learning Commitment, our curriculum is thoughtfully designed to help students develop problem-solving skills, express themselves, and engage in hands-on, relevant projects. We look forward to an active, joyful year of artistic growth and discovery together!
Save-the-Date: This year's ART FAIR will be held on April 5 with a focus on Sustainability!!!
Happy New Year from the gym! We hope everyone had a wonderful summer! Mrs. Cappelli and Mr. Savastano will be your children’s PE teachers this year. We are looking forward to a fun and active year filled with fitness, sportsmanship, and teamwork in the gym and on the field!
We anxiously await the use of the upper field which has been under construction for the last two years. In the meantime, we will use the playground area for outside PE classes.
We will begin the school year with our soccer unit. Students will learn and practice basic soccer skills such as dribbling, trapping, passing and shooting. Kindergarten and 1st grade students will participate in a variety of modified, lead-up soccer games. Students in grades 2-5 will also participate in lead up games which will progress into soccer games where strategies, communication and teamwork will be applied.⚽🥅
Kindergarten students will start the year learning our "Welcome Song" and they will explore long and short rhythm patterns through body percussion. Additionally, students will explore movement through space as it correlates to different tempos. They will also experiment with unpitched instruments such as rhythm sticks, hand drums, and egg shakers. Finally, students will begin building a repertoire of songs that support high and low singing as well as tone production.
First graders will start the year with welcome songs that build community and excitement. They'll work on keeping a steady beat through movement and instruments, while developing their singing voices, focusing on healthy head voice technique and distinguishing between speaking and singing voices. Students will also review unpitched percussion instruments, practice proper mallet technique, and demonstrate pulse and rhythm both individually and in groups. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll explore songs from Hispanic cultures, connecting music with language and tradition.
Second graders will build a strong sense of community by singing welcome songs together. They will focus on developing their singing voices, especially exploring the head voice technique. Students also reinforce their understanding of quarter notes and eighth note rhythms through fun and engaging activities. To celebrate cultural diversity, they perform songs from Hispanic traditions, enriching their musical experience and cultural awareness.
Third graders will build foundational music skills by demonstrating rhythmic pulses using quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes in songs. They will reinforce proper mallet technique and practice correct vocal technique during singing activities. To develop part independence, students will engage in singing rounds and partner songs. Additionally, students will explore cultural diversity through performing songs from Hispanic traditions.
Fourth graders Music will continue to develop their singing voices while building a diverse repertoire of folk, seasonal, and multicultural songs. They will deepen their understanding of rhythm by identifying and performing syncopation, as well as reviewing eighth notes, half notes, and dotted rhythms. Music literacy will be reinforced through note reading on the Treble Clef, alongside exploration of Rondo form through rounds and partner songs that emphasize part independence. Additionally, students will engage with songs and dances from Hispanic culture, enriching their musical and cultural awareness.
Fifth graders music will continue to develop their singing voice, while exploring rhythm through dotted quarter notes and broken eighth notes. They will learn to recognize and perform musical phrases and experience the structure of Rondo form. Through hands-on activities with Orff instruments, students will engage with ostinato patterns, reinforcing part independence by singing two-part songs. In addition, students will explore world drumming and review note reading on Treble clef. Students will perform folk, seasonal, multicultural, and Hispanic cultural songs and dances to expand their musical skills and cultural appreciation.
