KHS Update
10/23/2026
Principal's Message
KHS Community,
NEASC VISIT WRAP-UP
Last week, KHS hosted a visiting team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) for our Collaborative Conference, an important step in our accreditation process. Over two days, the team toured the building, visited classrooms, and met with staff, students, and families. A big thank-you goes to the students who led tours and served on panels, the parents who joined our Family Panel, and our staff, whose hard work made the visit a success.
The team shared highlights of its initial report with our leadership team, and there is a great deal to celebrate. Several commendations noted the strength of our school community, including our BARR program, which helps every 9th grader build strong connections as they start high school. Working with the visiting team, we also confirmed five priority areas to guide our work over the next several years:
- developing a Vision of a Learner with RSU 21
- strengthening consistent teaching, grading, and feedback practices so every student has an equitable learning experience
- expanding project-based, interdisciplinary, and real-world learning
- building a strong system of academic support for all students
- growing co-teaching so students with disabilities learn alongside their peers in the general education classroom
These priorities closely match our own self-study and School Improvement Plan, so they build on work already underway. The final report is expected in about two months, and we look forward to sharing more then.
NEW INCOMPLETE GRADE PROCEDURE
Sometimes a serious illness, a family emergency, or another circumstance beyond a student’s control keeps them from finishing a course on time. In those cases, an “Incomplete” may be an option. It is a temporary designation, not a way around the work, and it is designed so that the student takes the lead. See the graphic below for more information.
Who qualifies: a student who was passing the course when the circumstance arose, for a documented reason beyond their control. Incompletes are not granted for low grades, unexcused absences or missing work without documentation.
How to ask: the student or a parent/guardian submits the online Incomplete Grade Request Form [link] within 2 school days after the end of the term. The teacher, school counselor and an administrator review it, and you will receive a written decision, normally within 5 school days.
If approved: the student receives a written plan listing the remaining work. The default deadline is 14 calendar days after the next term begins. The student is responsible for contacting teachers, meeting every deadline and staying in touch with their counselor.
Please know:
- Only missing work can be completed. An incomplete does not replace failing work already graded.
- If work isn’t finished on time, the grade converts with zeros for missing assignments.
- An unresolved incomplete counts as failing for MPA athletic and extracurricular eligibility, and for honor roll. No graduation credit is awarded until a passing grade is recorded.
- Early College students: an unresolved incomplete must be finished before enrolling in more college courses.
Need more time? If something beyond the student’s control gets in the way, the student can request an extension before the deadline using the link in their decision letter. Extensions require administrator approval and can’t go beyond 90 days after the start of the following term.
Questions? Contact the School Counseling Office.
FALL SPORTS WRAP UP
Congratulations on the regular season coming to a close for fall sports. You've all done us proud!
- Our Volleyball team finished the season 6-8.
- Our boys’ soccer finished the season 6-7-1 and is the #8 seed in the playoffs. They host a prelim-playoff game Tonight vs. Marshwood at 6pm.
- Girls Soccer finished the season 10-3-1 and is #3 seed in the playoffs they host a quarterfinal playoff game at home on Tuesday the 27th at 6pm.
- Cross Country has their Regional Meet Tomorrow Saturday 24th 1:30pm at Twin Brooks in Cumberland.
- Field Hockey Coop finished the season 9-5 and the #4 seed in the playoffs. They host a quarterfinal playoff game on Tuesday at 5:30pm at Sanford High School.
- Football is Currently 6-1 with their last Game tonight at Marshwood HS at 6pm.
- Mia Binette finished 8th at the Maine State New England Golf Qualifier on Saturday and will be playing in the New England Girls High School Championship on Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Golf Club in Baltic, Connecticut this weekend.This was her third qualifier this year and the most challenging.
Let's go Rams!!!!
COLLEGE VISITS TO KHS
The college admissions season is winding down but we still have a large number of colleges schedule to visit this week and next. If you wish to meet with any of the schools listed below, please remember to sign up through your Scoir account and clear your absence from class with your teacher.
Thursday, Oct. 29
8:00 AM College of Charleston
9:00 AM Landmark College
9:30 AM Southern New Hampshire University
10:00 AM Wheaton College
11:30 AM Johnson & Wales University
1:00 PM Plymouth State University
1:30 PM Curry College
2:00 PM St. Michael's College
Friday, Oct. 30
8:30 AM Rivier College
9:00 AM Quinnipiac University
10:30 AM Fairfield University
11:30 AM Mount Holyoke College
1:00 PM Lesley University
Peace,
Scott Tombleson (He/Him/His - What is this?)
Principal - Kennebunk High School
Parent/Teacher Conferences - In-Person
Tuesday, November 10
Veteran's Day - No School
Wednesday, November 11
Parent/Teacher Conferences - Virtual
Wednesday, November 18
Thanksgiving Break - No School
Wednesday, November 25 through Friday, November 27
Tuesday, December 22
1/2 day for students
Holiday Break - No School
Wednesday, December 23 through Friday January, 1
Students Arriving Late or Leaving Early
Students who arrive late to school or are leaving for an appointment before the end of the day should turn in devices to the main office instead of Advisory. This way the student can easily retrieve their device upon dismissal or at the end of the day.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SENIORS
KHS Yearbook
RSU21 School Nutrition Information
VPA NEWS
ATHLETICS
NEWS FROM THE COUNSELING DEPARTMENT
Senior Memo #1
Below is the first Senior Memo!
Senior Memos are sent to the senior class periodically throughout the year to communicate a variety of information including dates and times of Colleges visiting KHS, College and Career Exploration Events, Financial Aid Info and various college specific and private scholarship offerings. Please pay special attention to scholarship application deadlines. See Mrs. Wiewel for more detailed information and paperwork on each scholarship where noted, otherwise refer to the provided website or links for more details. Please see your counselor or Mrs. Wiewel with any questions.
SENIORS! Schedule your Senior Meeting with your School Counselor
- All seniors should have a Senior Meeting with their counselor to discuss post grad plans.
- It's 100% your time, so we meet with you for only as long as you need for as many times as you want.
- You can email your counselor to schedule a meeting or swing by the Counseling Office to schedule one.
- Additional counselor support is available during the month of October. Counselors will be outside the cafeteria on Thursdays for drop-in help during lunches. Use this time to ask a quick question, get help with your application, talk about financial aid, or just do a quick check-in to make sure you're on track.
Recording of the FAME Financial Aid 101 Presentation
In case you missed the FAME Financial Aid 101 presentation last Tuesday, here's the link. Also attached is FAME's Pay: Tips for Planning and Paying for Higher Education(see attachment). We have a handful of paper copies in the Counseling Dept.
You can also book an appointment with FAME's Jess Whittier to answer all your financial aid questions.
Attachments:
I'M A SENIOR.....NOW WHAT?
This week your School Counselors presented, "I'm a Senior...Now What?". There's a lot of helpful information and resources you'll be using in the upcoming weeks. We have attached the Senior Packet (copies also in the Counseling Dept) that includes:
- College Application Timeline
- Senior Meeting Checklist
- Financial Aid 101(video of 9/22 presentation coming soon!)
- Upcoming College visits and more!
Please remember to schedule your Senior Meeting in the upcoming weeks especially if you are applying Early Action or Early Decision (more about this in the presentation).
If you have questions about anything, please reach out to Ms. Bisson or Mrs. Felker
Attachments:
COLLEGES SCHEDULED TO VISIT KHS IN THE COMING WEEKS
Please make sure you sign-up to attend via your SCOIR ACCOUNT and see your teacher to get excused from class.
Thu Oct 29th, 2026
8:00 AM College of Charleston
9:00 AM Landmark College
9:30 AM Southern New Hampshire University
10:00 AM Wheaton College
11:30 AM Johnson & Wales University
1:00 PM Plymouth State University
1:30 PM Curry College
2:00 PM Saint Michael's College
Fri Oct 30th, 2026
8:30 AM Rivier University
9:00 AM Quinnipiac University
10:30 AM Fairfield University
11:30 AM Mount Holyoke College
1:00 PM Lesley University
Thu Nov 5th, 2026
11:30 AM Saint Anselm College
12:30 PM University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth)
Fri Nov 6th, 2026
12:00 PM Ithaca College
1:00 PM Southern Maine Community College
On the Spot College Admission Days at KHS
The sign-ups for On-the-Spot days are here! Meet with a college rep & get an instant decision about acceptance. In addition, many of the colleges will provide you with an estimate on the merit aid you may qualify for. You can sign up for one, two, or all colleges. See the list of schools and the dates they will be in the Google Form using this quick link. Complete the form, reach out to your School Counselor, or pop down to the Counseling Dept. to sign up. As the date of the college visit nears, Mrs. Wiewel will send you an appointment time via email, so please check your email often.
Attachments (QR Code to Google Form):
Help For Students Taking An Online Dual Enrollment Course Through The Maine Community College System
Taking loans to pay for college? Below is what you need to know!
Maine Free Community College Signed into Law!
Maine Free College Scholarship permanent!What is Covered
Tuition: 100% covered for all eligible recent high school graduates attending an in-state community college.
Mandatory Fees: For the Class of 2026 and later, students are responsible for mandatory fees unless covered by other federal or state grant aid.
What is NOT Covered: The scholarship does not cover mandatory fees, supplies/course materials, books, housing, food, transportation or personal expenses, though remaining financial aid from federal or state grants can be applied toward these costs if a student qualifies for max aid.
How the Scholarship Works
Last-Dollar Scholarship: You must first apply using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and accept any federal or state grants awarded to you. The free college scholarship then kicks in as a "last-dollar" award to pay whatever remaining balance is left for tuition (and mandatory fees, depending on your graduation year).
Eligible Schools: Valid at all seven Maine Community College System campuses.
Requirements: You must enroll within two years of graduating high school (or earning an equivalent like a HiSET/GED), pursue an associate degree or one-year certificate, and live in Maine while enrolled. There are no age or income limits.
How to Apply
Apply to a Maine community college such as York County Community College, Southern Maine Community College, or one of Maine’s other seven community colleges.
Complete the FAFSA for the appropriate academic year. The Free College Scholarship is a last-dollar scholarship, meaning federal/state grants are applied first, then the Maine scholarship covers eligible remaining tuition and mandatory fees.
Enroll at least part-time in an eligible associate-degree or certificate program.
Meet the Maine residency and graduation-year requirements for the program. The program was made permanent in 2026, so it now continues for future qualifying graduates which the college will check for.
Any eligible federal and state grants are applied first.
The Maine Free College Scholarship then covers the remaining eligible tuition/fees under the program rules
The college's financial-aid office will determine the student's eligibility and apply the scholarship. There isn't normally another scholarship form you need to submit.
Want to check out a college, but don't have the means to go on a campus tour? For students, by students 🙂😎
Check out the following website to get an in-depth visual tour of a few colleges across the country, go to https://www.thecollegetour.com/
KHS Appreciation Committee
The 3rd Annual Teacher Appreciation Raffle is BACK!
We hear year after year just how much our KHS teachers love this little tradition. It's such a simple gesture of gratitude, but it brings a little extra excitement to the school day. Imagine coming to work each morning in November wondering if today might be your lucky day!
We're looking for 16 families to each sponsor one day of the raffle between the beginning of November and Thanksgiving.
Simply sign up for a day and drop off a gift with Stephanie Griffin in the front office, either the morning of your assigned day or the day before. It could be a gift card to a favorite local restaurant, a cozy fall-themed basket, or something fun and unexpected. There's no set dollar amount—it's truly the thought that counts.
What makes this tradition special isn't the value of the gifts, but the collective generosity of our KHS families. Together, we get to make November a little brighter for the teachers who give so much to our kids throughout the year.
If you're willing to participate, please take a moment to choose a day on our sign-up! We'd love to keep this tradition going strong for a third year.
One last thing: When signing up, please let us know in the comments how you'd like your gift to be recognized. You're welcome to use your name, your family name, dedicate it in someone's memory or honor, or remain anonymous. Whatever feels right to you!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4FA9A9292-66570458-month
APPRECIATION COMMITTEE UPDATE
On Tuesday, the KHS teaching community started their day with a big pot of coffee and cinnamon-sugar-coated cider donuts, fresh from a farm stand!
A little sweetness to show our appreciation for all that our teachers do!
A heartfelt thank you to the following for their kind donations that made this morning's treat possible:
Leah Adams, Rayanne Coombs, Maureen DiGiovanni, Megan Fernandez, Jennifer Gallagher, Katie Jensen, Mary MacDonald, Cathryn Majorossy, Patty Ford, Casi Sims, and Anne Vitello.
Beat the Winter Blues...
when you win an indoor pool membership at the Rhumb Line Resort in Kennebunkport – a $1,000 value! This membership is good from September – June and includes the whole family. Enter the Project Graduation Winner-Take-All Raffle for a chance to win this and MANY OTHER local gifts and experiences worth over $14,000!
Tickets are just $10 and are available:
· Through KHS Seniors
· By sending a check payable to: KHS Project Grad to Kennebunk High School attn: Emilie Cornell
· Via Venmo: @KHSProjectGrad – please email kennebunkprojectgrad@gmail.com after sending payment to confirm your ticket numbers
Thank you for supporting the Class of 2027 and their Project Graduation celebration!
Absence Reporting Form
COMMUNITY NEWS
Helpful Links
Community Resources
Maine Crisis Hotline
Call or Text 988 or 1-888-568-1112
General Assistance Support
Kris Fogg
207-604-1394
Wendy Lank
207-985-4201 ext. 113
207-967-4401
Laura Dolce
207-967-0857
Right to an Interpreter
English:
You have the right to an interpreter at no cost to you. If you would like to request an interpreter's assistance to communicate with our schools and teachers, all you need to do is ask. We will make sure interpretation services are arranged in advance of your meeting.
Burmese:
သင့်အတွက် အခကြေးငွေ မယူဘဲ စကားပြန်လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ရှိသည်။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ကျောင်းများ၊ ဆရာများနှင့် ဆက်သွယ်ရန်အတွက် စကားပြန်တစ်ဦး၏အကူအညီကို သင်တောင်းဆိုလိုပါက၊ သင်လုပ်ဆောင်ရန်သာ လိုအပ်ပါသည်။ သင့်အစည်းအဝေးမတိုင်မီ ဘာသာပြန်ခြင်းဝန်ဆောင်မှုများကို သေချာစီစဉ်ပေးပါမည်။
Chinese:
您有权免费获得口译员服务。如果您想请求口译员协助与我们的学校和老师沟通,您只需提出请求即可。我们将确保在您的会议之前安排口译服务。
Gujarati:
તમને કોઈ પણ ખર્ચ વિના દુભાષિયાનો અધિકાર છે. જો તમે અમારી શાળાઓ અને શિક્ષકો સાથે વાતચીત કરવા માટે દુભાષિયાની સહાયની વિનંતી કરવા માંગતા હો, તો તમારે ફક્ત પૂછવાનું છે. અમે ખાતરી કરીશું કે તમારી મીટિંગ પહેલા અર્થઘટન સેવાઓ ગોઠવવામાં આવી છે.
Japanese:
あなたには無料で通訳を雇う権利があります。学校や教師とのコミュニケーションのために通訳のサポートをリクエストしたい場合は、リクエストするだけです。会議の前に通訳サービスを手配いたします。
Portuguese:
Você tem direito a um intérprete sem nenhum custo para você. Se desejar solicitar a assistência de um intérprete para se comunicar com nossas escolas e professores, basta solicitar. Garantiremos que os serviços de interpretação sejam organizados antes da sua reunião.
Russian:
Вы имеете право на бесплатного переводчика. Если вы хотите попросить помощи переводчика для общения с нашими школами и учителями, все, что вам нужно сделать, это попросить. Мы позаботимся о том, чтобы услуги устного перевода были организованы перед вашей встречей.
Spanish:
Tiene derecho a un intérprete sin costo alguno para usted. Si desea solicitar la asistencia de un intérprete para comunicarse con nuestras escuelas y maestros, todo lo que necesita hacer es preguntar. Nos aseguraremos de que los servicios de interpretación se organicen antes de su reunión.
Ukrainian:
Ви маєте право на безкоштовний перекладач. Якщо ви хочете попросити допомоги перекладача для спілкування з нашими школами та вчителями, все, що вам потрібно зробити, це попросити. Ми подбаємо про те, щоб послуги усного перекладу були організовані заздалегідь до вашої зустрічі.
Vietnamese:
Bạn có quyền có một thông dịch viên miễn phí. Nếu bạn muốn yêu cầu sự trợ giúp của thông dịch viên để giao tiếp với trường học và giáo viên của chúng tôi, tất cả những gì bạn cần làm là yêu cầu. Chúng tôi sẽ đảm bảo sắp xếp dịch vụ phiên dịch trước cuộc gặp của bạn.
89 Fletcher Street
Kennebunk, ME 04043
207-985-1110



