KENNEDY ELEMENTARY
Manistee Area Public Schools
Welcome to Kennedy!
As leaders, we inspire each other to dream more, learn more, and do more.
Chips Lead!
COVID-19 NOTIFICATION
In an effort to keep our MAPS community informed, below we are providing notification regarding any COVID-19 concerns related to our District.
Food Service Program
With support from the United States Department of Agriculture and Michigan Department of Education, Manistee Area Public Schools is grateful to be able to extend free meals for all children 18 and younger, and students with disabilities up to 26 years of age, in our Manistee community through the end of the 2020-2021 school year in June 2021. Once funding is no longer available, our Food Service Department will return to the National School Lunch Program parameters for public school food service.
Throughout the 2020/21 school year, MAPS will be serving all in-person learners free breakfast and lunch every school day at each building in the district. We will also be offering free Grab & Go meals Mondays and Thursdays at Manistee Middle High School at MMHS at 525 Twelfth Street from 9 am to 10 am. This food service program is available to all MAPS online learners in addition to any Manistee community families with children 18 & younger and students with disabilities up to 26 years of age.
Grab & Go Food Service program details:
- Grab & Go meal service will offer breakfast and lunch meals distributed Mondays and Thursdays from 9 am to 10 am each week.
- Curbside pick-up will be available at the MMHS main entrance drive at the student drop off area.
- Meals provided on Monday will be breakfast & lunch for 3 days.
- Meals provided on Thursday will be breakfast & lunch for 4 days to provide meals through the weekends.
- Families of in-person learners are also able to pick up 2 breakfast and 2 lunch meals for their students on Thursdays to provide food through the weekend, following the same pick up instructions above.
- If a holiday, snow day or school day scheduled to be off occurs on a Monday, the meal pick up will be Tuesday.
- If a holiday or school day scheduled to be off occurs on a Thursday, the meal pick up will be Wednesday. (Example Thanksgiving)
- If a snow day, or other closure, occurs on Thursday meal pick up will be Friday.
We are grateful for the ability to continue providing this important service for the children of our community through the funding support of Federal and State agencies.
Kennedy Announcements
M STEP
This week 5th-grade students will take the reading and math state assessments (M STEP). In-person students will begin at 8:50 on Tuesday and Thursday. Virtual students are invited to join a testing session beginning at 8:15. Virtual students are to be dropped off and...
Nutrition Services – Spring Break 2021
MAPS Nutrition Department will be offering a 7 day pack of breakfasts & lunches for families during Spring Break. We will be distributing meals on Monday, March 29th between 9am-10am at MMHS through the student drop off area.
Reminders Kennedy Families
No school on Monday for students. Teachers have a professional learning day scheduled. Get in the Game... READ!! Tuesday, March 2nd, kicks off our March is Reading Month activities! Look for more information coming home with your student(s).
Your Kennedy Team
Location: 550 Maple St, Manistee, MI 49660 | Map
Telephone: (231) 723-3271
Fax: (231) 723-5879
School Office Hours: M-Th: 7:30am – 4pm, Friday 7:30am – 3pm
Principal: Joanie Wiersma jwiersma@manistee.org
Administrative Assistant: Holly Dahlquist hdahlquist@manistee.org
View Kennedy Staff
Administrative Team
Principal: Joanie Wiersma | jwiersma@manistee.org
Administrative Assistant: Holly Dahlquist | hdahlquist@manistee.org
Instructional Staff
Jennifer Abel
3rd Grade Teacher jabel@manistee.org
Wendy Adamski
Specials - PE/Health wadamski@manistee.org
Leah Antal
3rd Grade Teacher lantal@manistee.org
Krista Bennett
Math Coach kbennett@manistee.org
Dana Dobis
Resource Room ddobis@manistee.org
William Edmondson
5th Grade Teacher wedmondson@manistee.org
Amanda Feyen
Elementary Music afeyen@manistee.org
Chasity Gouker
Title I Reading/Literacy Coach cgouker@manistee.org
Tanya Hunter
5th Grade Teacher thunter@manistee.org
Jaclyn Kaminski
5th Grade Teacher jkaminski@manistee.org
Andrea Mack
Specials - Instrumental Music amack@manistee.org
Tina Mannon
Long Term Substitute - 4th Grade tmannon@manistee.org
Taylor Mellon
5th Grade Teacher tmellon@manistee.org
Emily Noteware
Resource Room enoteware@manistee.org
Josh Smith
4th Grade Teacher jsmith@manistee.org
Scott Solberg
SafeNet ssolberg@manistee.org
Katie Struble
Part-Time Art (LT Sub) kstruble@manistee.org
Kayla Szokola
3rd Grade Teacher kszokola@manistee.org
Jane Wojciechowski
3rd Grade Teacher jlwojciechowski@manistee.org
Kelly Zimmerman
4th Grade Teacher kzimmerman@manistee.org
Para-Professionals
Ingrid Bond ibond@manistee.org
Nicole Bruce nbruce@manistee.org
Heidi Carter hcarter@manistee.org
Carly Cheever ccheever@manistee.org
Karla Lidtke klidtke@manistee.org
Tara Lange tlange@manistee.org
Maggie Patterson mpatterson@manistee.org
Nutrition Services
Carol Hansen chansen@manistee.org
Terri Morski tmorski@manistee.org
Julie Polcyn jpolcyn@manistee.org
Jennifer Rogers jrogers@manistee.org
Custodial Staff
Clarence Schultz cschultz@manistee.org
Don Froncek dfroncek@manistee.org
Introducing Principal Wiersma
We welcome Kennedy Elementary Principal, Joanie Wiersma to Manistee Area Public Schools. Joanie has a strong background in school administration, instructional coaching, educational assessment, K-12 literacy, and curriculum development. Her experience and insight will provide Kennedy Elementary and the MAPS District with strong leadership for furthering student success.
MAPS 2020 Community Forum
A MAPS 2020 Vision Community Forum was held on April 20 to provide updated information regarding our facilities plan for the future. This meeting was held virtually and the recording is shared below.
The forum focused on the scope of the proposal for MAPS facilities future and allowed for questions to be submitted and answered by a panel representing the District and project contractors.
Welcome to Kennedy Elementary!
The school year is just beginning and we want to welcome all of our learners. Some of you will be learning with us in the classroom and others will be learning along with us online. We welcome you all for a great year of learning adventure!
Meet your teacher in our welcome videos below.
If you don’t see your teacher’s name listed, keep checking back to see if their welcome video has been posted.
Meet the Third Grade Teachers
Meet the Fourth Grade Teachers
Meet the Fifth Grade Teachers
MAPS Elementary ATP
Action Team for Partnership (ATP)
What is ATP?: ATP is our parent-teacher group for all of the MAPS Elementary buildings – Madison, Jefferson, and Kennedy
Parents who become involved in their child’s education can make a positive difference. Contact Julia Raddatz raddatzj@manistee.org, or Joanie Wiersma jwiersma@manistee.org for more information or to join our ATP family.
What are the objectives of the ATP?
The Manistee Area Public Schools parent group Action Team for Partnership (ATP) is a group of dedicated parents that spearhead projects to benefit our students. It is similar to a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) only a little more prescriptive and based on committees, including:
- Parenting
- Communicating
- Volunteering
- Learning at Home
- Decision Making
- Community Collaboration
What does ATP do?
We fundraise to help support our schools and students. We pay for field trips, school supplies, recess/playground equipment, books, staff appreciation activities, and more! We also organize many family events: Fall Carnival, Daddy-Daughter and Mother-Son nights, Holiday Caroling, Birthday Lunches, Book Fairs, and Santa Shop are some examples.
ATP Points Tracker
Starting January 2019, ATP is starting a point tracker for volunteers!
How do I earn points?
- Every ATP event (popcorn day, slushy day, winter carnival, etc.) every 2 hours you volunteer, you earn 1 point.
- For showing up to our ATP meeting that’s once a month, you earn 1 point.
- For suggesting a friend to volunteer & they show up for at least 2 hours, you earn 1 point.
All the points you earn will be entered for a drawing. At the end of the year, we will choose two winners. We hope to have a ton of volunteers!
Your Chippewa Journey Continues at Kennedy Elementary
The staff at Kennedy Elementary are looking forward to an exciting school year. Kennedy Elementary offers a challenging academic program along with many athletic opportunities and after school programs. We are proud of the programs our school offers and encourage you to work hard, do your best, and find success both academically and in your personal accomplishments.
We offer the following programs throughout the year:
- PowerLearning 1:1 iPad instruction
- Data Driven Instruction
- Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
- Educational based field trips & assemblies
- Paraprofessional Assistance
- After-School Tutoring
- Response to Intervention (RTI) & Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
- Safenet
- Child Study Meetings
As Manistee Chippewas, we are all leaders in our own way. Chips Lead at school, with friends, and in the community by developing healthy relationships, using responsible decision-making and respectful communication.
T | TRUSTWORTHY — Chips tell the truth and are responsible
R | RESPECTFUL — Chips listen and value others
A | ACCEPTING — Chips are friendly to all
C | COOPERATIVE — Chips work together as a team
K | KIND — Chips are helpful and caring
“TRACK” is the Manistee Area Public Schools global, district-wide, leaders platform that all educators, staff and students follow throughout their Chippewa Journey. This initiative is connected to course curriculum, extra curricular programs, disciplinary procedures, and internal culture.
Academic Excellence
- Collaborative Classroom ELA Curriculum: Academic and Social-Emotional Learning
- Needs Focused Enrichment Opportunities
- Field Trip Travel Opportunities
- Quiz Bowl
- Science Olympiad
- Team Teaching
- Breakfast in the Classroom (free breakfast for all students)
- Collaborative Classroom (SEL)
- At Recess: Buddy Bench & Conflict Corner practices
- MMHS Mentors
Extracurricular Activities
- Expanded MRA Athletics
- Student Council
- Band
- Social Skills Group (Mondays & Wednesdays)
- Blessings in a Backpack (Fridays)
- Child Study and Student Staffings with TC, SSW, OT, PT, VI, etc. (varies)
- Lego Robotics team (Thursdays after school)
- Student Council and student council fun events like Movie Night, Dodgeball, etc.
- Career Day during March Reading Month
- Swim & Growing Up lessons (4 days in March)
- Fieldtrips:
- Mackinac (3rd Gr) (June)
- Sleeping Bear Dunes (4th Gr) (February)
- Tall Ship (5th Gr) (May)
- After School Opportunities: Boy & Girl Scouts, MRA, Cheerleading, Jr. Dance Team, Annual Talent Show
Parent Involvement
Action Team for Partnership (ATP)
What is ATP?: ATP is our parent-teacher group for all of the MAPS Elementary buildings – Madison, Jefferson, and Kennedy.
The Manistee Area Public Schools parent group Action Team for Partnership (ATP) is a group of dedicated parents that spearhead projects to benefit our students. It is similar to a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) only a little more prescriptive and based on committees, including:
- Parenting
- Communicating
- Volunteering
- Learning at Home
- Decision Making
- Community Collaboration
What does the ATP do?: We fundraise to help support our schools and students. We pay for field trips, school supplies, recess/playground equipment, books, staff appreciation activities, and more! We also organize many family events: Fall Carnival, Daddy-Daughter and Mother-Son nights, Holiday Caroling, Birthday Lunches, Book Fairs, and Santa Shop are some examples.
At Kennedy:
- Movie Night
- Popcorn Days
- Slushy Days
- Birthday Lunches
- Book Fairs
- Winter Carnival
- Books for Bikes
- …and more
Parents who become involved in their child’s education can make a positive difference. Contact or Julia Raddatz raddatzj@manistee.org or Joanie Wiersma jwiersma@manistee.org for more information or to join our ATP family.
Seesaw
Seesaw is a service that we use K-6 at MAPS and is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share what’s happening in the classroom. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings, or notes. When there are new Seesaw posts, families can be notified via app notification, email or SMS. Parents are only notified about their own child’s work, and all data is safe and secure.
Contact your student’s classroom teacher to get more information about how you can get connected via Seesaw.
Staff Training & Student Support
Training and Practices:
- Safenet
- “Love & Logic” Jim Fey (Ex: student choices, empathy, logical consequences, SRC, etc.)
- “No Such Thing as a Bad Kid” with Charlie Appelstein
- “Poverty’s Influence on Learning” Eric Jensen
- “Stewards of Children” Child Abuse and Neglect Training (Child Advocacy Center)
- “Take Time for You Self-care action plans for educators” Tina Boogren
- Restorative Justice practices and Professional Development for Administrators
- Teachers Involving Parents in Schoolwork practices
- QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide prevention
- CRASE training (Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events)
- NightLocks installed throughout the building
- Emergency Operation Plan (in revision/updating process)
- Annual Staff: CPI/1st Aid, Nonviolent Crisis Prevention Intervention, Bloodborne Pathogen, AED, Concussion, EpiPen, Emergency Drill Schedule
- Annual Students: Cybersafety including OK2Say app, Stop-Walk-Talk anti-bully program,