Good morning/afternoon/evening KMS students, families, and friends. 

This is it! The final days of summer are upon us and in just a few short days we will be kicking off what will prove to be a fantastic school year. While it’s been a very long time since I was in Middle School, I can recall with some clarity the excitement of the beginning of the school year. There was just something great about picking out the outfit I was going to wear the first day of school. Of course, there were always butterflies in my stomach as the days of summer ended. I am sure that some of our kids feel similarly, and I am sure that many are dreading day 1. I am confident that from day 1 to the end we will have many successes, we’ll tackle the challenges together of growing as pre-teens & teens together, and we’ll celebrate along the way. It is going to be a great year!

Over the past 2 weeks, I have sent out some important information about the start of school, some important dates for our students/families, and more. I am asking each student and family to pause, take a few minutes, and check out this news:

• Official Communication: There will be 2 venues that KMS will utilize to communicate official DoDEA/KMS information. The Official KMS Webpage and the Official KMS Facebook page are your landing page for official information. Don’t forget, bookmark those sites, and remember that the School News page on our website has an archive of all Principal’s Messages! 
• Speaking of communication: our new leadership for DoDEA-Europe-Central district has a well crafted welcome back message for us. CHECK IT OUT. 
• August 16, 14:00-16:00, Campus Orientation: CLICK ME for the flyer and find out more. As a reminder, this is an open campus orientation where students/families can orient themselves to the school, catch up with friends, make new friends, and find out a ton of information about our school community opportunities. We do not have a set presentation, but we will have staff present to answer questions. Teaching staff are still setting up classrooms and will not be available. Don’t fret, Open House is just around the corner!
• Student Schedules: Students can view their schedule using the student portal. Parents will also have access to records, grades, schedules, and more by accessing the Student Information System portal. CLICK ME for an information sheet if you need assistance. We will also have printed schedules available during the Campus Orientation and on the first day of school. 
• August 16, 14:00-16:00, New and returning student computer pick-up in bldg. 1178 Gym/Cafeteria. Any student computers that have not been collected; we will distribute the first week of school. Parents will need to be present to sign for computers. 
• School supply list (CLICK ME): KMS staff did a great job of simplifying the school supply list to ensure that the overall cost is reasonable. Having supplies the first day of school would be great, but we do understand that limited supplies exist on/off installation. 
• Have you set up your lunch account yet? CLICK ME for details
• August 19: join us for the first day of school! Hey kids, don’t forget that school starts at 08:20, remember our dress code (CLICK ME), and don’t forget that kindness and generosity is most important!
• August 27, 16:30-18:30, OPEN HOUSE, check out flyer. 

I want to close out with a quick reminder that KMS is the site location for Student Transportation for 6 different schools in our community. In addition to this, our school services over 600 families with students attending KMS. To streamline services, bldg. 1032 is the single location for all services. So, need to pick up a bus pass, need to drop off your kid late, need to pick up early for an appointment, have an appointment with a staff member, or just have a question you need help with? Swing by bldg. 1032, which is the building closest to the main gate of Vogelweh housing. CLICK ME for a map. 

Beyond excited!

Jason 

Jason James

Principal

Kaiserslautern Middle School