Happy Wednesday, students, parents, families, and friends of KMS!

This is it! Yep, this month’s Key to Excellence is all about making the most of every moment. It’s about living in the now, staying focused on what’s right in front of us, and leveraging a positive attitude to remain productive. For middle school students, this is an important trait to learn. Actually, a “This is It” outlook on work, family, and social lives allows us to keep the most important things in perspective. I encourage you to take 5 minutes to read more about the December Key of Excellence, it truly is a great one. CLICK ME for more.

News from KMS:

We got some great news recently, KMS has been recognized as an AVID Schoolwide Site of Distinction. Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is an elective class at the secondary level focused on providing students with academic, social, and emotional supports geared toward success in courses of rigor. As a Site of Distinction, KMS is in an elite group of only 4 DoDEA-Europe schools. FOLLOW ME for more information about AVID.

Speaking of AVID, I would like to introduce to you Jonathan Petrick, KMS 7^th grade English teacher. Mr. Petrick has Joined our AVID Community as the new AVID Coordinator at KMS for SY 2024-25.  Jonathan officially stepped into this role in late November, as our previous coordinator, Paula Brown transitioned to a new counseling role within our Kaiserslautern community.  Jonathan previously taught the AVID Elective Class and Coordinated the AVID Program within DoDEA and stateside. In this role, he will be responsible for coordinating AVID Program fidelity with our feeder schools, promoting teacher agency with AVID Professional Learning Practices, and refining how we recruit AVID Students and AVID Tutors.

Please be on the lookout for new communication from Mr. Petrick, and the KMS AVID Site Team as we excel through this school year.

Also joining the AVID program is Shelly Cervini, who will begin on January 6^th as our new AVID teacher. Shelly has served as a support staff member this school year, she has a deep background as a teacher, is fantastic at building relationships, and our kids will love to have her on the team. Welcome aboard Ms. Cervini!

Dates of importance:

CLICK ME to view the latest bi-weekly newsletter. Inside you will find details about:

• Dec. 5: Winter Band Concert
• Dec. 12: Student Council Movie Night
• Dec. 13: No School
• PTSA and student club information

Have a great remainder of the week!

Jason