In This Week's ROAR

AT KENT GARDENS

This Month at Kent Gardens

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week THIS WEEK
              -DONATE your time
              -Student Participation Calendar

Thanks for a Successful Spring Spectacular

KGES Garden Clean-Up Thanks

Community Aid
           Field Trip Scholarship Fund

Things ALL 6th Grade Families Need to Do

Rising Kinder Playdates

FUNDRAISING AT KENT GARDENS

Mabel's Labels Fundraiser!

Get your Spirit Wear for the Spring!

YOUR KGES PTA INFO

PTA Membership Matters; Join Today!

Next PTA Meeting is THIS FRIDAY, May 16 at 9am

Lost and Found

IN THE COMMUNITY

Order Teacher Appreciation Week Flowers 

Junior Cotillion Registering for Fall

Traveling Players Summer Opportunities

Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week is THIS WEEK!

Already teachers an s staff have been abuzz with the totally OZ-some celebration our Kent Gardens community has created for them! Because of YOUR donations, we're able to shower our teachers with tangible signs of our appreciation for ALL that they do!

You can still help with Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week by volunteering your time! We still need volunteers to help make sure our staff lounge is stocked and tidy and ready to go each day for lunch! You can also help out by serving as lunch hosts in the lounge, and by cleaning up at the end of each day! The best part about volunteering during this week is that you get to thank teachers IN PERSON!

Students are ALSO participating in Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week! Your room parent(s) have been busy organizing a big thank you for Friday, but there are other ways of thanking our teachers and staff for defying gravity EVERY day for our kiddos. 

Spring Spectacular Success

Our Spring Spectacular 5k and Fun Run was held on Saturday, May 3 with 118 registered participants. 74 people registered for the 5k and 44 for our Fun Run! We raised $2,000 to support our KGES community!

We have to give a big shout-out to our volunteers for all of their support! Anahita Reilly, Brittany Reilly, and Andrea Hagar were key to our success and we are so grateful for the time the spent in pulling this event together! We also so appreciative of our volunteers that helped us hand out packets and who served as course marshals during the event!

Additionally, major props to all our teachers and staff who showed up to run, cheer, and bike with our community! Mr. Biggs served as our rabbit, leading the pack, Mme Le Moigne ran the 5k in 18 minutes, and Ms. Altman, Ms. Joseph, Ms. Talley, Ms. D'Amico, Ms. Kyaw, Mr. Shivnen, Ms. Hadidi, Ms. Brubaker, Ms. Galvan, and Ms. Grijalva were amazing runners and cheerers! 

We also have to give a serious THANK YOU to Tom Hoefs (Shaffery Family) who volunteered to DJ our event! He made sure the air was electric with great music! If you're looking for a DJ, feel free to send him an email! 

Overall Male Winners
1. Brent DePuy              22:18.33
2. Turner Nguyen          22:27.39
3. Zak Choumil              24:53.20

Overall Female Winners
1. Laurel Le Moigne      18:17.75
2. Gabriella Le Moigne  25:27.97
3. Lisa Bechini               26:27.12

Our Kent Gardens community is FAST!!!!

KGES Garden Clean-Up

Thanks to Lili Cuzor and Family for their hard work on Sunday to clean up our Kent Gardens garden areas!

Did you notice the new flowers? The controlled weeds? The new mulch? Lili and family amended the soil with mushroom compost, weeded for what felt like hours and laid down fresh mulch, and planted what will become a little prairie meadow next to the trailer/playground with natives and close companions for the bees and butterflies! 

The weather forecast was iffy, but the cloud cover and wet soil turned out to be the PERFECT weather for gardening and they met a toad, a few ladybugs, and lots of worms!

Their volunteered time has definitely made our community more beautiful so be sure to share your appreciation with this AWESOME family!

Kent Gardens Family Directory

Exciting news! The new Kent Gardens Family Directory is now available through AtoZ Connect and Membership Toolkit. 

This online directory will allow Kent Gardens families to connect with each other more easily for play dates, school projects, birthday parties, and more. It is searchable by name, grade, and homeroom teacher. The system is secure, easy to use, and free to families.

To register and access the Kent Gardens AtoZ Connect site, visit https://kentgardenspta.membershiptoolkit.com/. 

Once there, you can update your family’s information and decide what information to share. You can also download the Membership Toolkit app in the Apple or Google Play app stores to have the Kent Gardens Family Directory at your fingertips on the go! Questions?

Reach out to KGPTAdirectory@gmail.com. 

6th Grade Countdown Corner

THINGS ALL 6th Grade Families NEED TO DO!

1) Sign the waiver for laser tag! ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE A SIGNED WAIVER 

2) Contribute toward the fun! A $40 suggested contribution will go toward food and fun! If you are unable to contribute for any reason, please email your students preferred name for the t-shirt and t-shirt size (youth or adult s/m/l) to kg6thgraders@gmail.com

3) Upload photos (8 max per student) before May 11th for our slide show that will be played during the party!

4) Yard signs are here! If you ordered, please email Jenny to arrange pick up

...And Don't Forget to Join the Longfellow Middle School PTA

The Longfellow Middle School PTA invites and encourages rising 7th grade parents to get involved in the LMS PTA. It’s a great way to get to know the faculty and staff of the school in the two short (and formative) years your student will be at LMS. Plus, the school relies on PTA support to keep

You can learn more on the Longfellow PTA website. If you're interested in serving or would like more information, email Beth Coyne.

Rising Kinder Playdates

Kinder Playdates will be held on:
Saturday, May 17th 9am-11am
Saturday June 21st 9-11am
Wednesday, August 13th 6-7pm

Community Aid

Field Trip Scholarship Fund

Did you know that the Kent Gardens PTA has a Field Trip Scholarship Fund that is available to our families? If you need assistance paying for field trips, please reach out to Ms. Whitfield in the front office at rcwhitfield@fcps.edu  All requests remain anonymous (the PTA never sees the request)! We look forward to assisting wherever we can help make things a little bit easier!

Fundraising at Kent Gardens

Mabel's Labels

Do you know the BEST way to keep things out of the lost and found? LABEL THEM! If you order name labels from Mabel's Labels, Kent Gardens earns 20% of the sales!

Shop here!

Type in Kent gardens and click on our school, then shop away! 

Get your Spirit Wear Now!

Update you KGES Spirit Wear for 2025! We have new items in the Spirit Wear Shop including pajamas for those well-loved pajama days! Order now to have orders shipped to your home!

Your KGES PTA Info

Join the PTA for SY 24-25 PTA membership for the school year costs $20 and is about more than monthly meetings and the odd event here and there. The PTA supports schools and that means staff, teachers, students and their families in ways that go beyond what any one group would be capable of on their own. Make joining the PTA at Kent Gardens a priority. We can't be the PTA we are without parents and other caring adults like YOU!

Our Next PTA Meeting: May 16 at 9am

Our next General Meeting will be FRIDAY, May 16.

We SO enjoyed our April meeting where School Board member Robyn Lady visited and shared her thoughts with us.

We are still searching for a President Elect to join our PTA board. 
Contact Jenny Gregory, PTA President for more information!

Lost & Found Corner

Can't make it in to look through the racks yourself? You can join our virtual Lost and Found using our new FB group, The Things You Lose, to make it easier to see what's been lost so that hopefully it can be found.

HIGH-VALUE ITEMS ARE HELD IN THE OFFICE! If you've lost rings, watches, or other items of value, please visit the KGES office to claim them!

ALL ITEMS IN THE LOST & FOUND WILL BE DONATED ON May 30.

Volunteers Matter! Help us LOVE our School! "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." -Old Proverb

Ways to Get Involved at KGES

Ways to Make a Difference This Year!

Volunteer Opportunities

Book Fair Co-Chair
If you love the book fair as much as we do, consider becoming a co-chair this year with Andrea Hagar. The Spring Book Fair is run by the PTA with support from our library staff. You'll learn alongside our seasoned book fair volunteers this spring! Contact Andrea at af_hager@yahoo.com to learn more!

Teacher and Staff Love Wednesdays

The KGES Wellness Committee has shared that teachers and staff LOVE when there is coffee/tea available for them in the lounge...and they REALLY love treats! Help us shower our teachers and staff with love every Wednesday this year by bringing in coffee/tea, snacks, bags of mini candies, or whatever goodies you think might help sweeten their day.  You can also help stack the staff lounge with paper plates/cups/napkins...etc. Please choose a slot to volunteer and drop off in the Staff Lounge by 8am on Wednesdays to show some love and support for our fabulous teachers and staff.

KGES Food Bus Food Rescue Program Volunteers Needed

Do you have a half-hour to spare on Friday afternoons to deliver food to SHARE of McLean Food Pantry at McLean Baptist Church? Interested in getting involved in this program? Please sign up HERE and/or email beccadw@gmail.com or lanavu@gmail.com with questions. Service hours available for middle/high school students! Thank you for your ongoing support. We could not do this amazing program without you.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Teacher Appreciation Week Flowers

Want to order flowers for your teacher for Teacher Appreciation week from one of our own AMAZING teachers and floral genius? 

Order here! Mme Waters can deliver!

Junior Cotillion Registering for Fall

Traveling Players Summer Opportunities

raveling Players is an ensemble-based non-profit that trains students in 2nd - 12th grade in classical theatre. This summer, their sleepaway camps (4th -12th grade) will be located at Christchurch Boarding School in Christchurch, VA. They also have day camps for 2nd - 5th grade students located in Tyson's, VA. You can find their dates and rates with this link.