ANNOUNCEMENTS

Parent/Student Letter

August 14, 2025
Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! I hope everyone had a fantastic summer. It’s a very exciting time as we start a new year of school, and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to meet all of your children on the first day of 6th grade. I'm thrilled to be in my seventh year here at Kennedy Middle School, but I'm returning for my twenty-second year in the district. I hope that this letter will provide you with useful information about our classroom, as well as a look at my teaching philosophy and outlook on life and its lessons. After twenty-one years of teaching in Cupertino, I still consider myself fortunate and honored to be teaching in such a great community full of supportive families who desire to prepare their children for the future. I strive to bring a positive attitude to school each day, balance academics with fun-filled activities, set a good learning environment for the classroom, and give students my best efforts to guide them in their journey toward high school and beyond.

We will share many wonderful experiences and strive to build a strong learning community. Having a positive attitude, teamwork, and belief in oneself and each other are three essential parts of this community that will help everyone succeed academically and socially. It will be a fun and challenging year for students. The classroom environment we maintain will help create individuals who take responsibility for their learning, behavior, and appropriate personal choices. The students will engage in activities that are meaningful, interesting, and enjoyable, which will support the district’s Portrait of a Learner. I will create a meaningful learning environment that provides opportunities for students to develop 21st-century skills. It will encourage creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills, thus helping them develop into more thoughtful and insightful individuals. In turn, my biggest hope is to instill self-belief in the children so they will become better students, citizens of our community, and excellent lifelong learners. Learning through successes and failures will be crucial in this process as well.

The students’ role is to participate as valuable and valued contributors to our classroom community. With learning comes the responsibility to be active and understand that communication will be important. We will work together as a team to ensure everyone does their best to learn and grow.

Here's a direct link to our class syllabus:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Abt195AjA3a2VSljI_U32wBMgmrd1wH6DFNAFg2NCEA/edit?usp=sharing

Our classroom website is a great resource for information and communication for you and the students. Please bookmark it for quick and easy access:
https://sites.google.com/cusdk8.org/mrvietnguyenclasswebsite/

You can also find technical help here from the district and frequently asked questions below:
https://sites.google.com/cusdk8.org/mrvietnguyenclasswebsite/cusd-tech-help
https://www.cusdk8.org/departments/technology/public

Notable features found on the website include a class calendar, helpful links, and more.

Below you will find the supplies that your child will need for an organized year. Please have them label all items before bringing them to class for the future.

MATH Supplies

Besides the supplies for other classes, the following supplies are suggested specifically for math:

·       A GRIDDED math journal

·       A SIMPLE calculator  

·       Protractor

·       Red, black, or blue ballpoint pen for corrections

·       Standard/metric 12 in ruler

Personal colored pencils, markers, and highlighters are also helpful, but not required

Science Supplies

The following supplies are suggested specifically for science.

● A science journal – a spiral-bound notebook or composition book (your choice of college- or wide-ruled or graph paper)

● If you do not have a journal with graph paper, you will need sheets of graph paper

● Red ballpoint pen for all corrections

● Personal colored pencils, markers, and highlighters are also helpful but optional

● Simple Calculator (the same one you have for math – not a scientific calculator) - optional

● 12” ruler (with both US and metric units) - optional

**An interesting and enjoyable book of an appropriate level that you have not read before**

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Optional

1 - White Correction Tape - please no correction fluid

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**Class Donation Requests**

 Boxes of baby wipes

Note - Students may have many of these materials already, whether new or used. Please label all items before bringing them to class when the time comes, as most supplies may look similar. There is no need to rush into buying all supplies before the first day of school.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask me. By working together as a team, we can make this an exciting and productive year for your child. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send me an email at nguyen_viet@cusdk8.org or leave me a voice message at 408-253-1525 EXT 85212.

I look forward to meeting you in person. I can also tell you more about when school begins. Best of luck to everyone!

Sincerely,

Mr. Viet Nguyen