In This Week's ROAR

#1 Cookie Exchange- THANK YOU!!!!

#2 Afterschool Activities for the New Year

#3 Heritage Night is Coming!

#4 PTA News
           Attend a PTA Meeting: January 23 at 845am
           Join the PTA
           Volunteer with the PTA
               Library Volunteers
               Food Bus Food Rescue Volunteers 
               November and December Volunteer Needs
                           Cookie Exchange Sign-Up Coming Soon!

#5 Support our School
               Buy Your Yearbook Now
               Spirit Wear Makes Great Holiday Gifts!

Extra Credit: Community Events

This week...

Don't forget to support your room parents for your child's winter festival party on 12/19! Look out for their emails and how you can help ensure our students have winter-tastic time! 

#1 Cookie Exchange THANK YOU!!!

Point of personal privilege here... I (Alyssa) am always amazed at the way in which Kent Gardens' families show up to celebrate our teachers and staff. But, really, I think our annual cookie exchange is my favorite! This past Monday, you all treated our staff and teachers to homemade alfajores, linzer cookies, special family recipes, cookies that you took the time to bag and label, butter mochi, brown butter cookies, and SO MUCH MORE! I was blown away by the quantity and the variety and TO A PERSON, everyone who came into the lounge could not help commenting on the display. The last week before break is a lot and you gave it such a sweet start. For everyone who sent in cookies, cups, cocoa, or candy canes, we are so grateful to you and for you! Thank you so, so, SO much! 

#2 Afterschool Activities for the New Year

New Before School Technology Club starts 1/13!

Registration Open Now!

Wize Technology Club I (1st-3rd Grade)
Tuesdays 7:45-8:45am

14 Weeks Jan 13 - May 19 2026

$525 + $70 One Time Supply Fee

Wize Tech Club brings STEAM classroom learning to life through hands-on robotics, coding, and design—all grounded in grade-level STEAM standards. Every lesson starts with a STEAM concept tied to grade level standards, moves forward with a project, and ends with presentations inspiring young learners to be the leaders of tomorrow.

This isn't your average coding and robotics class. Wize educators follow rich lesson plans created with grade level SOL standards where each project is built around an academic topic: students might model pollination in science then program a butterfly robot, or explore how light interacts with objects using color sensors. With minimal screen time and maximum engagement, kids build critical thinking skills while deepening what they learn in school. Wize is a maker lab transforming children from technology users to creators of tomorrow.

Children of KGPTA members will receive a 5% discount. Email PTA President, Jenny Gregory, for the code.

Register now!

Note: A sibling discount of 10% per sibling is offered which cannot be combined with any other offer. 

Afterschool Academies- Registration Opens January 6

Your KGES PTA is so excited to offer Afterschool Academies for Winter 2026! Registration opens Tuesday 1/6 and will continue through Sunday 1/25 but don't wait around! Popular classes will fill up fast!

This winter, we're thrilled to offer classes with Mr. Avery, Ms. D'Amico, Ms. Klader, and Ms. Nabaki. Our teachers are AMAZING so register early and avoid being waitlisted!

#3 Heritage Night is Coming

Heritage Night is coming on February 7th, so get ready to grab a KG Passport and travel the world!

What better way to show your #KGPride than to join us for an evening celebrating the many cultures that make up our school?

Join us Saturday, February 7^th, from 5-7pm for an evening of food, learning, and fun.  The evening will be capped of with our Parade of Nations, where children can dress in traditional clothing that best represents their heritage.

Want to represent your culture in our World Café or Heritage Room or volunteer in another way? Sign up here.

All students are welcome to be a part of the parade, no signup is necessary.  

Please note, this is not a drop off event, but one for the WHOLE family to enjoy!

For more information, please email kgesheritagenight@gmail.com

#4 News from Your PTA

Attend a PTA Meeting

OUR NEXT PTA MEETING WILL BE: January 23 at 845am in the Cafeteria.

Join us to learn more about how you can help make 2026 an AMAZING year for Kent Gardens and hear important updates from Principal McGuigan!

Join the PTA

The PTA at KGES is SUPER BUSY! We do SO much...if you like the afterschool academies, chess club, Math Counts, Bingo Night, 5k, Bread and Cider, Christmas Cookie Exchange, Book Fairs, Heritage Night, Teacher Appreciation Week and just so, so, so MUCH MORE, that's because your KGES PTA has been working hard to bring enriching experiences to our community. When you join the PTA, you help support the work we do at our school AND the advocacy work that the PTA does at all levels of the government! Membership in the KGES PTA needs to be renewed every year Join the PTA NOW!  

Volunteer with the PTA

Volunteers are the glue that helps keep Kent Gardens going and, at the beginning of the school year, have we got some opportunities for YOU!

Library Volunteers

Food Bus Volunteers- KGES's Food Rescue Program

Do you have 30 minutes to spare on a Friday afternoon? Help us make a difference by delivering rescued food to the SHARE of McLean Food Pantry at McLean Baptist Church. The KG PTA proudly supports the Food Bus program, which encourages students to place unopened, packaged food and whole fruits in a designated fridge instead of throwing them away after lunch. Each week, we collect 15–25 pounds of fresh, healthy food—saved by our students—that parent volunteers deliver to SHARE for weekend distribution to local families in need. It’s a simple act with a big impact—and we need your help to keep it going!  Sign up HERE  or email Rebecca (beccadw@gmail.com) or Lana (lanavu@gmail.com) Middle and high school students can earn service hours too!

Support Our School

Order Your Yearbooks Now

The weather outside is frightfully cold, but the warmer months are coming and your child will definitely want a yearbook at the end of the year, especially if you don't order one! So before we head out on winter break, go ahead and knock this off your to-do list. Your June self will definitely thank your December self for thinking ahead!

Order your yearbook using code 21772 or searching for "Kent Gardens" on the website!

Sprit Wear Makes Great Holiday Gifts!

Extra Credit: Community Events

Audition for MCC's Wizard of Oz

Attention young local actors! The McLean Community Center’s Alden Theatre will host auditions for the 2026 Youth Production of The Wizard of Oz! When Dorothy drops into the Land of Oz, only one thing is certain: she's got to find a way back to Kansas. A funny and fast-paced journey down the yellow brick road ensues, as Dorothy and her new friends travel to the fabled Emerald City to meet the Great Oz. When Oz demands a steep price for sending her home, a perilous new adventure begins. This imaginative adaptation captures the heart of L. Frank Baum's classic tale.

Actors must be residents of or go to school in the MCC tax district, and be between the ages of 10-16 on the date of the audition. Click here to register and for more information; we look forward to seeing you at the auditions on January 13 & 15, 2026!

BRYC Girls Flag Football