Bennett-Kew P-8 Leadership Academy of Excellence Home

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Our Mission

Our mission is to nurture, educate, and graduate students who are self-responsible and self-disciplined; who are critical and creative thinkers; who master the core academic disciplines; and who are advocates for equity and social justice for self and their community

Principal's Message

Dear Families,

We want to welcome you to Bennett-Kew School and the 2025-2026 school year! As the principal, my goal is to collaborate with our community, PTA, teachers, students, and staff in providing a quality educational experience.Through our school’s P.L.C.(Professional Learning Community) and Collaborative Teacher Teams, we work closely together to set high expectations, create rigorous learning experiences, and a caring environment. Because we had laser focus on these practices for the 24-25 school year, our student achievement increased! We still have hard work to do, but we are confident with your support we will continue to show growth!

Each decision we make is guided by our mission statement to support our students:

Bennett-Kew Leadership Academy of Excellence, along with our dedicated staff and collaborative partnerships unite to ensure that every student experiences a nurturing and challenging educational journey that fosters critical thinking, innovation, and character development. Together, we work towards cultivating a culture of respect, resilience, and excellence, where every student can reach their full potential and flourish in an ever-evolving global community.

Together, Bennett-Kew’s success can be accomplished in the following ways:

Building personal relationships with our students, teachers, parents partners, and elected officials.
Building strong parent partnerships which play a critical role in the motivation and support for students.
Working within the Community School model to assure in-depth and appropriate support for students, staff, and families.

Learning from and understanding our cultural differences, so we can provide new academic and social-emotional experiences to fit all student groups.

I welcome you to find out more about our wonderful school community. We are eager to meet you! My time is best spent in classrooms with students and teachers. If you would like to meet with me, I encourage you to call me, email me, or stop by to make an appointment for a meeting or campus tour.

All our best,

Sarah Appleton

Principal and the Bennett-Kew Staff

[email protected]

School Site Council Meeting 12-3-2025 at 2:30 pm

The Bennett-Kew school site council is a group of teachers, parents, classified employees, and students that works with the principal to develop, review and evaluate school improvement programs and school budgets. The members of the site council are generally elected by their peers. For example, parents elect the parent representatives and teachers elect teachers.

“Coffee with the Principal” (“Cafecito con la Directora”)

is a casual, informal meeting where parents, guardians, and sometimes community members are invited to meet with the school principal. The goal is to create a friendly space for conversation, questions, and feedback about school programs, student progress, and school events.
Key Features:
Informal Setting: Often held in the school library, cafeteria, or a classroom with coffee and light refreshments.
Open Dialogue: Parents can ask questions, share concerns, or suggest ideas.
Updates from the Principal: The principal may provide updates on school initiatives, programs, or important events.
Community Building: Encourages a stronger connection between the school leadership and families.
It’s essentially a way to make the principal more approachable and help parents feel involved in their child’s education.

ELAC

Meeting December 3, 2025
Time 12:30 pm

Purpose

ELAC is a school-level committee that gives parents of English Learners (ELs) a voice in how the school supports their children. Every California public school with 21 or more English Learners is required to have an ELAC

Bennett-Kew Academy School Community Embraces Social-Emotional Learning

Bennett-Kew School Community Embraces Social-Emotional Learning Through Beautification Project
Bennett-Kew Elementary is proud to highlight a recent initiative led by School Board Member Brandon G. Myers and dedicated parents, who joined forces with teachers and students to enhance the school environment. This collaborative effort not only beautified our campus but also served as a hands-on way to promote Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) among our students.

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