Tuesday, February 6, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter at the request of Adam Kent. I am the Principal at Valley Southwoods
Freshman High School in the West Des Moines Community School District and have worked with Mr.
Kent since the fall of 2012. Mr. Kent is one of our 9th grade science teachers that teaches both
General Science and Biology and is currently a teacher in our school within a school New Tech
program. This program is project based program with integrated courses which combines his science
with speech and business during the course of the year. Mr. Kent has had to be flexible to work with
other to create projects that meet his science standards as well as the standards for the other
teachers. Mr. Kent is a member of my building leadership team and helps to support and develop
the buildings professional development calendar.
Mr. Kent has shown tremendous growth since his first year of teaching. He has continually put
himself in positions to grow as a teacher and professional. Mr. Kent completed his administration
masters and currently serves other teachers as the union representative for our building. Mr. Kent
has served as department chair in the science department and currently shares responsibilities to
facilitate on his New Tech team. His experience includes but is not limited to project based
instruction, differentiated lesson design, and standards based grading. Past building PLC work has
provided experience with the Elements of Effective Instruction (EEI) and Authentic Intellectual Work
(AIW). Mr. Kent also has experienced co-teaching with our special education teachers and was able
to meet a wide variety of needs in his classroom.
Mr. Kent is a lead teacher for me as a building principal. He has a growth mindset and an amazing
ability to adapt to anything you throw his way with a great positive attitude. He has a student
centered approach to everything he does and he just keeps growing as a teacher and leader. It is
clear to me that he is ready for the next level in education and to start his administrative career. All of
the above experiences have helped Mr. Kent become well rounded instructor and an asset to any
school. I give my highest recommendation for Mr. Kent and know that any school will be very lucky to
have him as a leader.
Sincerely,

Mitchell Kuhnert
Principal
Valley Southwoods Freshman High School