March 20 Update

Happy Friday!

Another great week! 

We've got 5 days before break (including today).  We can do this!  Let's plan to make today, as well as next week, one of the best AND full of great memories!  

Toot Your Horn Thursday:

Kara Boerner was nominated by 3rd Grade for Kara loves every kid and it shows! She has high expectations for the students she works with. She assists them but also holds them accountable. She familiarizes herself with the assignments and ensures students are successful. Thank you Kara for being a huge part of our, and our students' day!! Congratulations Kara!

Spread the Word - Inclusion Spirit Week:

Next week, our Student Council and Best Buddies have a combined week - Spread the Word. Below are our dress up days. Please share with families and students.

Staffing Updates:

Kindergarten Section - I was notified late last week that we are adding a Kindergarten section next year (4 sections)  

Jen Schlauderaff - Jen has accepted a PreK position at our Owatonna Education Center starting in August 2026.  Jen has such a passion for early childhood and will be another bridge between early childhood and elementary programming.  We wish Jen the best in her position next year as she continues to impact our earliest learners!  

Judy Wiersma -  Judy Wiersma (EA) has submited her resignation effective March 30, 2026.  Judy has decided she is pursuing other positions.  We wish Judy the best as she moves onto her next chapter! 

I am hoping to finalize building movement(s) and notify people by mid next week.   

Teacher Workday - Friday, March 27:

As part of a recent contract change, teaching staff can work remotely on the 3rd Quarter Teacher Workday (March 27).   Please remember - This is a work day for teachers to get their progress reports and report cards done.  While you are able to work remotely this day per your new contract, you are expected to have your grades or progress reports completed and to be responsive to email throughout the day.   Please know this is a work day and you are expected to be working remotely.  This is not an extra day of spring break unless you have put in for time off.  

If you plan to work remotely, please let me know.  

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!
-Justin

March 13 Update

Happy Friday the 13th! 

Another great week at McKinley!  

McKinleyStrong Slips & Celebration:

We filled the jar!  Woo hoo!  Below is a breakdown of that jar -

• Kdg- 103
  
• 1st- 252
• 2nd- 186
• 3rd- 409
• 4th- 126
• 5th- 81

On March 26, our students will get to play in bounce houses during their gym time.  To do this, every student needs a waiver signed by their parent/guardian.  I did share the waivers on SeeSaw yesterday.  Steph or I will be reaching out to you next week with names of those who did not sign a waiver to request your help in getting it signed.  

Eid (Thursday & Friday) - 

Next Thursday and Friday, many of our students will be gone to celebrate Eid.  Just a heads-up for planning purposes.    

Special Education Advisory Committee (from Kim Baker):

We are excited to invite you to our Special Education Community Resource Fair, hosted by the Owatonna Public Schools Special Education Advisory Council. This is the first time we are hosting a resource fair, and we are thrilled to bring together organizations from across our community that support students with disabilities and their families.

This will be a come-and-go event, giving families the opportunity to connect with local organizations, ask questions, and learn about resources available in our area.

Event Details:
 April 20, 2026
 4:00–5:00 PM
 Owatonna Public Schools District Office
333 E. School St., Owatonna

Organizations attending include:
• Special Olympics Minnesota
• Best Buddies
• Owatonna Parks & Recreation
• Steele County resources
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Minnesota Prairie County Alliance
• Cannon Valley Special Education Cooperative
…and more!

Whether you are looking for recreation opportunities, transition supports, community services, or ways for your student to connect with peers, this is a great opportunity to explore what is available.

We hope you can stop by, meet some wonderful community partners, and learn about the many supports available for our students and families.

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend! 

-Justin

March 6 Update

Happy Friday!

Monday's Staff Power Hour:

This Monday's Staff Power Hour will be comittee work (2:45-3:45pm).  I will share agendas with the teams as we get closer.   This is our last committee work time of the 25-26 school year! 

Toot Your Horn Thursday:

This week's receipent is Lynn Jensen!   Nominated by Jayme Ulrich, she shared - "Lynn works incredibly hard for our STRIDE program each and every day. She consistently puts her students first and is committed to creating a safe, caring, and structured environment for both staff and students. She is one of the most organized people I have ever met, and I have learned so much from working alongside her. Lynn is a strong advocate who always fights for her students’ needs and best interests. I am truly thankful to work with such a passionate and determined educator."

Congratulations, Lynn!

Perspective:

As we head into the final stretch before spring break, let’s challenge ourselves to focus on the positives around us each day. There are so many moments worth celebrating — a student showing kindness, a breakthrough in learning, a class working together, or a shared laugh that brightens the room.

These weeks can feel busy, but they can also be some of the most fun and meaningful of the year. Let’s make the most of them by celebrating the little wins, enjoying the small moments with our students, and bringing energy and joy into our classrooms.

Thank you for everything you do each day for our students and for one another. Your positivity, creativity, and dedication make our school an incredible place to learn and grow. Let’s finish this stretch strong and have some fun along the way!

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend! 

February 27 Update

Happy Friday!  Can you believe next week is March? 

Toot Your Horn Thursday:

This week, we have 3 recepients!

Hunter Evenson was nominated by 3rd Grade for Hunter asked to teach music in 3rd grade this week because his room was being used for testing. It was so fun to hear him teach - he played a Jeopardy Game. The kids were engaged, learning and very resepctful as he reminded them that teachers were working during this time! Being a traveling teacher can be challenging - now he's traveling from room to room! Thanks for all of your effort Hunter!!

Sylvia Zavala and Nura Elmi were nominated by our EL Team for Sylvia and Nura have gone above and beyond this year in supporting our students, families and staff. Their work is absolutely critical for our day to day opperations. Their work doesn't stop at school and extends into the community all day long. They are heros for our students and families.

Congrats to these three amazing educators!

Impact:

Every year, I get to mid-February and think "I can't do this."  It's like clockwork.  I'm not sure if it's the "long haul" of the year, the cold weather, limited sunlight, etc.  Bottom line - February is hard.

As we move into March, I want to remind you of your impact.  And, in education, impact isn't always observable right away.  We may not see the true impact we have until years later - or we may never really see the impact.  And, just because we don't see the immediate results, the impact is there. 

In thinking about impact, take a minute to think about the best teacher you've had.  Now, think about the worst.  Even though your experience was different, they both made impact.  

You WILL make an impact every day.  You don't get a choice in that.  You DO get to choose what kind of impact you will have.  

Keep this in mind as we enter March - you ARE making a difference.  You are appreciated.  And, you ARE making impact.  

Checks for Understanding:

First, it's been so great to see high quality learning experiences happening throughout the building.  Kudos to each of you! 

There's good teaching and then there's good learning.  Both are very different.  We can teach a great lesson - if kids are not learning it, there's an issue.  Linked are 28 ways to check for understanding.  I share this because these are easy, no prep ways to check the "pulse" on learning.  

Subscriptions: 

As part of the budget reduction process, we walked through online subscriptions in the district and identified resources that won't be renewed. These are applications that may have universal use across the district that will no longer be renewed for next year:

ESGI (Elementary only)

Screencastify

GradeCam (OHS only)

PebbbleGo

WeVideo

As a reminder, any purchase of an online subscription needs to run through you as the building administrator. If you approve, it needs to go to Mike Halverson. We want to ensure anything that comes to Mike has been approved by the building administration first. 

Happy Social Workers' Week!

Next week is School Social Workers' Week - a week to honor Mrs. Warner! We are lucky to have such a wealth of knowledge in Annette.  This is a week to honor and celebrate all the gifts she brings to McKinley.  Please take some time to acknowledge her for her work.

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin

Happy Friday!

Another great week of learning and relationships!  

1:1 Staff Interviews:

I sent a link with appointments for staff interviews.  Please make sure every staff (who is in the building over 50% of their day) is signing up for a time.  It's a great opportunity for us to connect - checking in on you and how I can continue to support you as we finish up the year.  Please sign up today:)

1:1 Student Interviews:

A focus area for our building this year is around belonging and student voice.   Earlier this year, we had a team complete 1:1 interviews with students to hear their voice and gather information on the student experience.  We are at our second round of interviews - schedule is below:

Today (Feb 20) - Kindergarten & 2nd Grade (12:30-1:45)

February 23 - 5th Grade (1:15-2:00)

February 24 - 4th Grade (9-10am)

February 26 - 1st & 3rd Grade (9-10:30)

When our team comes around, we will interview students one on one.  When we finish, we will send a student back and ask them to send out another student.  Any help with that is greatly appreciated :)

When we finish, we will share the data and themes that emerge. 

Pout, Pout Fish:

Next week, an RSVP will go out for a "Pout, Pout Fish Family Night" in March.  This is a shared family night for McKinley, Washington, and Wilson (Title dollars).  Families can RSVP to receive the book and a kit to do at home.  Then, if they complete it, they get a ticket to the movie on March 25 at our Owatonna theater.  The RSVP will be open next week only (due Friday).  

Student Wait Time:

Time is precious - right?  And, when you follow a pacing guide, it becomes even more precious.  But, what's your most effective return on time - is it worth it to take that extra minute to provide think time?  

In saying that, don't forget about the power of "wait time" during a lesson.  We often get moving and do most of the talking - with little time for students to process, digest, and think throughout the learning.  Think of wait time as eating a meal... if you eat your food too quickly, you will have a stomachache.  As you eat, you take a few bites and let your food digest before moving on.  Don't forget about this as we are teaching - students need those moments of think to truly learn.

Over the next few weeks, I challenge you - no matter what you teach - to build this wait time into your lessons.  It may be awkward at first, but the long-term benefits will outweigh the awkwardness.  Design your lessons to have these natural wait times built in ... give students, particularly those who have developed a "learned helplessness", time to think (and possibly have productive struggle!).

March 9 Staff Power Hour:

Our March 9 Staff Power Hour will be time for your committees to meet.  I will be sharing your agendas in the next week or so.  This was rescheduled as I cancelled our Feb 2 meeting.  

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!
-Justin

February 13 Update

Happy Friday!

Another great week at McKinley!  I know this week had long nights - plus Valentine's Day!  Thank you for all the time, energy, and love you gave to our kids this week.  

Ramadan:

Next Tuesday evening, many of our McKinley members will start to celebrate Ramadan.  Ramadan begins the evening of Tuesday, February 17 and goes  through Thursday, March 19.   It's critical that we, as educators, know more about this holiday to support our students.  Please watch the video below.   

Additionally, Nura is working with our 4th and 5th grade teachers to see which students are fasting.  We will providing them a space outside the lunchroom for this - more to come!  

ACCESS Testing:

Just a reminder - ACCESS testing starts on Tuesday.  Please be aware (and remind your classes) to stay quiet in the areas around the Learning Studio South.  

All in the Hall:

A long standing tradition we have in this building is "all in the hall" during the bell time.  This last month, I'm seeing less and less of this.  Please remember to be outside, greeting students, from 7:56-8:05.  I understand mornings can be busy; however, this is a critical time to set the tone and positivity for the day.    

Believe in Them - NO Excuses:

They are not SPED kids.

They are not EL kids.

They are not RTI kids.

They are not "low" kids

They are not "bad" kids. 

Kids are kids.

First, love them.

Then, learn from them.

We don't love labels.  

We love learners.  

Love, believe, and challenge EVERY kid.

Lose the label. 

No excuses.

The above was taken from Jason Kennedy on X.  Take a second to think about yourself and the porcupine you have sitting in your work space.  Where are you at with believing in our kids?  

Toot Your Horn Thursday:

We have 6 receipents this week!

Rachael Eickhoff was nominated by the 3rd grade team for Rachael is so helpful, flexible, and knowledgeable! She helps our team in literacy and math and so many things! She is constantly changing her schedule to meet students' needs first. We are so glad to have her on our team!!

Katie Demmer, Michelle Meiners, Gia Davison, Jessica Zupansic, and Rachel Peterson were nominated by the 3rd grade team for  Thank you to Katie and the intervention team for running the data meetings and helping to meet all students' needs. Thank you for getting materials to us for conferences so we can communicate to families what is happening in intervention. Thank you for your hard work and flexibility!

Don't forget - each of us has a role in creating our McKinley culture. It's important we overemphasis those positive moments- sometimes that's the one thing a person needs to remember why they are important. To nominate someone, please click here!

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin

February 6 Update

Good morning, McKinley!

A really short update this week... 

Communication:

Please make sure you are reading all communication (weekly update, morning announcements, email, etc).  I know days get busy - however, we are getting more and more questions on things that were shared in the newsletter multiple times.  

What Does It Mean to Belong:

As a building, we have really challenged ourselves to think beyond diversity (who) to belonging (feeling valued).   I love seeing each of you focus on this every single day - working hard to be a warm demander and ensuring that all belong.  Thank you for your continued focus on this.  

Below is a graphic that is a great example of how we moved from diversity to belonging.  

Linked is an article - please take 3 minutes to read this.   This article helps breakdown what "indicators" are there when belonging happens - for students and staff.  Please read.  

Introduction to Education:

From Katie Coudron - I'm looking for classrooms who could use some helping hands from either 11:35-12:35 or 12:05-1:05 (roughly) on Tuesdays & Thursdays. I know this overlaps with lunch and recess times for many... so if you are in need of high school helpers during any of that time who could *also* be in a classroom part of that time, I'd love to make something work.  

Please email me (Justin) if you are interested in having someone in your classroom.  

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin