Principal's Update- Friday, January 30, 2015

You're almost done with conferences!  Thank you for all your late nights this week (and all the time preparing for conferences).  I'm so amazed with all the conferences I joined.  You were direct, professional, personal, and focused on student learning and family needs.  We are lucky to have you. 

Thanks again to our awesome paraprofessionals and educational assistants.  We couldn't do this job without you.  You are a vital part of our team.  Hopefully you enjoyed your week. 

Updates:

I Love to Read Month
I Love to Read Month starts next week!  Our theme is "Escape with a Good Book".  We have some great activities planned- DEAR times, theme days, special reading areas in the library, and a finale assembly.  We aren't sharing yet, but there will be a "Pie a Staff Member" during the finale assembly.  If you do not want to get "pied", please let me know.  As much as we stress reading all year long, February is a time for us to have some school-wide fun to encourage reading.  Enjoy this with your students!  

Click here to see a calendar of the month

Lisa's Last Day- Wednesday, February 4
It's Lisa Austinson's last day on February 4th.  Make sure to stop down and thank Lisa for her service to McKinley!  She will be missed!

STEM Night- Thursday, February 5
We have a STEM Night next Thursday from 6-7pm.  Our theme, "The Engineering of Books and Reading" will be a nice kick-off to I Love to Read month!  We have two famous authors and the MN Center for Book Arts joining us.  Families will learn the process of engineering books- from an author's idea to the actual physical creation of a book.  It's going to be a fun night!  Thanks to Dr. M for all his planning!

McKinley Carnival- Saturday, February 7
The McKinley Carnival is next Saturday, February 7 from 2-5 here at McKinley.  I've already realized how big this carnival is to our kids, as well as our PTO.  Set-up will be Friday after school if you are interested in helping!

Staff Picture Board
Don't forget to be ready for your "group picture" on Monday or Tuesday.  The pictures will be proudly displayed in our entryway.  Let me know a time on Monday or Tuesday that your group would like the picture taken. 


Valet Parking of the Week
The valet parking spot goes to Denise Carlson.  Her nominators, our 2nd grade team, chose Denise because she "puts in extra time to ensure that all students get books to read while setting up the different test times.  There were times when Denise worked right through her lunch to meet all the needs that came to her."

Thank you, Denise! 

A Snapshot of McKinley Learning

Mrs. Simon's 1st graders and Mrs. Huisenga's 2nd graders working on engineering snowflakes.  They spent some time following the engineering process, as well as learning about 2D and 3D shapes, symmetry, and hexagons. 

Mrs. Forman and Mrs. Huisenga's 2nd graders spending some time creating bubbles.  Through their investigation of states of matter, they blew bubbles outside and observed them change states of matter while landing.   

We're already into January- time flies when you are having fun!   Happy Friday!
-Justin