Below is the video message for our students.. enjoy!
Summer Programming - Building Use:
As you know, we will have students in the building this summer. When you clean your room/office, please be aware that it will more than likely be used for programming. With social distancing, we will need to use every space available in the building.
Parade - June 4:
Please consider joining us for our end of the year parade on June 4 at 4:30pm. We will meet at McKinley around 4:15pm and follow a route throughout our neighborhoods. Consider decorating your car with signs, etc (remember, you will still need to be able to drive). We are not doing candy or handing items out due to germs/contact.
Happy Friday, McKinley! 5th Grade Graduation:
Calling all staff- come join us on Wednesday night for our 5th Grade Graduation! The graduation is on May 27 from 6-7:30pm in the pick up/drop off lane. Please consider joining us!
EID - Saturday:
Nura said EID will fall on Sunday this year. This Muslim holiday marks the end of Ramadan and their month of fasting. It is a time of celebration with family and friends. I'm including a short description of this holiday in case you would like to know more about the meaning of Eid.
Eid’ul Fitr
Eid in Arabic means “feast, festival, holiday.”
Eid is a worldwide festival and celebration for Muslims. During the calendar year there are two Eid’s that are celebrated by Muslims. Eid ul Fitr, which means “festival to break the fast”, is at the end of the holy month of Ramadan in which Muslims fast for a whole month.
Eid ul Fitr is also known as the lesser Eid, and is determined by the confirmed sighting of the new moon. Eid is a time for reflection and starting afresh, a time to rejoice with family and friends, but also a time for remembering those who are less fortunate. It’s a time to count our blessings while also giving charity to those in need. Fasting teaches empathy and compassion for those less fortunate. In this time of year it provides Muslims belief and the opportunity to feel closer to God by carrying out various works of charity to benefit the poor and by offering prayers imposed and enacted. There are special morning Eid prayers offered in congregation to accompany the 5 daily prayers to mark the occasion. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) reported that servants who get cleaned by fasting and worshipping should wish for whatever they want from Allah in Eid prayers.
Eid is a momentous, happy and joyous occasion shared with family and friends, Muslim and non-Muslim. A celebration of this nature, with family and friends following a month fasting, is a reminder and expression of trying to be a better person in all aspects (health, spiritual, belief and faith) ACCESS Scores- Celebrations:
As the 2019-20 school year comes to a close, our EL department has some exciting news to share. After receiving our ACCESS scores for 2020, we are thrilled to announce we have 20 students who passed their test and will be exited from the program! Also, 15 of the 20 are in fourth and fifth grade! These results affirm the effectiveness of co-teaching, the cumulative results of three years of partnerships and being fully aligned with the K-5 curriculum!
Also, each of our English Learner's path to proficiency includes individualized language targets for each year. English language proficiency is the level of knowledge and skill with the English language required for academic success. Whenever a student increases their level of knowledge and skill, they are making progress toward English language proficiency. This year, 71% (46 out of 64 students) of the English Language Learners who had 2 years worth of ACCESS data sets at McKinley met North Star Proficiency.
Congrats to McKinley EL students and team for this remarkable measure of achievement!
We can ALL celebrate these amazing results! What a way to end the year!
-- Laurie, Caryn, Liz, and Martina
June 8 - Teacher Workday:
I've had some questions about June 8 Teacher Workday. If you have your work completed on or before June 5, you do not need to report on June 8.
Finish Strong, McKinley!
As I stated in my email on Wednesday, finish strong! I am continually impressed by you... enjoy the movie one more time!
5th Grade Notes to Graduates
Please remember that notes to the graduates are due by Friday, May 20th. Please use the form to leave notes for our students. They would love to read notes from all of you! Thank you.
End of Year Checklist:
Below are two checklists for staff - one is for a teacher checkout & one is a to-do list for student events.
Happy Friday!
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
I want to thank you all for the effort, passion, love, and energy you give to McKinley! You are truly remarkable educators - I am honored to serve our McKinley students along side you! I hope you were able to feel the celebration and your "why" this week!
I Appreciate Teachers So Hard...
End of the Year Activities:
A big thank you to the volunteers who joined in helping with the organization of the end of the year activities and celebrations!
Celebrate Week: We are planning for the week of May 18-22 to be a Celebration Week. We will be including options for events so that students and teachers can celebrate all of the successes from the year. More information will be coming soon!Kate shared a slide for you to link a video of yourself reading your favorite book! You can share these with students the week of 5/18, so please have them linked in before that date. Questions can be directed to Kate Seifert or Kayla.
Track Meet: The PE department has plans underway to do a virtual track meet on Tuesday, May 26th! This will likely look like a choice board of options for kids and a way to share their activities. More information will come out next week! Questions can be directed to Tom, Kyle, Luke, Sami, Kayla, Katie Schuster or Libby.
End of Year Stations: This will be like the "last day" stations we've done in the past. We will do this on Friday, May 29th. Staff can sign up stations for kids to come on for. They can join others around the building and lead an activity. We brainstormed some activities already that are down at the bottom. This would be for all staff like it is at the end of the year. Staff would only need to sign up for one slot. We will also have a time at the end of the day that students could click on teacher's links and pop on to say goodbye to have some closure. Questions can be directed to Dani, Karla or Catie Stephani.
End of Year Student Slideshow: There will be an end of the year slideshow of pictures put together for students. If each staff member would upload up to 5 pictures to this folder by Friday, 5/22, then we should have enough to put something special together to be shared the last week of May! Questions can be directed to Katie Schuster.
End of Year Goodbye from Staff Slideshow: We want to send the kids off with a slideshow of pictures of us too with our wishes for them! Take a picture of yourself with a sign responding to one of the following prompts (you don't need to list the prompt on your sign, just your response):
"What I Love About McKinley Students..." (Their passion, their smiles, etc)
"My wish for you over the summer is..." (Get outside, Go learn outdoors, Enjoy your family, etc)
"My message to you is..." (Be Kind, Read a Book, Keep Learning)
*Please make sure your response a sentence of less. Also, feel free to have some funny responses, too.
Put your picture in thefolder by Friday, 5/22. Questions can be directed to Justin Kiel.
End of Year Parade: Thursday, June 4th from 4:30-5:30 we will do a driving through the neighborhood parade so we can see many students' faces one last time this year. We will meet in the Mck parking lot at 4:15 to get all lined up and ready to go! Here's the map and information that will be sent to families. Questions can be directed to Libby or Sami.
Happy Friday, everyone!
It's going to be a beautiful weekend - make sure you turn off the technology and get outside!
Teacher Appreciation Week:
Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week (May 4-8). Each of you have many things to celebrate - we have an amazing group of caring, supportive adults who put their all into supporting our students. Please take some time next week to "thank" each other - virtually, email, text, note, or in person. We have MANY things to celebrate!
A huge thank to our staff for being compassionate, committed adults who put others needs before their own. I am honored to work with our McKinley Staff!
There is a reflection link in the document. Please make a copy and complete the reflection. Please take some time, on your own, to think deeply about the questions. Please email to Justin when completed.
