March 22 Update

Happy Spring Break!

We've made it to spring break!!

As you leave, please take the next 9-10 days and truly check out.  Whether you are traveling somewhere warm or sticking around Minnesota, please take this time to relax, do the things you enjoy, and be around those you love.  Take this time to truly check out - you deserve it!  

Donuts with Grown Ups:

What a great event on Wednesday morning!  We had 330 people join us!  Wow!

A huge thank you to everyone who helped host this event!  

MN Twins Home Opener:

Join us on April 6 for the MN Twins Home Opener!

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

Have a GREAT spring break!
-Justin

March 17 Update

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Break Shut Down:

Don't forget, before you leave for spring break - 

• Classrooms and resource/open areas should be cleaned up.  Please take some time to make sure all items are put away and it's cleaned up.  
• All food, including that in the Staff Lounge, are thrown away or taken home.  
• Unplug things in room that don't need to be charged.

World Down Syndrome Day - Tuesday:

World Down Syndrome Day is coming up on Tuesday of next week.  As a part of that day, I would like to share a link to a video that can be shared within your classrooms.  The video is made for kids and it features classrooms preschool-elementary with basic education surrounding Down syndrome and inclusion.

This video was organized by a parent, Kristin, whose son William has Down syndrome.   If you have a chance to share the video and can snap a picture of the kids watching it, I would love to share those with her so she can see the impact she and her family is having.

Farm America Trips:

Please see the email below regarding opportunities at Farm America in Waseca - 

My name is Jenny Delnay, the Program Director at Farmamerica. I wanted to reach out and introduce myself to see if there was anything that Farmamerica could do for you. 

I wanted to let you know about a few programs that happen at Farmamerica, to see if any were of interest to you. 

Elementary Field Trips. Every spring and fall we offer tours for grades 3-6 that teach about this history of agriculture in Minnesota. We have a couple Owatonna schools that already are signed up to participate this spring, including St. Mary's, Washington and Owatonna Christian. 

We are also always open to other conversations about how we can help! We have worked with local FFA officers to house livestock over the summer months for their students to raise when they don't have space and just opened a community garden last year. 

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin

March 10 Update

Happy Friday, McKinley! 

A shorter blog today....

Just a reminder - all Staff Power Hour on Monday!  

Science Fair:

What a great science fair!  It was great to see all the thinking, questioning, and overall wonderings!  

A huge thank you to Jess Zupansic and Karen Thurnau for your organization of this event!   You did an amazing job organizing and hosting this event!  

Sledding - Friday

Just a reminder of next week's sledding trip on Friday.  We will be sending a note home in Campus on Monday, but feel free to communicate with families on your own. 

Relationships Reminder:

We are in the relationship-business.  Our entire day - and roles - are centered around developing relationships.  We immediately think of teacher-student relationships, right?  Don't forget about the power of colleague relationships, family relationships, and community relationships.  Those happen in every single thing you do - not just an organized family night.  We are engaging and building relationships all day, every day.  These next two weeks (and after spring break), we may have to spend more time on this.  We have students who are leaving a predictable, safe environment to possibly not have that same routine, safety, and just overall feel.  Please be aware of this as we navigate around spring break, as well as into the spring.  

Cleanliness of Building:
Just a reminder to be checking your classroom, lockers, resource spaces, and other spaces nightly to ensure they are clean. You can even have students do this before they leave! In all honesty, we have a beautiful building with so much flex space - and it looks awful at times. We've even had community members comment that it looks dirty. Please help keep our spaces (all spaces - classroom, open areas, conference room, lockers) clean and presentable.

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin

March 3 Update

Can you believe it's already March??

Overall Reminders About Next Week:

• School Social Worker Week - this is a week to celebrate Annette and all she does for our students, families, and staff!  Please take some time this week to appreciate her!  
• Staycation - Wednesday, March 8 is our second annual Staycation.  Linked is an invite for your class to "pick your adventure" for that day.  Please remind students (and families) that they can dress like they are going on vacation that day.  Looking forward to another staycation! 
• Science Fair - Thursday, March 9

Sections for 23-24:

Below are the sections for next school year.  These are still somewhat tentative at this point, as enrollment could change this still.    

Kindergarten - 3 sections (down 1 section)

1st Grade - 4 sections

2nd Grade - 4 sections (up 1 section)

3rd Grade - 3 sections (down 1 section)

4th Grade - 4 sections (up 1 section)

5th Grade - 3 sections 

Montessori - E1 and E2

One update on staffing - As many of you know, Julie Bauer is retiring at the end of this school year.  Julie, her knowledge, and her love of data will be greatly missed next year.  Join me in congratulating Julie on her upcoming retirement!   

For next year, Jessica Zupansic will be moving into the interventionist role.  Jess's background in reading, her experience in many grade levels, and her gift of being a warm demander will benefit our K-5 learners who receive intervention.  Join me in congratulating Jess on her new role!  

Please note that our elementary admin team is still working on staffing, so more to come soon.    

What About the Other Kids in the Room?

This week, I came across the below blog entry.  It's well worth your time to take a few minutes to read.  I know this is something many of us think about - when behaviors arise, what about the other kids in the room?  Below are some thoughts and reminders - please take the time to read:  

https://unconditionallearning.org/2023/02/01/what-about-the-other-kids-in-the-room/

Perspective:

A great reminder (for us all, including myself) about the "view' we choose every day.   It's very easy to get stuck in that pattern or "rut".   It's also ok to have a bad day.  We are humans, we experience emotions.  I would challenge you to not stay in that spot.   I would also challenge you to find the joy, laughter, or positive "views" from your day.   And, relay on your team, friends, or family to help you with that.  Let's lean in together to find the joy, happiness, passion, and excitement that we often overlook in a given day.  

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!

-Justin