Weekly Update - January 4, 2018

Happy January, everyone!
We survived our first week back.  I can feel a sense of excitement in the building.  It's been great to get back into a routine and start re-establishing relationships.

Student First - Always
I shared this on Twitter a few weeks ago - it reminded me of my "why" of this job and how important our students are.  Take some time to read it and process through your thinking - are we always student first?

Staying Positive as a Reading Teacher:
Michelle Simon shared this article about four principles to staying positive/happy and how it correlates to being a better teacher:  https://literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2017/01/03/focusing-on-happiness-in-the-new-year

December Discipline Data:
We have our discipline data for December - click here to access it

There is some interesting trends starting to emerge in our office referrals.  Our PBIS team will analyze this at next week's meeting.  We have, overall deceased in December (and we only lost 5 days of learning with the break).  What would cause that?


DIBELS Assessments- Monday
DIBELS winter benchmarking will start on Monday.  Libby has communicated with teachers on a schedule and process to follow.  A huge thank you to Libby for all her work with this!

Staff Power Hour:
Our next Power Hour is this Wednesday, January 10.  I would like all staff to attend this.  We will focus on staying positive, our biases (finish your bias assessment), and selecting and analyzing text (for guided reading).  I sent an agenda out yesterday.   I look forward to learning with you on Wednesday!

International Fun Day at Work- January 26: 
It's that time of year again - International Fun Day at Work.  We will be celebrating (again this year)! We've got a fun day of events planned - I can't wait.  Before this date, pick a team and starting planning your themed outfits.  There will be prizes!

Click here to see the events

Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
For those of you who have been around, you know we use to give away the principal's parking spot each week.  This was a great way to highlight our awesome staff at McKinley.   We will be changing this focus - to our "McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week".

Our first "McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week" is 4th Grade Teacher, Dani Rypka.  Dani continually amazes me, as a person and educator . Dani is new to 4th grade this year, having spent her career in 1st grade.   If you entered her classroom, you would think she has spent her career perfecting the art of teaching in 4th grade.  Dani has a gift of walking the line between supportive and holding students accountable.   Additionally, Dani provides high quality instruction and questioning to her students on a daily basis.  I am amazed at how focused, rigorous, and engaging her instruction is.  We are very lucky to have you at McKinley, Dani.  Keep up the great work1

Just a reminder- you are all educators.   An educator is anyone who influences students and helps build an environment focused on learning.  This is all of you.  I will highlight an employee (and tweet them out!) each week.


Have a great weekend and enjoy our heat wave (it's going to be in the 20's on Sunday!) :)

-Justin

Weekly Update- December 8, 2017

Happy Friday!
We survived our first cold, snowy week!  I've quickly discovered - along with many of you- that I need a better winter coat!  The wind is crazy here! 

Exit Slips:
I know a lot of you are using exit slips to check on student mastery during and after instruction.   It's great to see the precise focus we have on student needs, especially in the area of small group reading.

One tool I shared last year was how to add student voice to the exit slip process.   Below is a structure to use when students turn in the exit slip - their "voice" tells you where they are at with mastery of the lesson.  This can be an extremely powerful tool.   For example, a student who says they are a "4" and mastering content, but are really a "1" - what is the disconnect?  Perception? Lack of knowing what mastery really is?   The same goes for the opposite - a student who says puts their exit slip in a 1 or 2 but is really mastering content.  Self esteem?  Perfectionist?  Too hard on themselves? 

This is an extremely valuable way to add student voice into the assessment process.  For younger grades, you may change it to a smiley faces? 

Brightbytes Survey - 3/4/5th Grade:
3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Teachers - stop during your library time to complete the Brightbytes survey.  Connect with Denise if you have questions. 

Update on Student Support Specialist:
As you know, we are looking for a Student Support Specialist.  This person would help coordinate and supervise our proactive student supports - things like the Relaxation Room, Check & Connect, or just connecting with identified students throughout the day.  If you know of anyone interested, please have them apply ASAP.  We are setting up interviews for next week with the hope of this person starting January 2, 2018. 

Lockdown:
Great work with our first lockdown practice.   This drill was valuable- we discovered some glitches and changed a few things.   As I have shared, the best practices in this area have changed greatly.  Bob Olson is working on a district plan for training us in how to respond in this situation.   More information will be coming with this change. 

STEAM Superbowl Family Night:
We had a great time at our STEAM Superbowl night on Tuesday!  Thank you to everyone who helped with this night.  We had three stations - toss a football, design a stadium, and football math.  It was a great night! 

 

Reading Leadership Team:
We have a new leadership team starting at McKinley- Reading Leadership.   This team will help guide our professional learning in the area of reading - with the focus this year on knowing our readers through small/guided group instruction.   I'm excited to have this team provide guidance on the professional learning happening here.   A huge thank you to the following people for agreeing to be on this team:  Paige Larson, Jess Zupansic, Catie Stephani, Kayla Davis, Lauren Bogda, Paige Gilligan, & Libby Zeman.  We meet next Thursday - after this, we will gather some feedback on what supports you need. 

Teacher Workday Fun:
Our staff had some fun on Workday!  Enjoy the pictures (I should have taken videos!).

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

Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, September 22, 2017

Happy Friday!

Word of the Year:

Just checking in on your "one word of the year" - how's it going?  Have you shared your word with an inner circle for accountability?  

Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessments

We will be using the results from these assessments to help us design extremely targeted instruction for our students during our reading small groups and conferring.  At our Power Hour on Wednesday, we will be digging into these results and doing some planning using the Literacy Continuum alongside of the assessments.  Please bring your Literacy Continuum book and all of the scoring sheets that you have completed for your students.

At the welcome back, we talked about the following assessments being completed:

       K- any students who know all letters and sounds and are reading some words

1. All students


2. All students


3. 8 or more students (including students who have not met other reading benchmarks)


4. 8 or more students (including students who have not met other reading benchmarks)


5. 8 or more students (including students who have not met other reading benchmarks)

It has been awesome to hear teachers’ reactions to using the assessments and the excitement around how much they are learning about their readers and the expectations for comprehension at various levels; it will be exciting to see how it helps to shape our instruction.

Entering DIBELS Data
If you have not already done so, please remember to enter your DIBELS scores (including DAZE scores for grades 3-5) into the DIBELS system as soon as possible.  You will want to double check that if you had any students added to your class after the first day of school, that they were in DIBELS.  You can email Kenneth Griswold (Data & Assessment Coordinator) if you are missing any students from your list.  The upload will happen to Viewpoint next week, and we want to be sure that all of our data is entered.

Staff Power Hour- Wednesday:
For those of you new to our McKinley Team, we call our staff meetings "Staff Power Hours".   Our meetings focus on learning and collaboration, not logistical updates.   I will always include those logistical updates at the top of the agenda - we will only discuss items that need clarification.

Click here to access the agenda

Please bring your Literacy Continuum book and any Benchmark Assessments that are completed!

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



Have a great weekend, everyone!
Justin

Weekly Update- March 24, 2017

We've made it.... SPRING BREAK!

Before you leave for spring break, please:

• Get food of your rooms
• Unplug & shut-off electronics
• Shut your blinds & make sure window is locked
• Lock your door
• Get food out of lounge by 2:00pm (it will be thrown away at this point)
• Turn timecards into Lorri by 2:45pm.

Random Updates:

• Kelly Johnson will start as our IT Specialist on Monday, April 3.  Kelly has worked in the District for many years and does great work.  Please help welcome her to McKinley!
• Monday, April 3rd is the MN Twins Home Opener.  You should have received a ticket to join in on the hot dog lunch.  Wear your Twins gear on Monday to help support the Twins!
• Congrats to all who received an ISD 761 Foundation Grant - Amanda Gislason (bookmaking & papermaking centers), Kindergarten Team (Power 1/2 Hour Reading Resources), and the STEM Cohort (outdoor learning classroom supplies).  Way to go! 

Staff Power Hour:
We had a great discussion around equity, poverty, and engagement this week.  Below are the 3 action steps we decided to try before our April 26 meeting:

• Try a working memory activity with students
• Provide think time - design your lesson around 5-8 minute chunks with think time built-in.
• Don't let students go home with deficits - remember the 3:1 formula (3 positive experiences to 1 negative)

Click here for the meeting notes

DIBELS- Spring Benchmarking Dates
We will do our spring benchmarking on May 10-11 in the portable (thank you Amanda and Paige for being flexible with your space!).  Our make-up day will be May 12th.   More information will come on a schedule; however, save the date!

Student Appreciation Video - KARE 11:
Michelle Meiners shared this video with me - it's a video compilation of teachers explaining what they appreciate about students.  Each of the clips is a surprise for the student - the teacher shares what they appreciate.  It's a great video - well worth the time to watch!
http://www.kare11.com/news/big-lake-teachers-show-students-love-in-viral-video/424403811

Twitter:
For those of you not on Twitter, you are missing out!  Below are 7 effective ways to engage in Twitter.  See me if you have questions - well worth the time to sign up!

April 11- #lovemyschoolday:
April 11th is #lovemyschoolday.  More information is coming on this, but I'm hoping we participate.  It's a great way to show what great work we are doing and why we love McKinley!

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

Valet Parking for the Week:
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to Special Education Paraprofessional, Stacy Champeau!  Stacy has a strong background in working with students - and it shows in everything she does.  She does a great job of being flexible, patient, and builds strong relationships with our students.  Stacy is always focused on helping support students and teachers.   Keep up the great work, Stacy!


Have a great Spring Break, everyone!  Take some time to re-charge your batteries for a great ending to the 16-17 school year!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, December 8, 2016

Happy Friday, everyone!
I know I shouldn't complain, but I'm not ready for the cold weather.

A couple reminders:

• Annette is gathering items for a few families in need.  Please consider donating!
• DIBELS Benchmarking in Monday and Tuesday.  Art and Music are relocating for those days.
• ASP Block II registration and CLPs are due Monday, December 19th to Lorri.  We need to set-up bussing before Winter Break. 

Winter Concert
A huge kudos to Paige Moon and our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on their work last night.   The work, energy, and passion that went into last night's performance was felt throughout the evening.  We have an amazing music program here at McKinley - thank you to Paige, Kim, Holly, and Mikkel for that! 

Friday, December 23rd:
On Friday, December 23rd, we will do a school-wide Pajama Day.  Below is a plan for the day (some details are still being worked out):

8:45-10:45 All-School Movie (Kindergarten & 1st Grade in Library; 2nd-5th Grade in Big Gym).  Teachers, this is your "gift"... time off to prepare for 2017.  Our specialists, EAs, and paras will supervise the rooms.  Specialists are CANCELLED on this day. 

11:00-1:00 Lunch (provided by me!).  Bring your own beverage (Lang, no comments!). 

1:10-1:20 OHS Carolers visit us (Big Gym- be there and ready by 1:10pm). 

2:30 Relaxation and freedom!

Student Voice- Follow Up:
Last week, I talked about adding student voice to the assessment process.  It is critical that we know what students are thinking - about learning, misconceptions, and their overall progress.  So many of you are doing exit slips - what a great way for students to show mastery at the end of a learning experience.  Below is a next layer to those exit slips - having students determine their "progress" in the learning.   After students have completed the exit slip, they determine which bucket to place the ticket in (all based on their feeling toward their learning progress).  What a great way to add student voice to a formative assessment!

 

PBIS November Data
I apologize for this being late - below is our November discipline data by location, problem, and motivation.  Also, below are the notes from our November PBIS Team Meeting.  You will see from the data that discipline seems to have increased - however, I truly believe we are all getting on the same page about what behavior warrants an office visit and what you handle in your classroom.  Thank you for all your work making PBIS work! 

Click here to see the discipline data by month

Click here to see the November PBIS Meeting Notes

Homework
I found an interesting article on homework that I'd like for you to take a moment to read (especially if you are a classroom teacher):  Click here to read the article.  This is something I'd like us, as a building, to examine... does homework have a place and purpose?  Please take some time to read this quick article.... Site Team will begin to do some learning work around homework in the next few months.

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

Valet Parking for the Week:
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to Dani Rypka!  Dani is a passionate 1st grade teacher who is always looking for ways to do what is best for kids.  One of the things I appreciate most about Dani her skill to balance high expectations (and holding kids accountable) with also understanding (and providing supports to help them).   Dani does amazing things in her room each and every day.  Dani, we appreciate you!


Have a great weekend - and enjoy the first snowfall!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, October 7, 2016

Happy October!  Can you believe we are already into October?

Classroom pumpkin judging will begin today and go into next week.  Please have your classroom pumpkin outside of your room starting today (please do not have it setting on the floor). 

Staff Attendance:
Just a friendly reminder to watch your attendance at work.  As you, students need relationships, consistency, and routine(s).  This cannot occur when a staff member is gone.  I have been monitoring attendance as requests come into AESOP - please watch how often you are being absent from work. 

Note from Literacy Coach:
It has been so exciting to collaborate with so many of you around your data.  Teams are digging in to find the best strategy to help move their students’ reading forward; with such targeted instruction, we are sure to see phenomenal results!  Our students are so fortunate to have teachers that are so dedicated to their growth.  In the last two weeks I have met with, or have scheduled in the near future, time to connect around data with 11 of you!  I love the collaborative spirit of the McKinley culture.  The work you all do is amazing!

7 Checks for Understanding
Looking for other ways to see if students have mastered the learning?

 

Guided Reading and Math Materials:
Just a reminder that all guided reading and math materials should be checked out through Denise.  Please do not take these materials and leave a post-it note behind.  You MUST check these out.  If you actually read this, email Justin to be entered into a drawing.

Twitter Update:
A few of you have been dabbling in Twitter - both in your classroom, as well as for professional growth.  Woo hoo!  A couple reminders:  

• We have our staff professional learning hashtag:  #mckinleyPD  (this is a spot for us to share articles and links related to our professional growth)
• We have our McKinley community hashtag: #mckinleystrong
• If you post something about your learning/class, include @mckinleystem in your tweet.
• Know which students in your classroom cannot be shown on social media!     

A SnapShot of Learning:

Students in PE playing math facts basketball today - working on math facts, underhand throwing, cooperation, and reinforcing math. 

 

4th Graders, working in teams,  learning how to measure temperature in Celsius. 

 

Kindness in Chalk Day was a success!  Thank you to all who helped make this day possible.  It was great to see the schoolyard filled with positive messages.  I loved reading what the kids wrote! 

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

Valet Parking of the Week:
The Valet Parking of the Week goes to Special Education Paraprofessional, Julie Cochran.  Julie builds strong, long-lasting relationships with students.  Julie has a special way of being firm, yet flexible with students.  One of the things I appreciate the most about Julie is the way she is always looking for "what is best" for our students.  We are very lucky to have you here, Julie! 

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Get outside and enjoy the fall weather!
-Justin

Principal's Update- Friday, May 20, 2016

Happy Friday!
I am out tomorrow all day (Friday, 5/20) - Justin Lang is available for anything you need. 

Can you believe we are nearing the end of the 15-16 school year?  Only a few more weeks and summer vacation starts.  Let's finish strong!

McKinley 60th/STEM Gallery/Ice Cream Social Night
We had a great night celebrating 60 years of McKinley.  A huge thank you to all who helped make this night a success - a lot of work went into this!  It was an awesome night of celebrating McKinley! 

Scheduling Changes/Field Trips
Teachers, if you have a scheduling change, special event, or field  trip, please update the shared document I sent out.  This is a requirement.   

DIBELS Spring Benchmarking
A huge thank you to the EA's for their flexibility and hard work in completing the DIBELS spring assessments.  This data has been put into your mailbox; there has been great growth in this area since winter!  Please remember to update the spreadsheet in 365 by Wednesday, May 25th.  Your math facts, DAZE and Words their Way assessment data also needs to be entered into the spreadsheets in the CBM folder under assessments.  First grade, please remember also to complete and record your nonsense word fluency.  See Libby with questions. 

Discovery Lab
Discovery Lab closes next Friday, May 27th (other than for MacLeod's music classes).  As you know, the Discovery Lab will be transitioning to a different instructional space for the 16-17 year.  If you have personal materials in this space, please remove them before May 27.  I will spend some time boxing the science/building resources and supplies to store for next year. 

Class Placements- Tuesday
Classroom teachers will meet on Tuesday, May 24th to create class lists for next year.  Teachers, please have your cards completed by this time.  Staff, if you know of students who should not be placed together, please let the child's classroom teacher know prior to this day.

5th Grade Graduation
The 5th Grade Graduation is Friday, June 3rd from 1:45-2:15pm.  Due to limited seating, we are doing some work now to see if it can be streamed into classrooms.  More information will come on this!

Stages- Goals
I am doing a mini-session for support staff on Tuesday, May 24th from 7:30-7:45am.  This will include entering goals only.  If you want to attend, this is open to any staff who work on goals.   As we get closer to the end of the year, I will individually email you with items that need to be addressed in Stages. 

Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the weekly building newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to Literacy Coach Libby Zeman.   Libby has been a great addition to the instructional support in this building (and Wilson).  Libby has an extensive background in reading and knows how to support/coach people.   The thing that impresses me the most about Libby is her desire to continually grow- individually, but also as a McKinley team.  I am so grateful for Libby and all the work she does to support reading in our building.  Thank you, Libby!

It's going to be a nice weekend- get outside and enjoy it!
-Justin

Principal's Update- Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Good morning- and happy "Friday"!

We've made it to MEA Break!   Enjoy your time off!

Closing Up Room(s):
With the break upon us, please make sure your room is closed up for the weekend- close blinds, electronics off, lights off, etc.  Also, please take a minute to make sure any food is out of the refrigerators. 

After School Program:
After School Program starts next Tuesday, October 20th and will run until Thursday, November 19.  The program is from 2:30-4:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  If you are interested in applying, there are a few positions still available! 

AESOP:
Please enter all absences into AESOP- this includes staff development, doctor's appointments, personal time, or personal illnesses. Please enter this in a timely manner (all absences, other than illness, should be entered 2-3 days prior to being gone).  If you are having issues with your login, please contact Mallory or Hannah in HR. 

Infinitec Training:
Your Infinitec Training is due Thursday, October 15! If you haven't completed this, please do some immediately.  This is for ALL STAFF.

Checking for Understanding:
Below is a link to 53 ways to check for student understanding and mastery.  During a PLC cycle, it takes 4-5 formative assessments to truly gauge a student's mastery of an Enduring Understanding.  Here are some great ways to do the day-to-day checks for understanding:

53 Ways to Check for Understanding

Referendum Update:
During conferences, we had some representatives here to share some referendum information with our families.  A video played in the entry way, letting parents see the urgency of this vote.  If you missed the video, here is a link:  https://vimeo.com/139385586

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

Valet Parking for the Week:
The valet parking for the week goes to Darlene Runner!  There are three words to describe Darlene- positive, energetic, and all about kids.  Darlene brings a positive attitude to work each and every day.  Her positive attitude is always focused on kids and learning.  We are lucky to have Darlene as part of our McKinley team! 

Enjoy your long weekend and take some time to sharpen your saw!
-Justin

Principal's Update- May 8, 2015

Good morning!
Can you believe we are coming to a month left of school?  Where did the time go?  Make the most of your last few days with students. 

Leadership Day
McKinley's Leadership Day will be next Friday, May 15th from 1:15-2:15pm in classrooms.  This event will run for one hour and is an open house format for parents and families.  Students should have their "exhibit" of how they are a leader in their classroom and ready to go at 1:15.   If you want to allow students to visit other rooms, you may want to set-up shifts for the kids to visit other rooms (you don't want them all gone at once).  Also, Specialists will push into the room from 1:15-2:15 to help support the classrooms they are assigned to at that time. 

Core Instruction
In PLC notes, I had a group ask, "What do you mean when you are always saying we need to improve core instruction?"  Great question!  We will be doing more work with this next year, but here's my initial response-

As you stated, we will need to dig deeper into the data to see what it is telling us (both benchmarking data and end of unit summative).   Just from my observations and working with data, I think we have two things to look at with core- the instructional strategies we are using (whole group and small) and the way we are ensuring 80% of kids learn (progress monitoring, re-teaching, etc).  We need to look at our reading block a little different- we shouldn’t be teaching a whole group lesson at grade level and then lowering the standards during our small group time.  Small group/guided is still at grade level standards- however, we offer supports to the students (text at their level, graphic organizers, teacher support, etc).  Your small group/guided time may include a quick intervention- however, we need to make sure we are at grade level expectations.  Interventions will occur during that assigned grade level "Intervention/Enrichment Time". 
 
Last Day of Intervention Services
Our last day of intervention and ELL services will be Friday, May 29. 

Teacher of Year Banquet
Next Wednesday, three of our McKinley staff are up for the honor of Owatonna Teacher of the Year.  What a great honor for Tamra, Mark, and Kayla, as well as the rest of our staff.  I think this process speaks volumes of the important work we are doing here at McKinley.  I hope to see many of you at the ceremony, helping support Tamra, Mark, and Kayla. 

Hettinga Fundraiser
Don Hettinga's fundraiser is next Friday, May 15th at the Eagles.  Thank you to all who have donated money, items to the basket, etc.  I hope to see you there, also!

Spring Benchmarking 
Spring Benchmarking (DIBELS & math facts) starts next week.  See May 5th's blog post for information from Amy LaDue on benchmarking. 

Classroom Teacher End of Year Meeting
Just a reminder, please schedule a 15-20 minute meeting with me regarding your end of year reflection.  This is for classroom teachers only.  Before our meeting, I will send your data from the year.  This, along with your informal data, will guide our conversation. 

I've heard/seen some panic come from the thought of this meeting.  It is no way meant to penalize you- it's a honest conversation and reflection of your school year. 

Valet Parking of the Week
The Valet Parking of the Week goes to Paige Moon.  Paige is a dedicated professional who works hard to ensure our students love music and school.  She uses her positive attitude and nurturing personality to show students (and staff) she cares about them- academically, socially, and emotionally.  Paige stays abreast of current trends in music education and is always integrating this into her daily instruction.   Paige, thank you for all you do!


For all the mothers out there, enjoy your "day" on Sunday!  Have a great weekend!
-Justin

27 Days left to influence, motivate, and educate.  Can you believe this?  This year has gone so incredibly fast.   And, even though 27 days doesn't sound like much, it really is...

3,240 minutes of a reading block in K-3
2,430 minutes of a reading block in 4-5
1,890 minutes of a math block

Let's take advantage of each of these minutes to finish the year strong!


School Board Presentation- Monday
McKinley is presenting at the School Board Meeting this Monday, 4/27 at 6:30pm.  Amanda Gislason, Tom Meagher, Jayne Jacobson, and I will be presenting.  We'd love to have all of you present to support McKinley! 

Formative Assessment Ideas
Below are the formative assessment strategies from our book study meeting.  The document has a lot of strong, effective ways to formatively assess students.  Click here to see the link

Staff Meeting- Monday (4/27)
We will continue our learning work with the book study.  For those of you who haven't been joining our book study, you are still required to attend this staff meeting.  At our meeting, we will go through some building updates and then dig into our work with universal screeners/benchmarking, common assessments, and tracking data.  Woo hoo! 

MCA's
What a crazy week with MCAs!  Thank you to everyone who has been flexible throughout this whole testing season.  It's extremely frustrating to find out you aren't testing and have to quickly adjust plans.  I understand that.  I appreciate everyone who has been flexible and made this a positive experience for our students.  A special thank you to Denise for all her extra hours and work making this work. 

Valet Parking of the Week
My Valet Parking for the Week goes to Amanda Gislason.  Amanda is a stellar art teacher who does whatever it takes to make learning meaningful, purposeful, and connected to our students' lives.  Additionally, Amanda does so much "behind the scenes" at McKinley- organizing the Perpich grant, putting together "The Scoop", Site Team, etc, etc, etc.  There are two things that continually impress me about Amanda- her dedication to all kids and her creative, forward-thinking mind.  Amanda is always looking for ways to make McKinley a great place to learn.  Thank you for all you, Amanda!  


I want to end up my weekly update with a recent phone conversation I had with a parent.  I called the parent regarding a discipline issue.  During our conversation, I explained all the interventions and assistance her child is receiving to help keep the child focused and successful.  At the end of our conversation, she said "I just love that school.  I hope everyone in your school knows how important they are to families." That has resonated with me all day.  The great work you are doing for kids is being appreciated. 

I get more impressed with McKinley each and every day. 

Have a great weekend!
-Justin