McKinley Elementary usually has an all-school assembly on the first Monday of every month where we celebrate student success.  We can't all be in the gym this year, so we tried our first virtual assembly this week... and it went great!  It started with a screen of instructions as the individual classrooms accessed the assembly via Google Meet.

Then the students participated in the Google Meet assembly, watching their classroom screens.

When it was an individual classroom's turn to shine, they unmuted themselves, letting the school see them on the big screen!

It was a lot of fun.  Even though we can't gather in the same room, we can still find ways to work together as one community.  Go Mavericks!

McKinley Elementary School is sending out a big THANKS to Panda Express.  They reached out to us, and we qualified for their Panda Cares Program.  They gave us a lovely catered lunch, donating 45 meals to our staff in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week.  Staff collaboration even occurred around the most optimal use of chop sticks!  

It is a lovely thing to know that you are appreciated by your community.  Panda Express, we appreciate you right back!

During the month of March, McKinley elementary students learned about being kind to others.  They celebrated at the end of the month with a kindness spirit week.  They were encouraged to dress in a different color each day representing various traits of kindness.  They also created a "kindness pinwheel" as a representation of the kindness they were sending out into their community each day.  Thank you Mrs. Kinley for putting together our Kindness Spirit Week. 

The Anti-Racist Children's Book Education Fund provides classrooms around the country with access to books and resources that support important conversations about race, racism, and resilience.  These books affirm students from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, while also empowering youth from all backgrounds to take action against racism and injustice. 

There is considerable reseach showing that empowering representation, paired with content that specifically names and addresses race and racism, have positive academic and social outcomes for students of all races.  Children's books are one of the most practical and effective tools for initiaing these critical converstations with children, and can also be used to model what it means to resist and disrupt oppression. 

McKinley Elementary wants to thank The Conscious Kid for the beautiful books that were provided to our classrooms.  We will spend this month highlighting different books that tie in with our character word of the month, Kindness. 

The specialists at McKinley Elementary School would like to give a shout out to our Mega-Super-Participaters! 

 All specialist classes this year (Library, Counselor, PE and Music) are being taught asynchronously at our school, which means that it’s up to the student to connect to our lessons, do their best to complete them, and then click submit.  Many students find this to be a challenge, juggling their other classwork along with home duties, and making sure they save time to do their specialist lessons.

152 students were Super-Participaters in the first half of the school year, turning in all (or almost all) of their assignments for many of their specialist classes, and we appreciate all of their hard work.  There were some, though, who were Mega-Super-Participators, turning in all (or almost all) of their work for all four specialists classes!!

Please join us in acknowledging the accomplishment of these distinguished students:

Zaiden A, Sophia L, Amalya J, Brayden L, Rudy M, Fernando M, Adaylne N, Bazil B, Brenda C, Alonzo H, Ayden M, Andreah M, Kailey T, Jose C, Eduardo R, Noah G, Haze M, Delilah R, Marlen S, Kimberly S, Jayda C.

Great job, Mavericks!