School Wide Box Tops Competition

The Box Tops Competition between all of the classes from every grade will begin on April 1st and will run for six weeks.  So be collecting Box Tops and Campbell's soup labels.  Make sure to cut them out along the dotted lines, place them in a plastic bag labeled with the teacher's name and grade so your class will be credited, and turn them in at school.  GOOD LUCK and thank you for your support.  This program raises a lot of money for our school.

4th Grade Box Tops Winner

The winning class for the Box Tops Competition between the 4th grade classes in February is Ms. Litchford's class.  Way to go!

We will be announcing the 5th grade winning class soon from March!  Stay tuned!

March Principal Message

Growth and Change is the Only Evidence of Life

 

Many parents feel that making a request for a specific teacher will help a child have a good school year. However, not all parents know there's more to making that request than just telling the school in which classroom you want your child to be placed.

 

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your child may not be placed with the teacher you would like. It's important to remember that all children deserve to have the best educational experience possible and every teacher at McKinley Elementary is the best. To this end, the teachers and I work hard to make sure each classroom has a balance of different types of learners, personalities and educational needs. Many times a teacher has a stellar reputation as to how he/she works with children with learning disabilities or other types of students and a number of parents request his/her classroom. If all of those children are placed in the same classroom, the teacher will be overloaded, so an administrator may choose to redistribute the student population more evenly. With the many changes that are happening at our school, there is a strong possibility there will be eight new teachers on the staff.  With this in mind, we will not be taking parent requests for teachers. 

 

Information on the Placement Process at McKinley Elementary School:

 

Now that more than two-thirds of the school year has passed, along with Parent Teacher Conferences, we begin to turn some of our attention to transitions for the next school year. If you have been involved with this in past years, you are aware of the extensive process we use to place children into classes each school year.  This is one of the most thorough and significant processes in which we are involved.  Professional staff must consider all relevant information so that the greatest possible learning for each child will result from the placement. It is our goal to place all students into a classroom that will provide each with a successful learning experience. We believe this can be achieved by developing well-balanced, heterogeneous classroom groups across all grade levels using the data available about each child. We are working especially hard this year to make decisions using student work samples and classroom assessment data for every individual.

 

Phase 1 of the placement process begins now:

 

Our April, TEAM meeting reviews the philosophy, goals, and timeline for placement.

• Grade-level common planning time/PLC meetings are used to review the criteria to be used for placement decisions.

• Individual teachers use their assessments of his/her current students academically to prepare for the discussion of each student’s strengths, challenges, and needs.

• Teachers meet with specialists such as special needs teachers as well as administrators to develop heterogeneous lists based on learning needs, academic achievement, and ability. No receiving teacher names are included on the preliminary lists of students. It is an exercise in assessing the educational needs only,

as the top priority, and in developing balanced classes.

• We will be “cluster grouping” students during this phase. This means that each individual student will be placed in a cluster with learners of similar ability, interests, and skills that will be divided across the classrooms, making initial heterogeneous classes based only on academics. We are trying to group students who may work well together and have similar abilities, but still allow for flexible groupings for differentiating instruction. Classes, as always, are heterogeneously mixed as well as being inclusive of learners with special needs (there is a mix of all ability levels in all classes).

• These become the “preliminary class lists” and insure initial groupings by academic needs and abilities.

There will be several changes this coming school year with teachers and grade levels.  We know what we are doing and we will do the right thing to ensure that all children have a great education.  The teachers at McKinley Elementary School are among the best and we will continue doing our best.  We are making great progress in our core subjects and we will continue to provide an excellent education to your children.  There are no other schools in the district taking parent requests.  When requests are made it makes it extremely difficult to balance classes.

 

Phase 2 of the Placement Process:

 

Once initial groupings, based on academic ability and achievement, are formed, phase two of the entire process begins in

early May and is completed in time for move-up day on the last day of school. At this point, many other factors are

considered in addition to academic ability or achievement, keeping in mind that we still need to achieve well-balanced,

heterogeneous classes across the grade level. The additional factors considered during this phase include:

 

• Having a similar number of children in each class;

• Maintaining a proportionate number of boys and girls;

• Having a mix of learning styles in each classroom;

• Consideration of peer relationships (friendships, the need for separation)

• Delivery of special education, support services, and/or remedial services;

• Balance of students with needs other than special education;

• A student’s ability to handle transitions during the day.

• Teachers assigned to instruct that grade level.

 

Clearly, placement is a formidable task and is not taken lightly. We invest a great deal of time in this process.

 

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.  ~Victor Frank

Thanks you for your support in this matter and please trust us.

McKinley Morning with Mom

Morning with mom will be held on Tuesday, March 12th!  All mom's (or if a mom is unable to attend, you can bring a grandma, aunt, etc.) are invited to come have a doughnut with your student(s).

Come anytime from 7:45-8:20 AM.

Hope to see you there!

March Lunch Calendar

Please click on image to view better.

March Activities Calendar

Please click on image to view better.

March Box Tops Competition

Don't forget that the month of March is the competition between the 5th grade classes so send all of your Box Tops and Campbell's Soup labels to school CUT OUT ALONG THE DOTTED LINES-NOT THE WHOLE BOX OR SOUP LABEL in a bag with your student and make sure to mark the teacher's name on the bag.

THANKS and GOOD LUCK!