McKay High School Newsletter

Our halls and classrooms are now ready, the start of our school year is upon us. This Tuesday September 5 we welcome the Class of 2027 to McKay High School. On Wednesday they will be joined by the remainder of the student body. As the journey begins for one group of students, our Class of 2024 begin their last trip. All of these events bring excitement to the table. Our hope is that the summer served as a time of rest and relaxation, and that your student(s) are feeling prepared for what is next. This past week teacher's returned and are ready to welcome all. Our admin team has been working for the past month looking to create the culture and environment that our community deserves. We are looking forward to another amazing year!

Please be sure that you adjust your schedules for the first two days of the week. Later in the newsletter you will see our regular 5 day schedule for the school year.

• Shout Outs (Academic, Athletics, Activities)

• Counseling Corner

• Upcoming Events

• #WeAreRoyalScotsFamily

Our Fall Athletics are in full swing! This past week all of our Fall sports were in action. (Girls Varsity Picture Below) This upcoming week McKay will host Boys Varsity Soccer, as well as Volleyball on Tuesday afternoon. Follow the link at the bottom of our newsletter for a schedule of all upcoming events.

We are extremely pleased to declare that past McKay graduate Mena Drakeley will be receiving the highest honor that an FFA member can receive; the American FFA Degree.

Less than 1% of all FFA members complete the requirements set forth to receive their American Degree, and in the Salem-Keizer School District, Ms. Drakeley will be the second person to have ever been bestowed this honor.

Below you can find picture from the past week's work. Our staff have been working hard on planning the best possible first week for our students. Thank you to all of our staff who actively participated in this important work.

As we move into a new school year this is a great time to remind your students about some safety initiatives that we began in the 2022-23 school year and will continue into this year.

• Opening or Propping Doors Open: Safety is one of our top priorities, with over 70 exits in our building it becomes vital that all persons entering the building after a tardy bell, first check in with the main office. Students who are found to be opening doors or leaving them open for others to enter can face behavioral consequences due to their actions.
• Leaving and Returning to Campus: Here at McKay we have an open campus policy that allows students to leave during their assigned lunch time and return (on time). A large majority of our students use these opportunities safely. Students who misuse this opportunity, and use it to bring back prohibited items are subject to safety check (checks of their belongings) upon their return to campus.
• Incidents on Campus: At McKay High School we are continually working to dismiss an inaccurate narrative that exists around our city. We work with adolescents who at times are not yet equipped to deal with things happening in their lives. This may result in incidents on campus. When these incidents take place our staff immediately work to return our campus to a safe and calm environment. Students who refuse to follow instructions during this time may face the same consequences as those involved in the incidents. This can look like refusing to follow adult instructions, as well as the filming of incidents. If your student is found to be sharing (spreading) these videos across media platforms, or sharing with classmates they will face consequences. These actions can often incite further incidents around campus, for that reason we need students help in keeping our environment safe for everyone.

We ask that you continually ask your students questions around safety at McKay High School. Keep having these conversations throughout the school year, and encourage your students to report things that they see to our Scot Center staff.

As is outlined in our schools Comprehensive Achievement Plan an increase in student attendance is a priority here at McKay High School. For this reason families are contacted frequently making them aware of their student's attendance, and a high level of energy is spent on getting students to class. Some of these automated calls are things that we are required to do while other interventions are reactions to the needs within our school. This upcoming year we will be rolling out some new interventions that will impact your student(s) if they face attendance challenges.

This upcoming fall we will begin to track "Tardy," and "Unexcused Absences." Students who reach a certain number of these occurrences will be dealt a specific intervention. Staff will continue to be actively in the halls encouraging students to keep moving and to attend class on time. On the occasion that these occurrences become more frequent a call home will be made to raise your awareness. What we are asking from parents is that you support us by making your student aware that being on time, and attending all of their classes is important. Encourage them to meet the new schoolwide expectation. As is the case with so much of our work, these changes will not meet everyone's needs, and in those cases our Counselors, Behavior Specialists, and Graduation Coaches will be available to help. You should not concerned that we won't make adjustments for the specific needs of our community.

More information regarding these changes will be made available to students and families before the start of the school year. If you have questions about the impact of these changes please contact Assistant Principal Antonio Mercado mailto:mercado_antonio@salkeiz.k12.or.us

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