McKinley Connections

Dear McKinley Families,

It's hard to believe it is already November. The weather has certainly changed and the leaves are beautiful, even if they are in the last days of hanging on the trees! It's a great time to cozy up and get lost in books. It has been wonderful seeing students come to the different book checkouts. If you haven't taken advantage of this yet, please see the information below regarding library bus stops on Monday and checkouts at school on Friday. Also included in this newsletter is information about our upcoming online Scholastic Book Fair.

This newsletter includes the following information:

• Talented and Gifted (TAG) Information
• Marathon Kids
• Scholastic Online Book Fair
• and more!

Please take care and stay healthy,

Aki Mori, Principal

Anna Salbeda, Assistant Principal

November

11th - No School, Veteran's Day

13th - No School, Grading Day

14th - Scholastic Online Book Fair Starts!

25th-227th - No School, Thanksgiving Break

Every year students are considered for Talented and Gifted services in the Beaverton School District. These services are provided by your child's classroom teacher(s). Oregon law and District policy define gifted students as those who score at or above the 97th percentile on a standardized, nationally normed test of mental ability and/or academic achievement in reading and/or math. Behavioral, learning, and/or performance information is also considered before a student is identified for TAG services.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and our current reality of Comprehensive Distance Learning, our evaluation process will look different this year. We will administer in-person TAG testing after January 11, 2021. Until then, teachers will collect evidence on how your student responds to differentiation within their distance learning classroom. This evaluation may include: file reviews, teacher and student observations, a collection of work samples, and/or individual or group assessments. This process may take some time, but every effort will be made to complete the evaluation in a timely manner. Parents will be notified of their school’s in-person testing dates in January.

If you think your child might qualify for TAG services, you may wish to complete the Parent Information Form that is available in our school’s office or linked here. Completing this form that gives our school TAG Committee more information about your child, but it is not required. All qualified students will be considered regardless of the form’s completion.

Please complete and return the Parent Information Form to your child’s teacher.

You soon will be receiving an email that will be inviting you to sign your student(s) up with the Marathon Kids program. This is at no cost to you. The Beaverton School District is doing this across the district to encourage students and families to have heart pumping movement part of their daily routines. This program encourages students and families to get 60 minutes of cardiovascular activity daily. Getting 60 minutes of physical activity throughout their day helps students to be at their best to learn. Physical literacy has been shown to be the number one factor in resiliency in children and we have all either read or experienced ourselves how much cardio endurance activities like walking and running help our mental health. This is the 4th year that McKinley has participated with Marathon Kids. This will be the first year that it is district wide. Attached is the parent information sheet.

Nov. 14 - Nov. 27

Our Book Fair is online! Support our school and help your child discover new books, favorite characters, complete series, and more! You'll love the fun new option to shop for Book Fair exclusives directly from the interactive booklist and enjoy free shipping on book-only purchases over $25.

It's a new school year... let's instill a new-found love of reading!

1. You can checkout books from Ms. Arun every Friday at McKinley from 2:30-4:00.

Please park and walk up to the covered area near the Cafeteria entrance.

2. You can checkout books by going to one of the library bus stops in the neighborhood every Monday afternoon. Ms. Arun will be riding a Beaverton School District bus, and will have books that you can check out from her. Below are the locations and times for the Library Bus Stops:

1:34 - 2:04pm NW HERITAGE PKWY @ NW 181ST AVE

2:08 - 2:38pm SW ALDERWOOD DR @ SW HONEYWOOD DR

2:45 - 3:15pm NE GALLATIN ST @ MAGNOLIA PARK

3:19 - 3:49pm LIONS GATE FRONT DRIVEWAY

So...how can you check out books? There are 3 ways that you can checkout books from the McKinley Library:

• Ms. Arun has put together some pre-selected book bundles that you can checkout.

• Browse : McKinley Library Catalog to see what we have and place a hold. You can access this catalog on your device with your student ID number and password (if you forgot your password then please contact 503-356-4656). For more information on how to place holds, check out this video.

• Email Mrs. Arun for a specific title/ subject request or if you have any questions. Ms. Arun's email.

Families across the District continue to have challenges helping their students fully engage with Comprehensive Distant Learning. This lack of connection is especially critical for the students at each of our 34 elementary schools. We will use funds to mobilize our Behavioral Health and Wellness Teams to connect with over 400 families. The identified families will have a combination of targeted follow-ups and trainings as well as supplies and tools to ensure children are effectively and regularly engaging in remote learning. The teams can provide this support for about $50 per family, or you can choose to support all the schools with a donation of $34!

BSD has received permission from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) that any child (ages 1 to 18) will be able to collect free food until December 31, 2020. McKinley's meal service is a park and collect service. Please follow the signs! The closest drive up locations are Five Oaks Middle School and Westview High School.

Here's how food will be distributed this fall:

• Parents or guardians can pick up food from students who are not present.

• Food service will take place two days a week: Tuesday (2 days of food) and Thursday (3 days of food) from 11 am to 12:00 pm.
• Foods will be packaged with breakfast and lunch together.
• All food collecting people must wear masks.
• We encourage you to bring a backpack, bag, or box to carry the meals in.

Phone: 503-356-2180