McKay High School August Update

August has arrived and this month will bring the end of another summer for our McKay High School students and families. This return means that we welcome the Class of 2027 to our halls. Likewise, we begin to prepare for the graduation of the Class of 2024.

This newsletter will help to guide you in preparing your student for success this upcoming school year. We have also included some highlights from the past few months. You will see that even though classes were not in session, many of our students continued to be active in and around our community.

The new school year brings us at McKay High School an opportunity to continue raising the level of expectations for ourselves and our students. This year you will see a renewed energy as well as a focus on building upon the successes of last year. McKay High School will continue to challenge itself and work to bring out the best in our students.

Enjoy the final weeks of the summer!

• Shout Outs (Academic, Athletics, Activities)

• Counseling Corner

• Upcoming Events

• #WeAreRoyalScotsFamily

We had 12 students (which double from what we had last year) compete in various events at the Marion County Fair. Our students worked their tail feathers off this year with the amount of recognition and achievements that they earned. With our 8 members selling their market projects at the Marion County Junior Livestock Auction (MCJLA), combined, they earned a total of $15,144!

These Royal Scots are effectively running their own entrepreneurship, complete with record keeping, financial investments, long term planning, etc., with their Supervised Agriculture Experience livestock projects. Much of this work takes place outside of the classroom

The ability for these students to have these projects in the first place is all due in part with the support of the Salem-Keizer FFA Alumni and Supporters group for donating a portion of their land, allowing our members to raise their projects, and for providing equipment and resources to further increase their chances of success.

Market Animals:

1st place in Sheep Herdsmanship

Isaac Santiago – Market Goat – Purchased by Sweeney Promotions for $14/lb

Johanny Tapia – Market Goat – Purchased by Elite OnSite Services for $12/lb

Memphis Hukill – Market Lamb – Purchased by Linn-Benton Tractor for $11/lb

Aleena Santiago – Market Lamb – Purchased by Les Schwab Keizer for $14/lb

Paige Schuster – Market Turkey – Purchased by Linn-Benton Tractor Supply for $325/lb (tentatively set record cost for market turkey at MCJLA) – Grand Champion Market Turkey

Adrian Tapia – Market Chickens – Purchased by Emery and Sons Construction for $40/lb

Ali Pelagalli – Market Chickens – Purchased by Roberson Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Linn-Benton Tractor for $47/lb

Martin Link-Cole – Market Chickens – Purchased by Sweeney Promotions for $95/lb – Grand Champion Market Chickens

Dairy Goats:

1st place in Dairy Goat Herdsmanship

Chloe Crutcher

Jacky Diaz Parra

Ryan Billington

Memphis Hukill

Llamas:

1st place in Camelid Herdsmanship

Myla Feskens

Ryan Billington

Tractor Driving:

Salem-Keizer placed 3rd overall

Ryan Billington – 5th high individual

Memphis Hukill

Martin Link-Cole

Each year we work to find and support our students on their road to graduation. This past June/July we held our summer credit recovery program. Over 150 students attended regularly for 4 weeks of the summer. These students work towards recovering credits in core classes (Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Health). A staff of teachers and instructional assistants give up some of their summer to help these students along their paths. This summer over 300 credits were recovered. This is a big accomplishments for not only the individuals but also the school. Thank you to all students, families, and staff who made the sacrifice of time to make this achievement possible.

Online registration for the upcoming school year has now opened. The link below will take you to the district's site -- follow the steps to register your "New," or "Returning," student.

https://salkeiz.k12.or.us/parentvue-studentvue/

Athletic registration for the Fall Season (Football, Boys & Girls Soccer, Cross Country, and Volleyball) are now open as well.

https://www.familyid.com/programs/2023-2024-fall-registratio

If you qualify for free/reduced lunch you must complete the discount selection to receive the honored reduced athletic price.

https://discountselection.salkeiz.k12.or.us/

Parking Permits will be available in our main office in a few weeks, look out for updates on when they can be purchased via our next newsletter.

On Wednesday August 16 from 8am to 6pm we will be holding our in-person "Back to School Registration Night." A link will be released to the community in a few weeks to schedule appointments for that date.

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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If you have a specific need our Main Office is currently open Monday--Friday from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. Please feel free to stop by if you have a specific need or question.