Magpie

9/4 - Labor Day - No School

9/7 - Harvest Fair/ Contra Dancing/ Open House @ 6:30pm

9/8 - Early Release Day

9/11 - Community Council Meeting @ 1:00

9/12 - Site Council Meeting @ 3:30pm

9/14 - Coast Walk Clean-Up - All School Field Trip

9/19 - Talk & Dress Like a Pirate Day

9/26 - Picture Day

9/28 - Student Council Elections

9/29 - Family Game Night @ 7:00pm

There will be no school on Monday, September 4th. We have you enjoy your 3-day Labor Day weekend!

On Thursday, September 7, 2023 we will hold an Open House & Fall Harvest Fair with contra dancing. Parents will be able to enjoy looking at the Fair during Open House which begins at 6:30 pm. Come in your best farming gear! We look forward to seeing you there!

Students and community families are invited to bring fruits, vegetables and flowers to the Harvest Fair. Bring your entry to display at school on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 9th. Consider which category suits your entry best:

· Largest . . . vegetable, fruit, grain, leaves, and flowers

· Smallest . . . vegetable, fruit, grain, leaves and flowers

· Unusual Looking. . . vegetable, fruit, grain and flowers

· Harvest Hat . . . Decorate one or make one with fruits, vegetables or flowers

· Tiniest flower arrangement

· Most colorful flower arrangement

· Smelliest – good or bad

· Creations: (children attempt to create characters or objects with vegetables i.e. stick a carrot on a potato face for a nose)

- Funniest

- Dragons

- Unique Setting or Scene

- Camouflage Creatures

· Family Project (any category)

· People’s Choice (students will vote for the entry they consider most

outstanding)

***6th Grade will be having a bake sale during the harvest fair in order to raise funds for future field trips!

We are looking for a parent volunteer that would like to come into the school on Thursdays to run our student store. We would need that parent to arrive at the school at 11:50 to set up the table and they would be here until about 1:00. Please call Joy at 235-8181 if you are interested.

We are still needing some parents to jump on Powerschool and complete their student's registration forms for the new school year. You can access these through your parent portal under "forms" and then "assign forms". Please make sure to complete all of the forms listed so that we have the necessary/updated contact info in case of an emergency.

***Also, if you have a student in K-5th please make sure to send in the $6 ($7 for 3rd grade) Scholastic News fee if you haven't done so already.

Thank you!

Our Site Council will be meeting on Tuesday, September 12th at 3:30. The public is welcome to attend.

Thursday, September 7th between 6:30pm - 7:00pm, come to the Parent Library (back of the McNeil Library) during our Harvest Fair/ Open House to find out about this year’s Title 1 program! There will be opportunity to hear about this federal program, McNeil’s plans for the 23-24 school year, how your child might benefit, and to voice your input on our annual plan. Join Bill at the Title 1 Annual Meeting, enjoy refreshments, and check-out materials from the Parent Library while you’re at it! Also see the end of this Dragon Tale for an informational flyer about this event. See you soon!

What is it? We are a group of parent volunteers who work together to encourage and support our community of McNeil staff and students.

What does it do? The McNeil Community organizes two primary fundraisers: The McNeil Fall Carnival in late October, and The McNeil Family Talent Show in the Spring. These are wonderful, community building celebrations that have traditionally provided funds for our Artist in the School program, Swim lessons for the kids, Scholarships, etc.. We also seek to support our staff members when they need additional classroom materials, and show our appreciation for their tremendous investment into our children’s lives.

What can I do to support the Community Council? We all lead busy lives, but the good news is that there are many ways you can support the Community Council at McNeil without doing it all!

If you are a planner/ organizer with time off on Friday afternoons: Attend a Community Council meeting. Look for our next meeting date and time in the McNeil newsletters.

If you don’t have time during the day but are able to make phone calls: Become a room parent. You can be in charge of calling the parents in your room 3 times during the year to let them know about upcoming events and how they can participate. There will be a sign up sheet in your child’s classroom the evening of the Open House/ Harvest Fair, September 1st.

We look forward to working together this year!

***Community Council will meet next on Monday, September 11th at 1:00 in the staff lounge.

We will have an Early Release Day on Friday, September 8, 2023. McNeil Students will be released at 1:20 pm and buses will leave at 1:30 pm. Your child will arrive home 1.5 hrs. earlier than usual.

Tuesday, Sept. 19th, is Talk and Dress-Like-a-Pirate Day. Aaaargh. Join the fun!

Please mark your calendar – Picture Day is Tuesday, September 26th. Two parent volunteers are needed to help the photographer that day. Parent helpers will receive one free packet of pictures for their assistance. Call Joy in the office if you can help. All pictures will be taken in the morning with preschoolers invited to have their picture taken at 10:30 am.

Our Annual Beach Coast Walk Clean-Up Day will be held on Thursday, Sept. 14th. Teachers will be looking for volunteers to help with student groups and 2 volunteers will be needed to prep hot chocolate at the school for the students return. Permission slips and fundraising packets were sent home last Friday. The monies raised will go towards class accounts for future field trips and class enrichment. Fundraising packets are due Thursday, September 22nd. Thank you!

Family game night will be held on Friday, Sept. 29 from 7:00-8:30 pm. Bring board games to share. Join the Fun!

The following students have been selected as Spotlight Students for the month of September: Savien Martushev, Jasper Alvarez, Juniper Fonkert, Sienna Rummery, Asher Stafford, Emilian Reutov, Tevi Bowman, Emrie Wahl, Dedim Basargin, Osmund Boldt, Sage Ault, Stefan Kuzmin, Haddie Fisher, Isaiah Rutter, Avien Ryder, Savva Basargin and Lola Mattson.

Parents are invited to join their child and the principal for lunch (the date is TBD) at 11:55 am. We will notify our spotlight student parents of the lunch date in a future newsletter.

Spotlight Student forms went home with these children on Friday, August 25th. Please return them as soon as possible so they can be placed on our Spotlight Student bulletin board. Thank you!

Are you curious to see what activities are happening in the Homer area? Click the link below to access the activity page on our McNeil Canyon Elementary website.

Email: joverson@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
Website: kpbsd.org/schools/mcneil-canyon/
Location: 52188 East End Rd, Homer, AK, USA
Phone: 907-235-8181
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McNeilCanyon/