Brockett Bulletin

MSD School Board members and district staff fanned out across the district this week to have lunch with students and visit school kitchens during National School Lunch Week.

The week celebrates the federal school lunch program, which was launched in 1946 to make healthy food accessible to schoolchildren. See more photos on the MSD Facebook page.

This week, several students from Patton Middle School attended the MSD School Board meeting to talk about programs available in the school library.

Students talked about Battle of the Books, activity time, Booksgiving, book “tastings,” the book fair, the top five readers and more. Thank you, Mustangs!

This week, MSD schools participated in the annual earthquake readiness drill, the Great Oregon ShakeOut. The safety exercise, which includes two of the Standard Response Protocols, “Shelter” and “Evacuate,” helps students and staff practice what to do if the Big One comes during the school day.

Click here to see how your family can prepare to survive and recover.

Many MSD families have been having a lot more conversations with their students this past week. If your child shares concerning information about a classmate’s possible self-harm, harm to others, bullying, etc., there’s a way to report it anonymously.

Find out more about how the SafeOregon tip line works and call or text any concerns to 844.472.3367.

Mark your calendars that Friday, Nov. 1 is grading day, no school for students.

In honor of Farm to School Month, Duniway’s garden class put together a plan to celebrate Farm to School Month with a coordinated apple bite.

All advisory classes in both middle schools (and some other schools, ask your student!) received deliveries of Mountain Rose apples from the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Hood River, Oregon.

As part of the activities, middle school students took a bite of the apple at exactly the same time. Check out more photos on the MSD Instagram feed.

Schools are ramping up for this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) competitions. Elementary and middle school students can get registration materials from their school librarian and high school students can sign up here.

Here’s a link to the book lists by level and other info.

Newby Elementary celebrates Unity Day every year in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month. Students and staff wear orange and participate in activities intended to raise awareness about bullying and how to stop it.

Newby students signed their names to the big letters that spell out "Unity" and were mounted on windows at the front of the school; received orange bracelets to wear; created paper chains with student ideas on spreading kindness or becoming an “upstander” (the opposite of a bystander) to bullying; and more.

The kindness chains (pictured) were hung near the school entrance so families can see them during next week’s conferences. Good job, Tigers!

Do you have a girl or boy 6 - 14 years old who may be interested in wrestling? The high school wrestling program is offering a free clinic in the MHS wrestling room on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Find out more under your school’s Peachjar button.

If you happen to be in Newberg next Tuesday, Oct. 22 -- and are hungry -- you might consider dinner or a snack at Burgerville, which is running a fundraiser for the Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County (JOY) program. (Mention JOY when ordering between 4 - 8 p.m. and 20% of your purchase will be donated to the program.)

JOY is a part of the district’s music program and features teaching violin to kindergarten and first graders in all six elementary schools.

Now that the school year is in full swing, you may have time to plan for a year of good attendance. Here’s a tip sheet with ideas from Oregon’s Every Day Matters project designed to help you build a pattern of helping your child get to school, on time, every day.

Just in time for a short school week, the McMinnville Library is offering Teen Read Week, a chance for students to visit the library and pick up a free book. Thank you, McMinnville Library!

The Oregon State Police have a new K-9 puppy and are looking for a name. Students in K-5 are invited to enter a contest to officially name the pup.

Winning entrant will get to meet the dog and enjoy other recognition! Enter here by midnight, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.

Next week is a short week to accommodate parent-teacher conferences. You should have received conference details directly from your school or teacher. Days with schedule changes:

• Wednesday, Oct. 23 (half-day for students, no late start)
• Thursday, Oct. 24 (no school for students)
• Friday, Oct. 25 (no school for students)

Due to the upcoming short week, the Brockett Bulletin will return on Oct. 31.

Looking for something for your kids to do next week on the no-school days? Here’s some information about LEGOs Friday at the library and aerospace-themed day camps at Evergreen Space Museum.