Dear McKinley Families,
Santa Barbara Unified School District is committed to antiracism, equity, and access to improve learning outcomes for all students. Our McKinley staff is also dedicated to this same mission. This month we are beginning Black History Month and February 1-5 is The National Black Lives Matter Week of Action. Teachers and staff were provided resources to help increase awareness surrounding these causes. We are dedicated to helping all of our students succeed!
This principal message also includes important information about BEAR PAWS, attendance, grading in our Specials classes, two important parent surveys, and important dates.
Sincerely,
Elena Garcia-Yoshitomi, Ed.D.
Principal
New Updates
What are BEARPAWS, BEAR BAGS, and the BEAR Guidelines!
Students can get awarded BEARPAWS for following the BEAR guidelines!
B - Be ready to learn
E - Engaged
A - Activate the brain
R - Responsible
S - Safety
When students get 5 tickets they can get a BEAR BAG! These students got 5 BEARPAWS and can come to the office for their prizes! CONGRATULATIONS! Prizes include a book and toys!
Importance of Attendance
Please make sure that your students are attending their zoom classes throughout the instructional day. This is a requirement set by California Ed Code 48293a. If needed, the school will organize meetings specifically about attendance and if you and are family are in this situation. Let’s all be BEARS and BE READY TO LEARN! GO BEARS!
Music, STEAM, and PE announcements
All students receive either a 1, 2, 3, or 4 on report cards in all subjects. When students do not attend Music, STEAM or PE class they can receive a 1. A 1 means that they are not meeting the class’s expectations or attending class. Students may receive better grades but they have to attend zoom classes or complete independent work. Our Music and STEAM teacher assign work on google classroom and our PE teacher has a weekly survey students can complete on the school PE website. Click here for more information on Music, STEAM, and PE. Let’s all be BEARS and ENGAGE with our classes!
Construction
Please be careful when coming to McKinley to pick up your child’s supplies. We have a lot of heavy construction these next couple weeks for our STEAM lab. In fact, this will take almost a year! Thank you for your patience and understanding!
California Healthy Kids Survey
We welcome all parents to complete the California Healthy Kids Survey. This survey allows parents to express their opinion of the school. These surveys help us make better decisions on serving our students and families. We would appreciate this survey to be completed by February 26. This survey is anonymous and will not be shared! Let’s be ENGAGED and ACTIVATE THE BRAIN to help the school!
ELAC Needs Survey
We also have the ELAC needs survey! This is another confidential survey for families of Emergent Multilingual Students. This survey asks specific questions about school programs and services offered to Emergent Multilingual students. Please click on this link to begin the ELAC Needs Assessment Questionnaire. Parents have until Friday, February 26th to complete the survey. It will take 7-10 minutes to complete and is bilingual in Spanish and English. If you need support completing the survey or have any questions please feel free to call the Family Engagement Unit at 805-696-2701 or our school office.
Reminders for Last Message
INCOMING TK/KINDERGARTEN ENROLLMENT FOR THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL
All incoming TK and Kindergarten students must enroll for school. The minimum age for kindergarten is 5 years by September 1. Transitional Kindergarten is 5 years old between September 2-December 2. If you have any questions regarding enrollment please contact our front office.
Please know that we will begin our dual language immersion program at McKinley for the 2021-2022 school year. For more information on dual language immersion please visit our school website: https://www.sbunified.org/academics/dual-language-immersion
Food Distribution
We will continue to distribute 40 boxes of food to families at McKinley Elementary School. This will happen each Friday from 11:00AM-1:30PM. Please be careful with parking and construction.
Important Dates - Check the calendar at mckinley.sbunified.org for all updates
December 1 - January 29 - Student enrollment for kindergarten and new students
Enroll for Kindergarten Dual Language Immersion Program!
February 10 - ELAC 6PM-7PM Zoom Code: 359 959 2750
February 11 - SSC 6PM-7PM https://sbunified.zoom.us/j/97623206262
February 12 - Holiday (No School)
February 14 - Holiday (No School)
February 19 - Behavior Assemblies
February 19 - Student TownHall Meeting 2PM
February 23 - Social Emotional Parent Lunch Meeting 12PM-1PM
February 24 - Social Emotional Parent Night 6PM-7PM