Family Newsletter 4/27/23
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Hello Maverick Nation! I hope your Spring Break was spectacular…or at least restful. We are now officially entering our final quarter of the school year. It will be a little bit of a “haul” through June 30th but McClure staff has plans! In addition to the fun activities the school is planning for kids, our staff has been planning into developing projects and activities to keep kids engaged through the end of the school year.
Dates, Dates and more Dates!!
Mark your calendars and PLEASE consider volunteering for any or all of the following super fun Spring events at McClure:
- Monday, 6/19: Juneteenth – No School
8th Grade Celebration – Wednesday, June 21st. McClure Middle School – 5:30-6:30
- Parade ALL around McClure Middle School and then Parent/student get together in the park with refreshments following!!
- Volunteer to help with set up, balloon arch (amazing!), refreshments, crowd control, music. (We’ll take care of getting the kids around the building in a staggered, orderly way so parents can actually see them! 😊
- 8th Grade Beach Day – Tuesday, June 27th Golden Gardens, 10:00-2:00
- Volunteer to cook/barbecue, set up/take down, supervise, bask in sun…super fun day!
- McClure Field Day –June 28th (Date change) all school, Big Howe Field 1:00-2:45,
- Help with games, popsicles, bouncy houses, supervision, bask in sun…again!! Please volunteer!
We finally have a doorbell!
For my 10-year anniversary of being McClure’s principal, I finally got a doorbell!
All joking aside, we have been asking for a buzzer system for the past ten years to increase the security of our building. And now – it’s finally here!
When you come up to school, ring our new, fancy doorbell and someone in the main office will talk with you (we can see you, too!) You can request your kid or, if you need to come in, we’ll buzz you in! (If you do come in, please do not let people in behind you…thank you!)
Shelter-in-Place and Lock Down Events and Drills:
This week students had a lesson in Advisory which specifically addressed Shelter-in-Place and Lock Down expectations and procedures. For your reference, a Shelter-in-place is utilized to prevent movement within the school while an incident team addresses a situation. We use the Shelter-in-place protocol when there is no imminent danger posed for the entire student body within the school. Most often this is used when a staff member or student has a medical emergency; it allows us to clear hallways so medical teams can easily navigate to the person in need and to retain the dignity of the person if they need to be taken in an ambulance. When we go into a shelter in place, I tell the students over the intercom to go into Shelter-in-place, that they are safe, and to carry on with their daily doings within their classrooms. A shelter in place requires us to clear the hallways and close (not lock) inner-school doors and shades.
Coincidentally, on Monday we went into a Shelter in place due to a medical emergency of a student which had nothing to do with the rest of the building. We also went into a shelter-in-place some years back due to a gas leak in the neighborhood. Traditionally, I have not informed parents of shelter in place incidents because they are most often a response to an incident that does not affect the entire student body. Hearing feedback from a few of our families, I understand that the climate of our country and community right now causes a lot of angst about student safety with students and families. I will not be able to disclose information on individual students (unless the affected student is yours), or specifics about the event. But I will prioritize sending a quick email that we had a shelter in place to give parents a heads up to discuss with their kids.
When a building goes into a lockdown, it is usually because of an emergency that could potentially put the school into some kind of danger. We lock our internal doors, pull all shades and stay quiet in our spaces. For example, last year there was a bank robbery nearby and the District Office directed us to go into a lockdown because the culprit had not been found (wound up in our parking lot). Building leaders do send notices home regarding lockdowns.
We will be having a lockdown drill this Friday. Students will be made aware that this is happening. We always tell kids over the intercom if a lockdown is real or a drill. We have been very direct with our kids to take the drills seriously. It might be helpful to have a conversation about the upcoming drill (and drills/emergencies, in general), to help prepare them.
Chargers!!
Oh my gosh – we are in some dire straights here with chargers. It would be helpful if you would please ask your child if she/he/they has an extra charger that they borrowed from school and remind them to return it to school. Also, wouldn’t hurt to look under beds or anywhere a charger might be “hiding.” Thank you for your help on this.
Snacks
Some of our kids are reporting being hungry during their school day. Many of us have noticed that some students are not eating lunch. When asked, some of them say, “I’m not hungry” but then also some of them come down to the office looking for snacks. I thought this might be helpful information for some of our families that might warrant a check in with your student about how they are nourishing their bodies and minds during the school day. (Hard to really think and learn on an empty stomach!) Also, kids are allowed to have small (preferably nutritious) snacks at school in their locker. They just aren’t allowed to eat in classrooms. They can certainly have a little breakfast bar or banana during passing period.
Hope this helps!
Go Mavs!! Go Kraken!
Shannon Conner
Principal, McClure Middle School