McKinley Family Handbook

McKinley is a Title I school. Title I is the name of a federal program that provides extra funding for schools that serve communities with a high level of poverty, defined as a school where at least 40 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. These funds may be used for teachers, instructional assistants, after school programs, books, supplies and materials. The funds may also be used to provide opportunities for parents to receive training to help their child in school. There are 15 elementary schools in Beaverton School District who receive Title I funding.

The Beaverton School District is committed to providing safe and effective learning environments where all students experience success. The quality of education depends not only upon the responsibilities of students, but also upon the quality or relationships among students, families, teachers, administrators and other school personnel. The Beaverton School District strives to develop and implement policies and procedures that will:

• Assure students that they can learn in a safe and respectful environment and can be treated in a fair, consistent, and non-discriminatory manner.
• Ensure parental confidence in the ability of every school to provide a safe and inclusive climate.
• Help administrators, teachers, and other school personnel provide effective teaching and learning environments.

If all stakeholder groups, namely students, parents, families, school personnel, and community members work collaboratively and creatively to develop and maintain a safe, respectful and inclusive environment - if students work hard and aim hight - if parents and families provide support and encouragement - if school personnel build meaningful relationships with students, provide quality instructional programs, and demonstrate a strong commitment to high standards - then excellence can be achieved in the Beaverton School District.

Adult supervision is provided before school, beginning at 7:25 am.

Students should not arrive prior to 7:25 am, as they will not be supervised.

The first bell is at 7:40 am.

Classroom hours are 7:45 am to 2:20 pm.

7:25-7:40 am: All arriving students enter school grounds through any of the school gates. Students do not enter through the main office entrance. Students who eat breakfast enter the cafeteria through the outside entrance facing the parking lot.

Otherwise, students should report to the following supervised areas:

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades: Gym (indoors)

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade: Outside, near recess doors

At 7:40 am, school staff will begin excusing students in an orderly fashion, one grade level at a time, to walk to their classroom locations.

After 7:45 am, the main entry gate to school grounds will be locked for security. Students arriving after this time enter the building through the main entrance doors. 

After 7:50 am, students will be marked tardy and given a late pass to class as they enter the school. All surrounding gate entrances to the school grounds will be locked for security purposes. These gates will remain locked until afternoon dismissal. 

Afternoon Dismissal
School instructional time is important. Please avoid picking up students early, before the end of school. Student dismissal procedures are as follows. School is over at 2:20 pm.

Walkers: Students will be released after being escorted by teachers and school staff to one of our school exit doors.

Bus Riders: Students first assemble in the Gym. Staff help line up students by bus number, with younger students first and older students last. Students are released from the Gym upon the arrival of their bus. 

Parent Pick-Up: Park your car in an appropriate, designated spot in the school parking lot. (Please be sensitive to handicapped spots.) Parents outside on the blacktop. Teachers will dismiss students from the undercover area.

If you would like your child to go home after school a different way than usual, you will need to write a note to the child's teacher and send it with your child in the morning. We understand that emergencies do happen. If you do need to call in a change to your child's after school plans, we ask that you please call the office before 2:00 pm so that we have sufficient time to notify your child's teacher.

All guidelines and procedures outlined in this document and the BSD Student/Families Handbook apply to riding the bus to and from school. Children who behave in a way that impedes the safety of others or the safe operation of the bus may be given an assigned seat or other appropriate consequences. If a pattern of unsafe bus behavior continues, students may be suspended from bus riding privileges. 

All children are to get off the bus at the stop designated by transportation. A note written and signed by a parent or guardian must be given to the child's teacher to make any changes in pick up or drop off.

Please help us by ensuring you are following the procedures in a patient manner so all parents and children can make it through our parking lot in a safe way. Please respect teachers and staff who are on duty. They are there to encourage safety and ensure that traffic movement is continuous. Sometimes simply slowing down and being patient goes a long way.

Lunch Periods

Our scheduling of lunch periods is determined by the work schedule of our cafeteria staff and the availability of school staff to supervise the cafeteria.

Kindergarten: 10:25 a.m.

1st Grade:  10:50 a.m.

2nd Grade: 11:15 a.m.

3rd Grade:  11:40 p.m.

4th Grade:  12:05 p.m.

5th Grade:  12:30 p.m.

Free and Reduced Price Lunches

If a family is experiencing financial need, parents may complete one application for free or reduced price meals for all students in their family. Meal benefits applications and instructions are available on-line at our Meal Benefits page. The application process and each student's meal benefit status are completely confidential.

Families may apply for meal benefits at any time throughout the school year, even up to the last day of school. However, a new application is required for each school year. For more information, please call: Nutrition Services Meal Benefits Office at 503-356-3957 or the Multilingual Department at 503-356-3755.

Menu, Snacks, and Allergies

Lunch Menu: Breakfast and Lunch Menus for the current month are posted on the Nutrition Services Website.

Snacks: Classroom teachers may allow students to bring snacks to school to eat either before or after lunch. Snacks must follow the district's healthy food policy. For the safety of students with allergies, we ask that you try to avoid snacks that contain peanuts or nut products. Healthy snack ideas include: water, milk, fresh fruit, yogurt, vegetables, whole-grain crackers, pretzels, low-fat popcorn, rice cakes, break sticks, whole-grain bagels, granola bars, trail mix, and low-sugar cereals.

Nut Allergies: In order to ensure the safety of our students with nut allergies, a nut free table is provided in our Cafeteria.

Cafeteria Expectations

• Students are expected to clean up after themselves, return trays to the proper location, recycle appropriate itesm, and dispose of garbage in the receptacles.
• Students are not permitted to share any portion of their meals.
• Health department regulations stipulate that students should wash their hands before eating.
• Monitoring the safety of 100 or more students in the cafeteria space is a challenge. Students are expected to respect the team of school staff who supervise our lunch period.

Expectations

Attendance is critical to student success! Classroom instruction begins at 7:45 a.m. Students are expected to be at school and on time every day they are healthy. Please make every effort to schedule appointments after school hours. For safety reason, students should not arrive to school before 7:25 a.m.

School staff are required by state law (ORS 339.065) to monitor student attendance. When attendance concerns arise, involving excessive absences or tardies, parents will receive a written communication from the principal.

Reporting Absences

Attendance Hotline: If your child will be absent or arriving late, please call the school's 24-hour attendance line at 503-356-2181 and leave a message regarding the absence or late arrival. Please call before 7:30 a.m. on the day of the absence when possible. Emailing the teacher can be done as an additional courtesy, but does not take the place of calling the attendance line.

Unexcused Absences: If your child does not report to school and you do not call to report the absence, your child's absence will be recorded as "Unexcused" and an automated call will be placed to the student's home. 

Vacations: Vacations are not considered excused absences. We ask that you schedule vacations during holiday breaks and during summer months. Please also note that teachers will not provide homework for students who miss class due to vacation.

Late Arrival

Students who have not reported to their classrooms by 8:30 a.m. are considered tardy. Tardies are recorded on student report cards. A student who is tardy must check in at the office before going to class. A note or call from a parent is required when a child arrives late, otherwise the tardy will be considered unexcused.

Oregon law (ORS 339.065) defines truancy as being absent (unexcused) for 8 half-days in a 4 week period:

"Eight unexcused one-half day absences in any four-week period during which the school is in sessions shall be considered irregular attendance. Students who meet these criteria will be reported to ODE as truant. Excused absences are not to exceed five days in a term of three months or not to exceed ten days in any term of at least six months."

Please contact the school either by note, telephone or in person if planning to withdraw your child from McKinley. We request this notice at least two days in advance in order to prepare transfer papers. In addition, if a student is absent from school for 10 days or more in a row, they will automatically be withdrawn from school. They can be re-enrolled upon return, however there is no guarantee that they will be re-enrolled in the same class.

Cell Phones and Technology

Cell Phones and Personal Devices: Students are discouraged from bringing cellphones to school because of the distractions and risk of theft that are associated with them. WE understand that some families choose to provide their children with a cell phone. Our expectation is that while on campus, cell phones will be kept in backpacks and turned off. Students who use their cell phone without permission will be asked to keep the cell phone in the office and a parent will be required to pick it up.

The school is NOT responsible for loss or damage of cell phones or any electronic devices. If your child brings one of these items to school without permission, a staff member will be permitted to take the item. Parents must pick up all confiscated items from the office. 

Use of Classroom Technology: Chromebooks, iPads, and other hardware devices should be used to support learning and research. These devices must at all times be used in a responsible manner that is appropriate within an educational environment. Students may not download, store or print messages, graphics, or images that are inappropriate or that use language that is hurtful towards others. Students may not use devices in a way that violates the privacy of others, commonly referred to as "hacking".

We ask that students only bring items to school that directly relate to schoolwork. Except in situations where staff give permission, toys, cards, sports equipment, and valuables should remain at home so they will not disrupt learning or get lost, damages or stolen. Toys resembling weapons are never to be brought to school.

Students should not bring money to school that is unrelated to school activities. Students are also not allowed to sell or buy goods from one another until they are at home under the supervision of their parents.

A student should never bring the following dangerous, unhealthy, and/or disruptive items to school:

• Alcohol, drugs, drug paraphernalia, tobacco products, vaping or JUUL products. The use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs is prohibited on any school district property 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Matches, lighters, fireworks, exploding items, or prank items.
• Weapons or items associated with weapons (including, but no limited to firearms, bullets and casings, knives, metal knuckles, razors, chemical irritants).

Incidents of students possessing the above items will be reported to parents and may be reported to police. Appropriate disciplinary and/or legal action may be taken including the possibility of expulsion.

We ask parents to help teach our children that norms for clothing vary depending on location and age. At school, students must wear clothing that is appropriate for a learning environment. Parents should consider the appropriateness of words, images and designs on clothing. Students are not allowed to wear clothing that communicates profanity, violence, gang affiliation, forms of substance abuse, or disrespect towards others. Please label outerwear (such as jackets or hats) and lunchboxes with your child's name in case they get lost.

We encourage students to always wear shoes that allow them to safely and fully participate in PE and recess activities. For PE class, students are to wear athletic shoes without black soles. Parents will receive information about their children's PE days from the classroom teacher. 

NO MEDICATION, whether prescription or over-the-counter, will be given to any student without a Medication Record and Authorization Form completed by the parent. )This includes commonly used medications such as Tylenol, cough syrup and cough drops.) Prescription drugs also require written instructions from the child's physician.

• Medication must be brought to school by a parent or guardian and must be in the original container.
• Pharmacists will provide two containers for medication, one for home and one for school. The label on the container must state the student's name, the dosage, time, prescription number, and the physician's name.

A sick child needs to be at home to protect the child and prevent exposing other students. A child needs to be free of fever for 24 hours before returning to school. Children who are not feeling well have a difficult time concentrating and therefore do no benefit from the instruction they receive during that time.

When a student becomes ill or hurt at school, every effort is made to contact the parents or guardians or a person designated by you. If we are unable to contact anyone concerning a sick or injured child, we may call 911 if we believe it is urgent. It is of utmost importance that you notify the office of any changes to your emergency numbers and e-mail addresses, in case we need to contact you. If it is difficult to reach you at an office location, a cell phone number is helpful.

The office calls parents/guardians for any serious injuries or illnesses as a matter of routine. When in doubt, the school will call and ask the parent to make a decision as to whether a child should remain in school, go home, and/or receive medical attention. If the child is ill with a communicable disease, a report from a doctor or Health Department is necessary for re-admittance to school. If you think a child has a communicable disease, please let the office know immediately. 

For security reasons, parents must come into the office to pickup their children and sign them out when leaving early for illness/appointments. Students will not be allowed to wait outside in front of the school for their parents.

Under Oregon law any student under 14 entering school in Oregon for the first time, including kindergarten, must show proof of full immunization against polio, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus), hepatitis B and varicella (chicken pox):

• DPT - 5 doses
• Polio - 4 doses
• MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) - One injection after 12 months of age or proof of disease and second dose before Kindergarten entry.
• Varicella (Chicken Pox) one dose received on or after 12 months of age Hepatitis A - 2 doses
• Hepatitis B - 3 doses

The district assigns a District Nurse and a Health Assistant that are shared among multiple schools, but is consulted for any illness or injury as needed. If you have a health concern or question regarding your child, inform the school secretary and a decision will be made either to contact the nurse immediately or to make a referral.

If a student is well enough to come to school, he or she is expected to participate in all regular daily activities, including recess. If a student is healthy enough to come to school, but has an injury, condition or disability that will prevent full participation in daily activities, a doctor's written directions stating the child's situation and also the degree of allowable activity inside and outside the building will be honored. 

All student in grades K-3 will have their vision screened for distance acuity and stereopsis. An optional screening of near point visual acuity and PediaVision Auto-refraction may also be conducted with students of concern. Additionally, all students in grades L-3 will have their hearing screened. 

The Beaverton School District policy on head lice described here is based upon guidance from the Oregon Department of Education that has been created for all school districts in Oregon.

Lice is no longer a reportable condition or a reason to exclude a student from school. Health specialists have determined that it is very rare for lice to be spread in the classroom setting via share objects, such as coats, carpet, etc.  Lice do not jump, fly or move from person to person without direct head to head contact. Transmission of lice most always occurs in close contact head to head contact such as sleepovers, sharing and use of personal items blankets, pillows, etc. 

Studies have shown that mass screenings for lice have not shown a significant effect on the incidents at school. Communication between school personnel and parents/caregivers highlighting cases of head lice, e.g., "head lice outbreak letters" has been shown to increase community anxiety, increase social stigma causing embarrassment of affected students, and puts students' rights to confidentiality at risk. 

McKinley values its volunteers and our parent community. Possible volunteer activities range from assisting in the classroom, preparing copies and materials for teachers, supporting school events like Fun Run or Field Day, or participating in school programs like Art Literacy. No past experience is needed. Check the school calendar for dates and times. Parents and guardians area also encouraged to participate in informational events such as: Back to School Night, Family Engagement Nights, and our Fall and Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences. 

The PTM is our school's parent organization which coordinates parent participation in school activities and enhances educational opportunities for our students through fund-raising, educational, social and community programs. Anyone who has a child enrolled at McKinley School is automatically a member of PTM, has a vote and can get involved! More information can be found on PTM Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/McKinleyPTM

McKinley is community that supports one another all throughout the school year. If you would like to offer a donation of school supplies, snack items, monetary funds, or other gift items please contact our main office. In the case of monetary and gift donations, certain processes may apply in order to fulfill proper bookkeeping requirements. 

Because the accumulation of birthday parties over a school year would result in a significant loss of instructional time, birthday celebrations at school are not allowed. Food items, balloons, or flower arrangements should not be delivered to school. Invitations to private birthday parties may only be distributed if every child in the class is included. 

A welcome alternative to a birthday party would be a book donation to the classroom library, in your child's name. Teachers will happily read the book aloud to acknowledge your child's birthday and the book can live on in the classroom library for many children to enjoy time and time again.

Classroom teachers may allow students to bring snacks to school to eat either before or after lunch. Snacks must follow the district's healthy food policy. For the safety of students with allergies, we ask that you try to avoid snacks that contain peanuts or nut products. Healthy snack ideas include: water, milk, fresh fruit, yogurt, vegetables, whole-grain crackers, pretzels, low-fat popcorn, rice cakes, bread sticks, whole-grain bagels, granola bars, trail mix, and low-sugar cereals. 

McKinley serves and embraces a culturally and economically diverse community of families and staff. Providing children opportunities to learn about one another's backgrounds and traditions is an essential component of preparing them to be leaders in a diverse world. When it comes to holiday traditions, we will strive to create a climate where families and students feel welcomed and not excluded.