News from the Nest — August 27, 2021

Posted August 27, 2021

News from the Nest logo

Vol. 6, No. 1

Welcome to Our First 2021-2022 News from the Nest!

To our returning families, welcome back! To our new families, it is a pleasure to welcome you to our school and to share this first newsletter of the school year. Our weekly newsletter, News from the Nest, comes out every Friday afternoon and has the latest news, upcoming events, and other happenings in our school. Families will receive the newsletter in their email and on ClassDojo, and it’s also posted on our website!

If you have a family member who would like to receive News from the Nest in their email, please contact us at McKinley_Thatcher@dpsk12.org or (720) 424-5600 to let us know!

ClassDojo: What It Is & How We Use It

Many of our families are already connected to McKinley-Thatcher and their children’s teachers on ClassDojo, so we wanted to take this opportunity to share a little bit about how we use this great app. ClassDojo is a safe and simple mobile app that allows school staff and families to communicate with each other quickly and easily. 

Available on iPhone and Android, ClassDojo lets families receive class and school-wide communications and to directly message teachers and other staff. ClassDojo also lets families choose which language they’d like to view information in (including Spanish and Arabic!). 

We post all of our most up-to-date school information and news on ClassDojo, so we highly encourage all our families to get connected. Please reach out to your children’s teachers or call our office at (720) 424-5600 if you need help!

FREE Breakfasts & Lunches for ALL Students!

Just a reminder that Denver Public Schools is offering FREE breakfasts and lunches to ALL district students all year! We still request that all families complete a Meal Benefits application here. Completing an application ensures that your family has access to all school resources you might be eligible for, and helps make sure we get the most funding to support our school!

School Meals at McKinley

  • Breakfast for kindergarten through 5th grade (in cafeteria): 7:15am to 7:25am
  • Breakfast for ECE-4 (served in classrooms): 7:30am
  • Kindergarten through 5th grade eat lunch in our cafeteria. 
  • ECE-4 students eat lunch in their classrooms.   

In Other News!

  • Save the Date: VIRTUAL Back-to-School Night! We’re holding our virtual Back-to-School Night (BtSN) on Thursday, September 9, 5:30pm to 6:30pm on Google Meet. BtSN is an opportunity to join your children’s teachers to learn about our math, literacy, and social-emotional learning curriculum. We’ll hold two different sessions: 5:30pm to 6:00pm and 6:00pm to 6:30pm. Both sessions are the same, so families with multiple children can attend with multiple teachers! More information will be coming home soon.

  • Yearbooks for Returning Students: we’re excited to send home last year’s school yearbooks with returning students today, and we’ve sent home an extra copy for families with a sibling who graduated from 5th grade last year. All returning students receive their yearbook for free because our PTA covers the cost! If you’d like to help support the PTA, you can make a yearbook donation on their website.

  • DPS’S Face & Community Engagement (FACE) Office is offering free classes to support families this fall! Check out flyers for more information on classes for citizenship help, learning English, getting your GED, improving your work skills, and becoming a DPS paraprofessional!

  • Girls on the Run for 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade girls: we are so excited to offer our Girls on the Run (GOTR) running club for 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade girls this fall! GOTR will meet from 2:30pm to 3:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 14 to November 11. Please visit the GOTR website for more information and to get registered. Please note that we haven’t yet gotten other after-school enrichments set up, but are hoping to do so soon!

Upcoming Events

Click here to view the McKinley-Thatcher school calendar.

  • Mon., 9/6 — NO SCHOOL (Labor Day)
  • Thurs., 9/9 — VIRTUAL Back-to-School Night, 5:30pm-6:30pm