News from the Nest — October 14, 2021

Posted October 14, 2021

Vol. 6, No. 8

McKinley Fishing Day @ Wash Park Returns!

We are excited to announce that we’ll be once again holding our annual McKinley Fishing Day with Denver Parks & Rec at Wash Park! Families can join Mr. J (our PE teacher) and park rangers at Smith Lake on Saturday, October 23 at 11:00am for a fun day of getting outside to enjoy some fishing, the Colorado weather, physical activity, and the McKinley-Thatcher community! Kids receive a free fishing pole to keep!

Check out our flyer here for more information.

News from Our PTA:
October Meeting, Sexy Pizza Restaurant Day, & Other Events

Families are invited to join our next PTA meeting on Tuesday, October 19, at 7:35am (just after drop-off). The meeting will be held on the playground like last time and we’ll have free coffee again, too (bring your own cup)! Feel free to drop in and leave as you need.

Restaurant Day: Sexy Pizza on October 19

PTA is also holding a Restaurant Day fundraiser with Sexy Pizza on South Pearl St.! Dine at the South Pearl (1579 S. Pearl St.) location anytime on Tuesday, October 19 and 20% of sales will be donated to our school. Families can dine in or order online here.

Save-the-Dates!

Save the date for our Blue Ribbon Award Celebration on Saturday, November 13! (Details coming soon.)
Save the date for our Birdcall Restaurant Night on Tuesday, November 16.

In Other News…

REMINDER: there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow, October 15 or on Monday, October 18. Enjoy the long weekend and we’ll see you again on Tuesday, October 19!
Our first Collaborative School Committee (CSC) meeting of the school year is on Tuesday, October 19 at 5:00pm! CSC meetings will be virtual this year — we’ll share our meeting link the day of the meeting. Our CSC is open to everyone, includes staff, families, and community members, and serves as a leadership body for our school. We would love to have your voice and your perspective included to guide our school decision-making, particularly our decisions about our school budget and staffing. Visit the CSC page on our website for more information!
We’re celebrating Halloween on Friday, October 29 from 7:30am to 8:45am! We’ll send home full details about our celebration next week, but here are the basics for now!
- Costume Parade (students parade for families): 7:45am-8:00am on the field
- Halloween Parties (for students only): 8:00am-8:45am in classrooms
- Costume Rules
  - School-appropriate
  - No full face masks
  - No fake blood or gore
  - No weapons
  - Students MUST wear their regular COVID mask with their costumes.
Our Original Works art fundraiser is about to begin! Be on the lookout this week for a Friday Folder flyer from Original Works to give you a heads-up on our upcoming art fundraiser. Details about how to participate will come home in Friday Folders during the first week of November. General information can be found on the Original Works website h ere.
DPS is providing free vision, hearing, and dental screenings to all our students on Thursday, October 27! The screenings are not an assessment or evaluation, but they do help identify students who may be at risk for health concerns. If you do not want your student to participate in our screenings, please contact our school nurse, Jennifer Iltis, at Jennifer_Iltis@dpsk12.org or (720) 424-5606.

Upcoming Events

Click here to view the McKinley-Thatcher school calendar.

Fri., 10/15 — NO SCHOOL: DPS Non-Student Contact Day
Mon., 10/18 — NO SCHOOL: DPS Teacher Planning Day
Tues., 10/19 — IN-PERSON October PTA meeting, 7:30am on our playground
Tues., 10/19 — Restaurant Day at Sexy Pizza
Tues., 10/19 — VIRTUAL October CSC meeting, 5:00pm online
Sat., 10/23 — McKinley Fishing Day, 11:00am at Wash Park (more info coming soon!)
Weds., 10/27 — DPS Health Screenings for all students
Fri., 10/29 — Halloween celebration, 7:30am (more details coming soon!)
Fri., 10/29 — October Student Recognition Assembly, 8:45am on Google Meet