A warm welcome to our new 2024-2025 families!

News from the Nest — February 9, 2024

Posted February 9, 2024

You’re Invited:
5th Annual Social & Emotional Learning Night Is Thursday, 2/22!

Our 5th annual Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) Night is returning on Thursday, February 22! Focused on SEL specifically for parents and caregivers, SEL Night’s goal is to help families learn about a variety of important topics to best support their children at home and at school!

Event Details

  • Who: all McKinley-Thatcher parents, guardians, & caregivers and their McKinley students.
  • What: a night of learning for adults on a wide variety of SEL-related topics.
  • When: Thursday, February 22, 2024; 4:30pm-6:30pm
  • Where: McKinley cafeteria & classroom spaces
  • Why: to help families expand their knowledge about SEL and other important topics related to parenting.
    • So… what’s SEL?
      Social & emotional learning (SEL) is the development of self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for success in school, work, and life!
  • How: come at 4:30pm to enjoy free pizza & salad for dinner, then check your McKinley students in for free childcare provided by our school staff. Adults then choose two learning sessions to attend from our list! 

An RSVP is required to attend SEL Night. To RSVP, and for more information about our learning session topics, please visit our website! 

Auction Reminders:
Donate to the Wine Pull, Buy Your Tickets, Last Day to Submit Donations!

Our PTA auction committee is collecting bottles of wine for the auction wine pull! Volunteers will be at various locations on the sidewalk just outside of our school grounds to collect bottle donations this coming Tuesday, February 13 at morning drop-off! 

(Please note, we cannot accept donations of alcohol on school grounds, so find our friendly volunteers just on the edges!)

Can’t drop off your wine donations on February 13? Text Erin at (303) 947-7845 to arrange a porch drop-off on a different day. We will be collecting until Wednesday, February 21.

Get Ready to Shine!

Tickets to this year’s PTA school auction, Shine, are now live! The auction, our largest school fundraiser of the year, is Friday, March 1, 7:00pm to 10:00pm, at Moss Denver, with appetizers, drinks, and fun!

Get your tickets today on our auction website!

Share Your Skills, Talents, and Other Auction Items!

Our PTA auction committee is looking for auction items! This is our largest fundraiser of the year, and we need you all to help make it a success! We love highlighting the incredible talents of our community, and would appreciate adding handmade items or sharing a skill. Whatever it is you have to give, we’re so grateful!

Please let us know using this Google form!

We’re happy to take donations until today, February 9, and request donation items in hand by February 14 so we can get them posted to our auction site.

February CSC Meeting Is Next Tuesday, 2/13!

Our school is growing – and we want your opinion on how to prioritize our budget! Let us know where you think McKinley-Thatcher should be putting our money at our next CSC meeting, which is online via Google Meet at 5:00pm next Tuesday, 2/13, at this link!

REMINDER:
School Valentine’s Day Celebration Is Next Wednesday, 2/14!

Read this information in Arabic by clicking here. 
Read this information in Spanish by clicking here.

We are hosting our classroom Valentine’s Day parties on Wednesday, February 14! ECE through 3rd will celebrate from 7:30am to 8:30am and 4th and 5th grade will celebrate from 9:05am to 10:00am. Please note that our classroom parties are for students ONLY. 

If you prefer that your child not participate in our Valentine’s Day celebration, please submit this form, return the paper opt-out form from your child’s February 2 Friday Folder, or call us at (720) 424-5600.

Help Our Students Support the Denver Dumb Friends League! 

One of our school’s Destination Imagination teams is hosting a mini carnival with proceeds to benefit the Denver Dumb Friends League tomorrow, Saturday, February 10, from 12:30pm to 3:30pm at the Hadley Branch Library! This event is not sponsored by the Denver Public Library. For more information, please contact gleichmana@gmail.com.

Can’t make it to the carnival? Donate online here instead!

Other School News

  • Mark your calendar: we have NO SCHOOL on Friday, February 16 (DPS staff planning day) or Monday, February 19 (Presidents’ Day)!

  • Volunteer with our Free Book Friday giveaways to help spread the love of reading to our children! If you’d like to assist, please sign up here!

  • REMINDER: If you have over 95% attendance in the month of February, you will be invited to a hot chocolate and movie party!! That means you can only miss ONE day in February for this special reward! YOU CAN DO IT!

  • REMINDER: Round 1 of the 2024-2025 SchoolChoice Application Window closes at 4:00pm on Monday, February 12! If your student is going into ECE, kindergarten, 6th grade, or 9th grade next school year, please complete your SchoolChoice application before Monday’s deadline!

Community News & Resources

  • DPS Discount Days are back! See Cebollas at the DCPA from now until 3/10 and receive a 15% discount on tickets with $5 from each ticket donated back to the DPS Foundation by using discount code DPSFUND at check-out here!

Upcoming School Events

Click here to view the McKinley-Thatcher school calendar.

Upcoming DPS & Community Events

  • None at this time!