School Registration

Using a Parent Portal account, families will verify that the information in their students’ school records is correct. If you completed this step earlier in the summer, you do not need to do it again. If you can’t remember whether you’ve already completed this step, please call us at (720) 424-5600.

What to Do

To begin your Online Registration, log into Parent Portal here, click on “See All Apps,” then click on “Online Registration.”

The online registration process gives families the opportunity to verify and update their student’s household and other information.

If your child’s immunization record has changed since last school year, or if your child is new to McKinley-Thatcher, please upload their immunization record or exemption.

In order to submit your student’s online registration, please be sure to click both the red “SUBMIT” button and the smaller “Confirm” button (see screenshot below!). Families will receive an email notification that your online registration has been completed.

Need to Know

• Online registration is not mobile-friendly. Please use a computer or call us if you need to borrow a Chromebook or receive a paper form.
• Only parents/guardians listed as members of your student’s primary household in their school record can complete online registration.
• To create a Parent Portal account, use the guide available under the “How do I create a Parent Portal account?” question on this website.
  • To create your account, you must use the email address associated with your name on your student’s school record. Please call us at (720) 424-5600 if you’re unsure which email address we have listed.
• If you’ve created a Parent Portal account and need to recover your username, click here. To recover your Parent Portal password, click here.
• if you are unable to upload your child’s immunization record during Online Registration, you may email it to us at McKinley_Thatcher@dpsk12.org.

I Need Help

• Click here to see the Office of Choice & Enrollment Services FAQs for Online Registration.
• Click here to see the step-by-step Online Registration guide in English.
• Click here to see the step-by-step Online Registration guide in Arabic.
• Haga clic aquí para ver la guía de registro en línea en español.
• Nhấp vào đây để xem hướng dẫn Đăng ký trực tuyến từng bước bằng tiếng Việt.

Complete the 2024-2025 You Benefit! form to help our school access all available federal funds to cover the cost of meals and other support programs for students. All household income information provided through this form is strictly confidential and protected by law. Only one form is required for all children in the household. Immigration, migrant, citizenship, or refugee status is not required when completing the form.

Healthy School Meals for All Program

All students in DPS have access to free healthy, nutritious school meals through the Healthy School Meals for All program. While meals will be provided for free to all DPS students through Healthy School Meals for All, families still need to complete the You Benefit! application form to ensure McKinley-Thatcher receives all available federal funding for our school.

What to Do

To complete the You Benefit! application, visit www.myschoolapps.com and follow the instructions on the website. You will need your student’s DPS ID number and, if you have one, your SNAP number to complete this application. Please call our office at (720) 424-5600 or use the DPS ID Retrieval Tool to find your student’s ID number.

Need to Know

• For breakfast and lunch menus, a la carte menu options, and other school meal information, visit the DPS Food & Nutrition Services website here.
• Upon completing the You Benefit! application, families may receive an automated notice that they do not qualify for federal school meal assistance. Regardless of a family’s federal assistance eligibility, all DPS students receive free school meals through Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All program.

I Need Help

• For questions about the You Benefit! form, please contact the DPS Food & Nutrition Services department by calling (720) 423-5600 or emailing foodservices@dpsk12.org 

McKinley-Thatcher asks that all students in ECE through 5th grade pay a $50 supply fee and a $25 field trip fee during registration. Our school uses this money to buy supplies to distribute to all students and to pay for field trips throughout the year.

What to Do

Families may pay their school fees through our online payment website, MySchoolBucks.com. Families with an existing MySchoolBucks account may log in directly to MySchoolBucks.com or may access the site by clicking the MySchoolBucks link in Parent Portal.

New families must create a MySchoolBucks account in order to pay for school fees online. For instructions on using your Parent Portal account to set up a MySchoolBucks account, click here and scroll down to “Pay Student Fees Through the Parent Portal.”

Once you’ve logged into MySchoolBucks and connected to your McKinley-Thatcher student, find the McKinley “School Store” menu button, add the applicable school fee items to your store cart, and check out to submit payment.

Families in need of financial assistance to pay their school fees may complete this Google form.

Need to Know

• McKinley-Thatcher does not have school supply lists for students; instead, school fees are used to provide supplies for all students.
• You may make a financial donation to our school through MySchoolBucks to help cover fees for other school families.
• You may also pay your school fees using cash or card in our main office. Please call us at (720) 424-5600 to arrange this.

I Need Help

• For instructions to link your Parent Portal account to your MySchoolBucks account, click here and scroll down to “Pay Student Fees Through the Parent Portal.”
• Visit the MySchoolBucks FAQ page here for website help or call our main office at (720) 424-5600 with questions.

What to Do

Please review important information about the beginning of the school year below.

Half-Day Schedule for August 19, 20, & 21!

McKinley-Thatcher’s first three days of school are HALF-DAYS for assessment purposes! Class hours on these three days are 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Students in kindergarten through 5th grade will have an assessment meeting with their teacher on the afternoon of August 19, 20, or 21.

For students who ride our school bus, the bus will pick up at 11:30 a.m. on August 19, 20, and 21.

The first day of school for ECE students is Tuesday, August 20. ECE will follow the same half-day schedule listed above on Tuesday, August 20 and Wednesday, August 21. There will be no assessment appointments for ECE students. 

First Week of School Schedule

• Monday, 8/19 — K-5th Grade: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL + Half-Day
  • Class hours: 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.. Students will eat lunch before dismissal.
  • ECE ONLY: ECE students have no school on Monday, 8/19.
  • K-5th Grade: K-5th grade students have individual assessment appointments in the afternoon.
    
    
• Tuesday, 8/20 — ALL GRADES: Half-Day + ECE: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
  • Class hours: 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Students will eat lunch before dismissal.
  • ECE ONLY: The first day of school for ECE students is Tuesday, 8/20.
  • K-5th Grade: K-5th grade students have individual assessment appointments in the afternoon.
    
    
• Wednesday, 8/21 — ALL GRADES: Half-Day
  • Class hours: 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Students will eat lunch before dismissal.
  • K-5th Grade: K-5th grade students have individual assessment appointments in the afternoon.
    
    
• Thursday, 8/22 & Friday, 8/23 — ALL GRADES: Full-Day Classes on our regular schedule!
  • Class hours: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

K-5th Grade Students: Assessment Sign-Up

All students in kindergarten through 5th grade will have an individual assessment meeting with their teacher on the afternoon of August 19, 20, or 21. We’ll send out a sign-up form for assessment appointments soon. 

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General Back-to-School Information

• School hours for students: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  
  
• Office hours: 7:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
  
  
• Upcoming August events:
  • Open House — Thursday, August 15, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
    Open House is a great opportunity to meet your teachers, say hello to other families, and tour classrooms!
  • First Day Celebration — Monday, August 19, 7:15 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
    Join us for on our playground for First Day photo ops and fun!
    
    
• Review, save, or print the 2024-2025 McKinley-Thatcher School Year Calendar.
  • Please note that we have four NO SCHOOL days specific to McKinley on:
    • Friday, September 13, 2024
    • Friday, March 7, 2025
    • Tuesday, April 1, 2025
    • Friday, May 2, 2025
      
      
• Review our Family & Student Handbook.
  
  
• For questions about DPS school bus transportation, or to see if your child is eligible to ride our school bus, visit the DPS Transportation Department website.
  
  
• McKinley uses ClassDojo as our primary communications app. In early August, families with new students will receive an email invitation to join our school on ClassDojo.
  • Families do NOT need to subscribe to the premium version of the app in order to receive school communications.
  • This invitation will come to the email address listed for your child’s primary emergency contact on their school record. Later in August, your child’s classroom teacher will share instructions on how to add additional parents or guardians to your ClassDojo profile.

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OPTIONAL for New Students: Complete Our “New Student Information” Form

Help us get to know your new McKinley student by completing our New Student Information form.

OPTIONAL: Walk Home / Public Transit Permission Form

if your student will be walking or taking public transit home from school unaccompanied, please complete our “Walk Home / Public Transit” permission form here. Students will not be allowed to walk home or take RTD alone without a completed form.

OPTIONAL: Discovery Link After-School Care

Visit the Discovery Link website to learn about and register for our after-school care program for ECE-4 through 5th grade students. After-school care runs daily from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For assistance with program registration, contact Discovery Link directly at (720) 423-1781 or discovery_link@dpsk12.org.

For questions or more information about McKinley’s Discovery Link program, please contact Taylor Robertson, our Discovery Link Program Supervisor, at Taylor_Robertson@dpsk12.net or (720) 728-9342.

OPTIONAL: Sign Up for PTA News & Updates

Sign up here to receive news and information from our Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) and give input on items such as meeting times, and visit PTA’s page on our school website to learn more about the many ways they support our school.

ECE-4 families are required by the Colorado Department of Education to complete additional registration forms before they can begin school. If you do not have an ECE student, please skip this step!

What to Do

Universal Preschool (UPK) Application

Denver Public Schools is working with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) to provide preschool tuition assistance to families through Universal Preschool Colorado, also known as UPK. UPK ensures that every child, in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten, is eligible for half-day, state-funded, voluntary preschool.

To access UPK funding for ECE-4 at McKinley, families with incoming ECE-4 students must complete a UPK application on the Colorado Department of Early Childhood website. Be sure to select McKinley-Thatcher as your provider when completing your application.

ECE-Specific Registration Forms

Please use the following links to download the ECE-specific registration forms in your preferred language. Please note that the English and Spanish versions of the form packet are fillable PDFs that may be completed digitally. The Arabic and Vietnamese versions are not fillable and must be printed and completed by hand. If you would like to receive this packet in a language not listed below, please call our office at (720) 424-5600.

• ECE-Specific Registration Forms — ENGLISH (fillable version)
• ECE-Specific Registration Forms — ARABIC (print version)
• ECE-Specific Registration Forms — SPANISH (fillable version)
• ECE-Specific Registration Forms — VIETNAMESE (print version)

You may use the Adobe Acrobat PDF program to view and complete the forms on your computer. Adobe Acrobat may be downloaded for free here.

IMPORTANT: to successfully complete these forms, please download them to your computer and complete them using Adobe Acrobat, then save them to your desktop using a different file name. This helps make sure your information isn’t lost when emailing your completed forms!

Completed forms may be emailed to our office at McKinley_Thatcher@dpsk12.org.

Families may also choose to:

• Download and print the forms, complete them by hand at home, and submit them to our office in-person.
• Pick up a paper packet from our office and submit completed forms in-person.

Need to Know

• The following ECE forms are included in the packet above and MUST be submitted BEFORE your ECE student can attend class on the first day of school (Tuesday, August 20).
  • Parent/Guardian Information & Permissions (pages 4-6)
  • Parent/Guardian Acknowledgements (pages 7-8)
  • Immunization records (received from your child’s doctor)
    
    
• The “Child’s Statement of Health Status for Enrollment” form (page 10) MUST be submitted within 30 days of the first day of school. Health forms for McKinley ECE students are due by Thursday, September 19, 2024. Students will not be able to attend class after this date without a completed health form on file.
  • Health forms MUST be signed by your child’s doctor, so please plan ahead!
    
    
• The DPS ECE program is tuition-based. Families can estimate their monthly tuition payment by using this tuition chart.
  • Click here to see the tuition chart in Spanish.
    
    
• Families may refer to the DPS Early Education Department’s “Billing and Payments” page for information on ECE tuition payment options and instructions.

I Need Help

• Refer to the Denver Public Schools “UPK Frequently Asked Questions” document here for UPK information.
• Refer to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s UPK Family Handbook here.
• For help completing or submitting your ECE registration forms, please call our main office at (720) 424-5600.