Kids Heart Challenge
McKinley will once again be participating in the Kids Heart Challenge to provide support for the American Heart Association. We are excited to be focusing on heart health the next few weeks in PE and look forward to our celebration days at the conclusion of our fundraising campaign. During the school day students in grades K-2 will participate in a celebration by jumping rope on Wednesday, February 12th and students in grades 3-4 will celebrate by shooting hoops on Thursday, February 13th. Students are encouraged to wear red on both of these days as a reminder to focus on maintaining a healthy heart.
Please see the message below from the American Heart Association:
Let the games begin, Heart Heroes! Kids Heart Challenge is here and it’s better than ever! Sign up TODAY to get started on Finn’s Mission - refresh your Hands-Only CPR skills and learn the warning signs of a stroke. Every student who completes Finn’s Mission will earn their very own Heart Hero Cap
Help Save Lives with These Simple Steps:
Download the FREE AHA Schools App for Apple or Android and click on “Register Now” then scroll down to join your school's team.
Next, click on “send a text today” to easily reach friends & family!
OR click HERE. and choose “Sign Up” to get started.
We have some BONUS incentives for our students this year:
Complete Finn's Mission!
The American Heart Association is excited to extend our work with the NFL (National Football League) to support improving health outcomes at home and beyond through the Hands-Only CPR education. Students and staff that complete Finn’s Mission online learning module will earn an entry for two tickets to Super Bowl LX in 2026 and your school will be entered to receive a $10,000 fitness equipment makeover for every 18 students/staff who complete Finn’s Mission.
Thank you for being an essential part of the Kids Heart Challenge, supporting our school and the American Heart Association. Every step you take helps save lives. Let’s make a powerful positive impact together!
Student Drop-off/Pick-up
During morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up we want to maintain safety for all students. Please ensure that students use our designated crosswalks to the North and South of the school when crossing the road. Also, when parking in front of the school make sure the driveway of fire station is never blocked by your vehicle. Their driveway must remain unblocked at all times in the event of an emergency. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
Calendar Dates
February 11
- 1st Grade Grandparents Breakfast
February 12
-Wear Red!
-Jump Rope for Heart Celebration (students in grades K-2)
-PTO meeting (5:30 p.m.)
February 13
-Wear Red!
-Hoops for Heart Celebration (students in grades 3-4)
February 14
-Valentine's Day class parties
-Half Day Dismissal (11:30 a.m.)
February 17
-No School (Presidents' Day)
February 18
-OES Board Meeting (6:00 p.m.)
February 19
-Culver's Night (5:00-8:00 p.m.)
February 21
-End of Trimester 2
-Daddy/Daughter Dance (6:00-7:30 p.m.)
February 28
-Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra Concert (grades 3-4)
-Reports cards distributed to students
March 5
-Spring Pictures
February Lunch Menu
PTO
At our January meeting we discussed our Daddy Daughter dance. It is going to be held on Friday February 21st from 6-7:30. There will be refreshments available. We will also be offering a photo of all the girls with their dates. The pictures will be sent home with your daughter the following week. The ticket information has been sent home and needs to be returned by February 12th. If you have an older school age daughter who would like to attend with dad and a younger sister, you can pay the additional $5. We cannot wait to see all the fun they have!
We have started with ideas for a Mother/son game night. It will be in March and more information will be sent home about that.
McKinley staff will be working a Culver’s night on February 19th. Come dine in from 5-8 pm and have some of your favorite people serve your dinner!
This year we have two positions up for election on the PTO board! The Vice President and Treasurer. You have to attend at least 3 meetings to be able to run. Elections will be held at the April meeting.
On the PTO Facebook page, there is some great information on redeeming box tops. It really is an easy way to get some money for your kids school by purchasing things you already buy!
A reminder that our spirit wear link is still up. You can order anytime and pick up locally on the Southside or you can have it mailed to you.
Spirit Wear - Click Here
Our next PTO meeting will be held on Wednesday February 12th at 5:30 in the gym! Anyone is welcome to attend.
If you have any questions you can reach out to any of our board members or send us a message to the McKinley PTO Facebook page
Amanda Waddell- President
Darlene Hess- Vice President
Casey Clemens- Treasurer
Amy Anderson- Secretary
DON’T FORGET…
-Like our Facebook page McKinley School PTO
-Save your Handy Foods receipts and send them into school. We can redeem these for gift cards to use for school events
-Join Kroger Community Rewards if you haven’t already. Select McKinley school as your organization to support and you can help our school just by grocery shopping!
Champion of The Charter
Congratulations to our January Champion of the Charter students! All of our Champions are invited to attend the February board meeting to be recognized.
Kindergarten
Crosby B., Adira L., Owen H.
1st Grade
Zion C., Cece T., Ava M.
2nd Grade
Kolby S., Aiden E., Lyla B.
3rd Grade
Jack S., Isabella L., Arianna R.
4th Grade
Teagan G., Sophia A., Ryland H.
Life Skills
Atticus R., Uriel G.
D/HH
Logan Z.
Kindergarten
Our kindergarten students have continued to work on mastering their letter-sound knowledge by blending sounds to read and write words. They have worked hard on applying this knowledge while reading leveled books. In addition, some students have enjoyed putting their skills to work by writing complete sentences.
In Math, students have been learning about various shapes, as well as how to create new shapes with basic shapes. Three-dimensional shapes are now being explored with great excitement. Students have been practicing daily to write their numbers properly to 20. Then, we will be learning to decompose numbers up to 10.
-Kindergarten Team
1st Grade
January was a blast in first grade! We had so much fun finally getting to play in the snow with our friends after holiday break. Students used their social skills to work together to build snow people and igloos during recess. Reading skills are coming a long way too. MAP, F&P, and Aimsweb winter assessments are finished. We are so proud of how well they are doing! We are wrapping up our Informative writing unit with a research project on animals. Students are creating unique flap books to display the information they have learned. In math class students are doing a great job adding 2 digit numbers with and without regrouping. We are looking forward to our 100th day of school on Feb. 5th. We will celebrate that we are 100 days brighter with a glow day.
-1st Grade Team
2nd Grade
2nd Grade has had a very busy month being back in session!
In math we worked through place value and addition up to 3-digit numbers. We set goals and wrote about how we can reach those goals for the new year. Students learned all about the work of MLK, Jr. and how hard he fought for peace and equality. We also discussed Inauguration Day and made oaths as a class to be good friends.
We had our first e-learning experience as a school and the students did a great job of adapting! Google Classroom is quite tough, but students caught on quickly to work through using the tools.
We can't wait to see what we have in store for February!
-2nd Grade Team
3rd Grade
January was a busy month for third grade! To wrap up our figurative language unit, we had an idiom dress up day. It was so fun to see all of the creative costumes. We did a fun snow science unit, which ended with an igloo building challenge. We also wrote about being “stuck in a snow globe.” Mrs. Roth from the Little Red Schoolhouse visited us and provided a fun lesson on snowflakes, which included the students making their own snowflakes. We are looking forward to all of the upcoming fun in February!
-3rd Grade Team
4th Grade
4th grade had a great start to 2025! We have been working on our compare/contrast essays in writing, and will soon move on to literary essays. We learned about magnetism in science and are now moving on to the southeast region for social studies. In math, we are working hard on division. As we enter into February we will begin working on multiples and fractions. For reading, we have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Moving into February, we will continue sharpening our reading skills using StoryWorks.
We can’t wait to see what exciting things we’ll learn and accomplish in February!
-4th Grade Team
D/HH
January has been a cold month, but we have kept warm by keeping busy. The students did a great job with our E-learning day. We have been working hard in all our subject areas. We are looking forward to Feb. and our last party of the year.
-D/HH Team
Life Skills
The McKinley Life Skills program has had an eventful January after returning from break! We have learned all about penguins, their life cycle, and their traits. We have all really enjoyed playing board games while staying out of the cold weather, and look forward to some warmer temps so we can play in the snow at recess. We are excited for all of the fun that February has to bring!
-Life Skills Team
STEM
Hello McKinley Families, currently in STEM class the following grades have been working on:
Kindergarten:
Kindergarteners have been working very hard within the past few weeks with learning about heart health, and have also found time to practice shoe tying. The Kindergarten classes have learned how to make their own “stethoscopes” to read each other’s heart rates after physical activity. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK KINDERGARTENERS!
1st Grade:
1st Graders have been working tirelessly on classroom robots and will be learning to make mechanical hands using straws, yarn and construction paper.
2nd Grade:
2nd Graders have been working on architectural design. Their first lessons have been creating perspective drawings. They have been studying famous global structures, and will later create their own with a variety of building materials.
3rd Grade:
3rd Graders have been learning about sea turtles, and the impacts that everyday life has on them. Students have read a few informational books about the treacherous lives of sea turtles, and ways that we can maintain their species’ existence. With that activity, students have also read
Yertle, the Turtle by Dr. Suess, and conducted a fun building project that followed.
4th Grade:
Mrs. Vincent/Mr. Jett’s class have been researching rocks using some of their previous knowledge from classroom instruction, and then adopting our own pet rocks.
Mrs. Johnson’s class has begun our Lego engineering unit. Students learn how to make a model street sweeper, and a workable fishing rod out of Legos.
-Mr. Grommon
