Principal Update: New Semester, Stronger Attendance at McKay!

Hello McKay Community,

As we transition into semester 2 of the 2018-19 school year, it’s important to keep regular school attendance a priority in your child’s life. Throughout the district, you may have heard about Every Day 24J, the districts attendance campaign to help raise awareness about how chronic absenteeism affects our students.

Did you know we currently have nearly 1 in 3 students who are chronically absent across the district? That means 29 percent of students are missing, on average, two days of school each month. If this continues, chronically absent students will miss out on an entire month of instruction for the 2018-19 school year.

As you would expect, this impacts learning at foundational levels and can negatively impact a student’s likelihood of reaching high school graduation.

How can I help my student be at school every day?

• Communicate with us here at McKay
Every once in a while, your student may need to miss school. When these situations occur, it’s important to communicate with us. If unforeseen challenges arise such as transportation or child care – we can work to connect you with resources to help.

• Know when your student truly is too sick for school
When a child gets sick, it can be difficult to determine if they are too sick to attend classes. Utilize our when is sick too sick flyer to help you determine if your child should stay home. If your child needs to stay home, it’s important to communicate with us to ensure they can stay on top of all assignments or create a plan for absence.

• Set good examples and enforce rules. Talk positively about the impacts of education
As a parent, grandparent or guardian, you are your child’s most influential teacher. Talking positively about how education can impact your child’s life and setting expectations with your children early about attendance can help your child feel motivated to attend regularly.

• Stay involved in your child’s school life and after-school activities
For students, there is often much more to school life than attending classes. Staying involved in your child’s interests and helping them navigate after school activities can help students feel more connected to school. Remember to regularly check our website for an updated calendar of all the activities and event we offer throughout the year.

• Show your interest in your child’s academic work and attend conferences
Attending conferences allows for open lines of communication with your student and their teachers. This helps you identify if your child is struggling in a particular area and how to connect them with proper supports.

At McKay High School our vision is ‘Every student graduates college and career ready.’ Students who regularly attend school are more likely to graduate, setting the stage for success in college and higher rates of employability.

Again, as we transition into the second semester of the 2018-2019 school year, please help us in encouraging your student to be here all day, every day at McKay High School.

Rob Schoepper
Principal

Dear McKay Families and Community,

I want to invite our community to an upcoming event we are hosting here at McKay on January 16^th, 2019.  Talking to your children about suicide is not easy.  Please join us and area mental health professionals in a listening session and focus group to help identify strategies that facilitate conversations with loved ones and young people about mental health.  This is an important event for us as a school community.  Please join us for dinner starting at 5:00 pm.  Speak Up!  Preventing Teen Suicide will run from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.  We will also be providing child care for this event.  I hope to see you there.

Rob Schoepper
Principal
McKay High School