Weekly Update
Don't forget to remind your student(s) to wear their McKinley green and white tomorrow to close out Start with Hello week! Art to Remember submissions are due today and our largest fundraiser of the year, Race for Education, has started.
Art to Remember
Is your child an aspiring artist or do you just love seeing their creativity come to life? Art to Remember gives you the opportunity to take your child's art and turn them into keepsakes like keychains, coffee mugs and ornaments.
The required art paper and information has been sent home. If you would like to participate, please follow the provided instructions and return the art to the school by the due date. Once all artwork is submitted to ART TO REMEMBER, families will receive information on how to order a variety of keepsakes featuring their child's art.
Questions? Contact Kelly Moore (kellysteve00@comcast.net).
The Race for Education Fundraiser Has Begun
Here we go! The Race for Education fundraiser flyers have been sent home with each student. This is our primary fundraiser for the year and we have made it both easy and fun for everyone. Please return participation forms and register your student/s on the donation site. You can register or login online and share with family and friends or send letters. If you are sending letters, your student(s) will fill out mailers during class time and volunteers will stamp and mail all forms.
Again, for all the new families, this is how it works:
Each student will be asked to find sponsors to support them in their Race for Education, a fun afternoon of activities and obstacle courses on Friday, October 25.
When a student is sponsored, they are raising money for extra computers in the classroom, fun and educational assemblies, additional books for the library and classrooms, as well as, family free nights, after school clubs, field trips, sporting equipment, indoor recess activities and other educational resources.
Instructions will be handed out soon with instructions on how to make donations online or by making requests through email or letters.
A deadline will be set for all donations.
Prizes for classes and individual students will be awarded including a fun surprise incentive for reaching our annual goal.
All families are welcome to attend Race for Education and cheer on their Racers!
We hope to make this year a success and a fun afternoon for all McKinley students!
Some of the prizes we have so far:
A 4pk of tickets to a Temple football game at Lincoln Financial Field
Harlem wizards tickets
$50 amazon gift cards
Final prizes will continue to be announced as we get closer to Race day.
Prizes will be given out based on top monetary donations raised by individuals for each grade and top classes. Everyone will receive a participation prize and mystery prizes will be drawn at random as incentives throughout the fundraising period.
A Signup Genius will be set up soon to volunteer! Parents will be needed October 25 (the day of the event) throughout the day. Volunteers will help supervise the students at different activities stations.
McKinley Garden
Thank you to the volunteers who have made the first two weeks of the garden a success - please continue to sign up using these links and don't forget that ALL grades need student supervision volunteers in order to enjoy the garden. We appreciate it if you stay for more than just your child's grade!
STEAM Club
STEAM after school clubs will be back again this year! We are looking for parent volunteers to run clubs for K-1 students and/or 2-3 students. Clubs should focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Athletics and/or Math Enrichment. We also have plenty of ideas if you would like to run a club but don't know what to do! Dates and times of clubs are still to be determined but if you're interested in volunteering, please fill out the below form and return to the PTO mailbox. Contact Natasha Hatton at natasha.hatton@gmail.com with any questions and learn more here.
6th Grade Fundraiser at Iron Hill Brewery
The 6th Grade Committee is happy to announce their first fundraiser for the year will be at Iron Hill Brewery on Wednesday, October 2nd. You can download the coupon and/or will receive one from your child/ren. Please bring the coupon with you and twenty percent of your food bill will go toward the 6th Grade activities.
Lunch and dinner hours along with take out are all included in the fundraiser!
If you have any questions, please contact Michele Metzgar (michele.metzgar@gmail.com) or Kelly Moore (kellysteve00@comcast.net).
6th Grade Mum Sale
The 6th grade class is selling mum vouchers! The vouchers are $10 for 8" mums from Kremp Florist in Willow Grove. You then use the voucher pick out your own beautiful mums for the Fall season! You can purchase the voucher by sending in money or a check (check payable to the McKinley PTO with MUM in the notes section.) Be sure to label the envelope "mums." The sale lasts from 9/27-10/11! Don't forget to tell family & friends!
Winter Coats
If you or someone you know needs a winter coat for the season, call Brooke Jacobs, District Social Worker, at 215 884-4700 ext. 2178 or visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DDKLG5. Request deadline is October 2.
Drama Club
Play packets have gone out to interested 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Extra packets are in the Play mailbox. Please return the forms (Abington School District Permission form (blue), Parent Information (pink) and $20 check or cash) in an envelope marked "Drama Club." Paperwork is due by Monday, October 7th. For 6th graders interested in Set or Stage Crews, please mark your forms accordingly. Set crew starts the beginning of November and stage crew will be selected by the end of December. Anyone interested, please join us for the Parent Information Meeting on Thursday, October 3, at 6:30 pm prior to the PTO meeting.
Dragon Ticket Volunteers Needed
Looking for volunteers to help at the end of the day to distribute Dragon Tickets to the students. It takes about 15 minutes and you rotate with the other volunteers by coming in once a week, every few weeks. If you are interested or would like to find out more information, please email Elena Loughney at elenaloughney1@hotmail.com.
Abington Parent Council Meetings
The Abington Parent Council holds meetings throughout the year with each meeting having a focused topic. On Wednesday, October 16th, at 7pm, the Parent Council meeting will be held at Copper Beech Elementary School. The topic for this meeting is Bullying Prevention. All Abington parents and guardians are welcome to attend!
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
7:00pm
Copper Beach Elementary
Bullying Prevention
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
7:30pm
Overlook Elementary
Student Services Orientation How to Access Services
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
7:30pm
Highland Elementary
Vaping and Substance Abuse
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
7:30pm
Abington Junior High School
Community Showcase
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
7:30pm
Willow Hill Elementary
Social Media Online Risks
Join the New Directory
The My School Anywhere directory has been transferred to a new platform, Membership Toolkit.
We invite you to visit https://mckinleyptoelkinspark.membershiptoolkit.com/ to add or review and confirm your directory record. If you have completed a form at a Kindergarten orientation, your entry has been entered. Once you create a Membership Toolkit Account, you will have access to the Directory.
Here's what you need to do:
Click on the Register/Login button.
If you already had a My School Anywhere account, you can use the same email and password to login. You can then proceed to the numbered steps below.
If you do not have an account with the My School Anywhere system, select "Create Account" and fill in the name, email, and password information.
Click "verify my email" and then check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours. If you do not receive the email, check your spam or junk folders.
Once you have verified your email address, log back in and finish the registration process.
Complete the Parent/Family and Student Information.
Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences.
Once the Primary Account is set up, the Primary User can "invite" other email addresses to access his/her account. This allows the Secondary User to have their own login information, but still have access to the family account.
Access to My School Anywhere will no longer be available after Monday, September 9.
Questions? Please don't hesitate to contact us at mckinleypto@gmail.com.
Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found bin, located in the Main Lobby, is filled with lost clothing and items. Please find some time to look through the bin. To avoid an overflow of items, anything left in the bin at the end of each month will be donated to a local organization. This means the first time the Lost and Found bin will be cleared this year will be Friday, September 27.
Club Advisors and Coaches
If any parents are interested in becoming an advisor/coach for one of the clubs below, please email our Assistant Principal,RobertHowe@Abington.k12.pa.us. Advisors must have their volunteer badges and must attend training with the participating organizations. More information can be found on the organization websites.
Girls on the Run: This program encourages girls to be involved in athletic activity while working on positive self-esteem and healthy student development. Girls are invited to participate in teams with a coach who trains them for the ultimate goal of participating in a race during the course of the school year. Students meet from March through May. For more information, visit the Girls on the Run website: https://www.gotrpa.org/
Odyssey of the Mind: Odyssey of the Mind is an educational program that involves competitive creative problem solving. Space on the teams is limited, and selection will be made through tryouts. Students meet from October through March and then compete in the Odyssey of the Mind Competition in the Spring. For more information, visit the National Odyssey of the Mind website: http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/
6th Grade Families
We are looking for volunteers to be on this year’s 6th Grade Committee, as well as chair some of these committees. There are lots of activities for the 6th graders and the committee handles the planning and fundraising for these events. The 6th Grade Committee also receives monetary support from the PTO.
We would like those who are interested to please email: michele.metzgar@gmail.com, so we may create a list of people to contact once the 2019-2020 school year begins.
Thank you for your interest!
Michele Metzgar and Kelly Moore
Head 6th Grade Committee Chairs
Fox Chase Gymnastics
Please take a look at the flyer regarding the fall program at Fox Chase Gymnastics.
McKinley PTO Volunteer Opportunities
McKinley PTO is always looking for volunteers. We are currently looking for these specific co-chairs, but would welcome your involvement in any of the activities and committees:
Art to Remember
Build-A-Scarecrow Night
Career Night
Environmental Center (Garden)
Holiday Shoppe
Spring Fair
Teacher Appreciation
Yearbook
Assemblies
For a full list of opportunities and to see who currently chairs committees, visit the PTO website's Committees page or reach out to us at mckinleypto@gmail.com.
McKinley PTO Membership
We ask each family for a $10 dues. Your membership dues help to create an exciting environment where our children learn and grow. Membership also allows you to vote at PTO meetings. We hope to have your support so we can help in giving your children a great school year!
We accept payment of dues anytime during the school year. You can pay your dues by check (payable to "McKinley Elementary PTO") or cash and send them to school with your child in an envelope marked "PTO DUES". You can pay dues electronically if you have a PayPal account. Visit paypal.me/mckinleypto. Please enter your dues amount (PLEASE DO NOT CHECK THE BOX that indicates the payment is for "goods or services") and include PTO Membership Dues in the notes section, along with your child's name, grade, and teacher.
McKinley PTO Website
Please visit the McKinley PTO website to learn more about what the PTO does. These are some of the things you can find on the website:
event listings
subscribe to the Google calendar
find volunteer opportunities
contact the board members
weekly emails
get clearance form information for volunteering
Also, if you have photos to share for the photo gallery, feel free to forward them to mckinleypto@gmail.com.