Dear McDonald Families,

As the 3rd week of school comes to an end I continue to feel incredibly appreciative of the welcoming community at McDonald International. Since my last newsletter 2 weeks ago, teachers have continued working with students on routines and procedures in the classroom, at lunch, in the hallways, and at recess. Additionally, we had our first fire drill where we practiced exiting the building quickly and safely. We were able to evacuate the building in 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is a McDonald record! Throughout the year we will continue practicing how to stay safe in various emergency situations.

Beginning this week, the 5th grade students started sharing morning announcements over our intercom. Each day two 5th grade students deliver the morning announcements in English and either Spanish or Japanese. The students have been doing a great job with this and are even translating the announcements from English to Spanish and Japanese on their own- very impressive!

Earlier this week we held our first all school assembly. During the assembly we celebrated International Day of Peace. Students from Frau Schroeder’s and Michiko Sensei’s classes led the school in a song about Peace. Additionally, all students listened to the story, “If Peace Is” by Jane Baskwill read by Mrs. Oerkvitz.

The PTA held their first meeting of the year this past Tuesday. There were 50+ parents who showed up. I encourage each and every one of you to attend PTA meetings in order to hear about all of the wonderful things going on at McDonald and in our community.

This coming week is Curriculum Night. Curriculum night is a time where parents/guardians are invited into the classrooms to hear about all of the wonderful topics your children will learn about this coming year. Curriculum night is also an opportunity for parents/guardians to ask general questions about the curriculum and the procedures/expectations of the classroom and school. Individual concerns about students may be addressed during November Parent-Teacher conferences or you can always schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher.

A couple of housekeeping items:

• Morning drop-off takes place on 54th street. This method of drop off is intended to be quick and for families where students are able to simply open the car door and hop out. When using this method for drop off please pull all the way up to the end of the load zone. If you need more time to send your child off to school, please park in the neighborhood and walk them in. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
• Please remind your child(ren) to keep their toys at home (this includes Pokémon cards). We do not want toys to get lost or ruined.
• The next time you are at McDonald please look through the lost and found. We already have a ton of unclaimed items. We have a team of students who have been sorting through and returning items with names on them back to students but in the words of these student, “the lost and found is already out of control!”

Lastly, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any teacher if you have a concern. We are all here to support students and want to work with you to make that happen.

Sincerely,
Michelle Goldberg