For New and Prospective Students and Families
Welcome to our new students/incoming families info page! We hope this information is helpful as you and your child(ren) are considering or preparing to join our growing McDonald International family. Our young elementary school already has a vibrant and involved community. We look forward to meeting your family in the coming months.
Join us for PTA-sponsored events to meet other McDonald International families and take advantage of educational opportunities. And make sure to sign up for our email newsletter to stay in the loop on what's going on.
¿Quienes somos?
McDonald International School es una de las Escuelas de Opción de Idioma Dual dentro de las Escuelas Públicas de Seattle. Sirve a toda la población del distrito escolar de la ciudad. Los estudiantes pasan la mitad del día recibiendo clases en inglés y la otra mitad recibiendo clases en español o en japonés.
Enseñamos la adquisición del lenguaje a través de un proceso de aprendizaje por inmersión, mediante el cual los estudiantes aprenden japonés o español a través de clases del currículo normal que se reciben en el segundo idioma. Como escuela internacional, enseñamos a los estudiantes a reconocer diferentes perspectivas, a desafiar estereotipos, y a promover la justicia social. Nos enorgullecemos de ayudar a cada estudiante a desarrollar y celebrar su propia identidad, mientras investigan el mundo y su riqueza cultural. Fomentamos el logro académico a través del aprendizaje integrado y colaborativo
¿Cómo Inscribirse en La Escuela Internacional McDonald?
McDonald International School es una Escuela de Opción. Esto significa que la inscripción es un PROCESO DE DOS PASOS para las familias que desean inscribir a sus hijos aquí.
1. Inscriba a su estudiante entrante con las Escuelas Públicas de Seattle. Los formularios están disponibles en www.seattleschools.org bajo Admisiones. (MUY IMPORTANTE: Si el idioma de su estudiante es japonés o español, debe indicarlo en el formulario de inscripción). Las asignaciones escolares serán enviadas por correo a los hogares a principios de 2018. Debido a que somos una escuela opcional, TODOS los estudiantes serán inicialmente asignados a la escuela primaria del vecindario en base a la dirección del hogar.
2. Si desea que su hijo asista a la Escuela Internacional McDonald, debe enviar un Formulario de Opción Escolar a los Servicios de Inscripción del 5 al 16 de febrero de 2018, indicando que la Escuela Internacional McDonald es su primera elección. Este formulario estará disponible el 5 de febrero enwww.seattleschools.org bajo el enlace de Admisiones.
El plazo para la presentación del Formulario de Opción Escolar es las 4 pm del 16 de febrero de 2017. El formulario debe ser recibido por la oficina en esa fecha o antes, los matasellos no cuentan.
Los estudiantes que ingresan de segundo a quinto grado deberán pasar una prueba de dominio del idioma después de que todos los formularios de inscripción hayan sido enviados.
¿Preguntas? envíe un correo a info@mcdonaldpta.org
Enrolling at McDonald International
Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, McDonald International became a choice school.
If your child is interested in attending McDonald, you'll need to submit a “choice application” form to SPS. Option school assignment is by application only - you must submit a choice application form regardless of your GeoZone or whether your new student has siblings at McDonald Int'l.
How enrollment works:
15% of seats in Kindergarten and 1st Grade are set aside for native/heritage speakers. Remaining seats are assigned to students who have submitted a choice application form according to the following tie breakers: (1) siblings, (2) GeoZone, and (3) lottery. GeoZones are NOT a guarantee of assignment, but do get priority over the open lottery for students who live in the GeoZone.
Option School GeoZones
Open spots in 2-5th Grade can only be filled by students who have sufficient langauge proficiency in Japanese or Spanish. Enrollment Services will waitlist these students, and the school will schedule and administer a language proficiency test. Families of students who pass the test will be notified of the assignment to McDonald Int’l by Enrollment Services. There are often openings in these higher grades, so if your student is proficient in Japanese or Spanish, please apply!
For more info or to fill out a choice enrollment form, visit the SPS website and Enrollment FAQs pages.
Wait List for McDonald
Curious to know where your incoming student falls on McDonald's wait list?
Visit the SPS Student Assignment and/or Waiting List Status page to find out.
Seat availability is constantly changing as some families notify SPS that their student will not attend, students are offered a seat from another waiting list, or families move away. Check the SPS website to see how long waiting lists stay active before the start of school.
Our Immersion Model
At McDonald International School, we offer both Spanish and Japanese Immersion at each grade level. Once assigned to a language, students spend half the day studying math and science in their immersion language. The other half of the day is spent studying Reading, Writing, Social Studies & more in English.
Each Immersion classroom has an Immersion Lead Teacher and an Immersion Assistant or Guest Teacher. Our Immersion Lead Teachers are funded directly by Seattle Public Schools (your tax dollars). Our Immersion Assistants and Guest Teachers reduce teacher student ratio from approximately 1:25 to 1:14 and are funded by the McDonald Elementary PTA (your donations).
Donations from parents help fund the hiring of Instructional Assistants and Guest Teachers. All students are welcome at McDonald regardless financial contribution. Our goal is 100% participation. Any donation made to support the Instructional Support Fund is tax-deductible. New McDonald families are asked to make their tax-deductible donations in the fall to help pay for the Instructional Assistants and Guest Teachers already hired for their child(ren)’s classroom. We'll begin fundraising for next year's Instructional Support later in the year.
See this page for more information about our Immersion Program. This page has information about how to donate to the PTA.
Typical Kindergarten Schedule
Students will have either an AM or PM language schedule, switching classes after lunchtime. Half-way through the year the schedule is flipped, so classes that had language immersion (math & science) in the morning and English (literacy & social studies) in the afternoon, will now have English in the morning and language immersion in the afternoon for the rest of the school year.
In addition to time in the classroom, students have the following activities:
Library – once per week
PE – twice per week
Art – twice per week
Additional offerings at McDonald International include:
Instrumental Music for all grades – once per week
MIGHT (McDonald International Green Helper Team) – students dedicated to increasing environmental stewardship at McDonald International
After School Enrichment classes and activities. Offerings vary by trimester, but have included electrical engineering, basketball, unicycle, chess club, fine art, science, instrumental music, go club, math, writing, running club, dance, stop-motion animation, musical theater, basic computer programming, cooking, and more.
Get Involved Now with the School or PTA!
McDonald relies on parents to be active participants in their child's education. Check out some of the ways you can get involved and contribute to the enrichment of your child's McDonald community on our Volunteer page.
Share a skill, provide a connection, contribute a few hours, volunteer in the classroom, or support one of the many other volunteer opportunities listed there. Have an idea you want to pursue? Let us know about it!
Getting to Know You
Summer playdates will be organized and posted to the Events page to give incoming families a chance to get to know other McDonald Int'l families before school starts.
There will also a Back to School event just before school starts in Sept, and a First Day of School Parent Coffee. More social and informational events are and will be scheduled as the school year progresses. Prospective families and other community members are also welcome to attend the 2-3 Parent Educations events held at the school.
Another great way to get involved and get to know other McDonald Int'l parents is through our many Volunteer opportunities!
Comparing Schools
You can review current, comprehensive data via School Climate Surveys conducted annually by SPS.