McKinney ISD -

Cockrill Partners Art students are creating piñatas in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month!

Cockrill Middle School's Partners Art class provides an opportunity for students with special needs to experience the benefits and creativity of art with peer-assistance from general education students. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, they have been designing and creating their own piñatas.

It's Cockrill's third year to offer Partners Art, and for teacher Lorren Nixon, the class is always one of the highlights of the day. "It's one of the best programs that I've been a part of just because the partners students learn so much beyond the TEKS. They're learning to help others."

Eighth grader Emerson Thacker is in her second year of serving as a partner in art class. "I love it. We get to really know the kids and get to help them, and that's my favorite part. I just didn't really know about special needs, but this class gives you a different perspective."

Once they've finished their piñatas, the students will take part in the tradition of breaking them open. Maybe..."I may have to buy a couple of piñatas," laughs Nixon. "They've worked so hard on them, I don't know if we'll have the heart to break them open!"

La Raspa and El Chocolate - National Hispanic Heritage Month

Click here to view the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yze0B4TJ6Fg

Get ready to stir the chocolate and clap your hands as 1st and 2nd graders from Frazier Elementary and Webb Elementary perform a traditional children's rhyme and dance "La Raspa". Both activities originated from Hispanic origins and provided the young learners with cultural history and musical fun!

October 2024

McKinney ISD Fall Community Resource Night Thursday, October 17, 2024 6:00-8:00PM McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center 4201 S. Hardin Blvd McKinney, Tx 75070

Latin American Drumming at Frazier Elementary - National Hispanic Heritage Month

Click here to view the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6LEg_hV26s

“This is a fun piece because it introduces them to the Latin feel with the clave rhythm.” Music teacher Holly Bianchetta likes to challenge her 5th graders at Frazier Elementary during National Hispanic Heritage Month with a 4-beat Latin American rhythm. The complicated beats and patterns require lots of listening and concentration from the students. Here’s one of her classes in the beginning stages of this musical creation. They will be adding instruments as they progress, and Mrs. Bianchetta is confident in their skills.

“It’s really cool to see how quickly kids can absorb something and make it their own.”

October 2024

Lessons in Hispanic Heritage Month from Valley Creek Elementary

“I think it’s important because our students need to see themselves represented in what we are teaching.”

Click here to view the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWIwDUS3OXI

Valley Creek music teacher Kara Nelson dives into National Hispanic Heritage Month with her students by teaching them about the many traditions, including her favorite—the music. Watch how she and her classes prepare for Valley Creek’s Multicultural Fair on October 24 at 6 p.m.

October 2024

MISD district and campus instructional leaders gathered at the CEC on Wednesday, Oct. 9, for the MISD Learning and Leading workshop, a daylong professional development event focused on classroom instruction and supporting specific campus objectives. "Campuses have reported to us the focus areas and goals that they want to work on based on their campus data and district data," said MISD Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning Dr. Amber Epperson. General sessions and breakouts addressed topics specific to those campus goals. The Learning and Leading workshop is one more way that MISD continues to push instruction and learning forward for our students.

Art Class at Finch Elementary - National Hispanic Heritage Month

Click here to watch the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VguILQx_9HE

Mr. Nguyen wanted to shed some light on Hispanic individuals that maybe his students had never heard of before. The Finch Elementary art teacher has introduced his students to several artists during National Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as at least one ingenious scientist.

October 2024

First Graders and Frida Kahlo - what a wonderful combination for National Hispanic Heritage Month!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_TmYXvQP9Q

McClure Elementary art teacher, Alyssa Norsworthy, displayed 6 portraits of Hispanic artists in the hallway at school as she fused art projects with heritage lessons during this month. Check out how these 1st graders depict of one Mexico's most famous painters.

October 2024

Reuben Johnson Elementary is all in when it comes to bicycle (and scooter) safety! On Wednesday, Principal Kristen Patterson led the way as they held their annual RJE Bike and Scooter Rodeo during PE classes to celebrate the conclusion of their bike safety unit!

Club 360 is looking for great people to join its after school child care team!

Site Assistants (High School Graduates, 18 or older): $15/hour
Site Managers (High School Graduates, 18 or older): $19/hour

For more information, contact Maggie Darden at mdarden@mckinneyisd.net, or call 469-302-2300.

MISD Superintendent Shawn Pratt and his Cabinet leadership team welcomed the members of this year's Superintendent Student Advisory Committee to their first meeting of the year on Thursday! The committee provides junior and senior student leaders the opportunity to learn and grow in leadership and to give feedback and input to the superintendent and his leadership team about district and campus initiatives, events and procedures. The meeting featured guest speaker Lisa Hermes who serves as president and CEO of the McKinney Chamber of Commerce!

2024–2025 Superintendent Student Advisory Committee Members:
Jordan Awad — MHS
Luke Bayer — MHS
Ranai'ai Kelly — MHS
James McGowan — MHS
Charlotte Plaster — MHS
Caleb Starnes — MHS

Cade Antosca — North
Legend Bryant — North
Kailee Critchfield — North
Abby Gehm — North
Jackson Paz — North
Joaquin Vargas — North

Amaya Allen — Boyd
Jamie Bang — Boyd
Edward Boeve — Boyd
Chudi Oyiogu — Boyd
Nicholas Wesloski — Boyd
Xinyu Zhang — Boyd

Exciting News! The NCAA announced today that the Division II National Championship football game will remain in McKinney, Texas, at McKinney ISD's Stadium, for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. McKinney ISD, in conjunction with the city of McKinney, has hosted every season since 2018. At least year's championship game, a record setting 12,373 people attended the game, and this event brought in more than three million dollars of revenue to the city of McKinney. We are excited to partner with our city to host the NCAA Division II Championship games!

On Friday, Sept. 27, business professionals and Interdisciplinary Study and Mentorship (ISM) juniors and seniors from McKinney High School and McKinney Boyd High School met at the Collin College Convention Center for the annual ISM Business Symposium. Students had the opportunity to take part in interviews with professionals in their field and receive feedback on their interview skills and resumes.

ISM is a rigorous, challenging course that provides the opportunity for academically gifted and high achieving upperclassmen to investigate a career of high interest to them through intense study, research, writing and ultimately mentorship with a professional.

For more information on the MISD ISM program, visit: https://www.mckinneyisd.net/page/interdisciplinary-study-mentorship

Our thanks to the professionals from the McKinney community and from within MISD who gave their time and talents to help our students!

McKinney Gifted & Talented Alliance & MISD Advanced Academics Presents: SECONDARY ADVICE NIGHT! Date: Monday, September 30th 2024 Location: McKinney High School Time: 5:30pm

Parent outreach & training provides parents with the education and training needed to support the improvement of their child's English language skills and become more active participants in their child's education. Register online at: https://www.txel.org/t3series

Did you know? In 2023–2024, MISD school counselors held 72,656 individual meetings with students, plus 2,149 small group sessions and 265 parent workshops!

The counseling department is made up of 64 school counselors who serve more than 23,000 MISD students as part of the comprehensive school counseling program mandated by the state of Texas. It’s a huge job! Among their many responsibilities, counselors meet with each student on their campus during the school year for a variety of purposes: academic progress and planning, career/postsecondary goals, grade/attendance/credit monitoring, new student enrollment, crisis intervention/follow up, community resources or conflict resolution.

They have a tremendous positive impact at our schools, and we love our MISD school counselors!

Erin Johnson's 8th grade science class at Evans Middle School investigated the properties of water yesterday. Among the lab activities, they explored surface tension by trying to get a paper clip to float — an elusive feat mastered by only a couple of groups. During another activity, teams counted the number of water drops they could add to the surface of a penny to observe cohesion and surface tension. Results varied, with the number of drops ranging from as low as 5 to as high as 72 before the water broke over the edge.

McKinney ISD Band Night!

Did you know? MISD students made 140,900 visits to our campus clinics in 2023-2024 across the district, where they were cared for by the 33 registered nurses and 16 clinic assistants that make up the MISD Health Services department. Our school nurses serve as liaisons between school personnel, family, community and healthcare providers to advocate and facilitate the educational process. Thank you, MISD nurses for the way that you serve our students and staff!

Our Teaching and Learning Department, in partnership with First United Bank, hosted our first ever Personal Financial Literacy night for our parents and students. Thank you to all our families who attended! #WeAreMcKinney #TeamMcKinney