Dear Mustang Families and Students,

As the proud principal of McKay Creek Elementary School, I would like to welcome you to the 2023-2024 school year.  McKay is Mustang Mighty and boasts a reputation of rigor, engagement and kindness.  It is nestled near McKay Creek and stables approximately 250 Mustangs grades first–fifth.  McKay has phenomenal teachers who practice instructional excellence, respond to the needs of all students, and who are innovative.  They promote high expectations for active learning while increasing emotional awareness, self-management, and leadership skills in all of our students.  The staff is dedicated to meeting students where they are and identifying and addressing the learning needs of all students through enrichment and student-specific interventions in reading, writing and math.

The staff and I are excited to have the opportunity to work with you and your child and provide a safe space where all students belong, succeed, learn and grow.  The Pendleton School District will occasionally send messages to families using School Messenger or Remind and the webpage and Facebook pages are also great resources for updates.

McKay and community are dedicated to establishing a safe, nurturing environment in which each student experiences success in learning and positive self-esteem. We hold the interest of children at the heart of all decision making. We nurture, instruct, and encourage our students to become lifelong learners capable of maximizing their potential as responsible, productive citizens. In addition, we value the culture and experiences of every family and welcome you to be part of our school family.

It is a pleasure and honor to extend a warm and heartfelt welcome to every student and family as the school year begins. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas, my door is open, and I am here to listen. As a staff, we look forward to joining you in this exciting partnership.

Kindly,

Sherri Kilgore
Office Phone: 541-966-3000

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, McKay Creek Elementary announces the return of the 4th Grade Wax Museum.

Learning Fun in December at McKay Creek Elementary

During December, several McKay students’ classes embarked on fun learning units and projects to celebrate the holiday season and winter.

The two 1^st Grade classes worked on creating a calendar to give to their parents – each calendar featured 12 pieces of amazing art (one for each month) created by the individual student. Wendy Phillips, 1^st Grade Teacher, said, “Our Christmas Calendar project is 12 months of amazing art wrapped into one special gift. This has been a traditional project at McKay for many years, and it’s been great this year to continue this tradition.”

First graders also began their Reindeer Unit. Phillips said some of the interesting things they have learned together are:

• Caribou means “snow shoveler”
• Arctic Tundra has permafrost; the climate is never warm enough to melt the frozen ground
• Moss, lichen, shrubs, and short grasses grow in the tundra
• One animal adaptation there is hollow fur to help them float
• Animals have huge nostrils to warm air before breathing
• Cow, bull, and calf communicate through snorts and grunts

Second graders in Shelby Spriet’s classroom were busy with their “Around the World” unit during December. Spriet said the class “flew” to Australia, England, France, China, and Israel. They also will be going to Germany and Russia.

To make the world traveler experience as authentic as possible, Spriet dresses up as a pilot, and the class watches a video of an airplane taking off. Then they go to “baggage claim” each day to grab their “luggage,” and they have passports where students place country stamps each time they travel to a new country.

“The kids love it! When we go to each country, we learn about the holidays they celebrate this time of year and how they celebrate. We learn the foods they eat and the traditions they have,” Spriet said.

McKay’s two fifth-grade classes, taught by Linzie Noble and Cathy Walters, got into the holiday spirit by creating multimedia pictures of tree boughs with watercolor ornaments.