Highlander Happenings

McKean School Community,

February is almost over already. As we close the second marking period, we have officially reached the halfway point of the school year. There is still time for students to work toward their goals!

For underclassmen, this means focusing on academic improvement to strengthen their skills and raise their GPAs. For seniors, staying on top of their coursework is especially crucial as they prepare for graduation on June 7, 2025. Our priority is ensuring every student is ready for this important milestone.

Additionally, we are still seeking parents to join our PTO board. This group plays a vital role in supporting our students and school community. Please consider getting involved!

We A.R.E McKean!

SAT/PSAT Day for all 9th through 11th grade students is 3/11/25.

12th graders will be allowed to come in late on that day and excused late to school.

Those Seniors who choose to come to school will be working in a common area or may work from home.

McKean High School Parents and Guardians,

As we continue working to support our students, teachers, and school community, we are seeking new officers to join the McKean High School Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO).

The PTO plays a vital role in organizing events, fundraising, and enhancing our students' educational experience. To keep this momentum going, we need dedicated parents like you to step up and help lead the way. Open positions for next year include:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

No prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to contribute and make a difference! If you are interested or would like more information, please email Thomas McKean PTO mckeanpto@gmail.com or join us at our next PTO meeting on Wednesday March 12, 2025 in the school library.

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to working together to make McKean High School the best it can be!

AVID attended the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Leadership Institute at Upper Merion Area High School

We are excited to announce the Pathways to Black Excellence Forum, a special event designed to inspire and empower our students by exposing them to successful professionals from various fields.

📅 Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
📍 Location: McKean High School Auditorium

This forum will feature engaging discussions with accomplished panelists, sharing their journeys, challenges, and insights on success. We want to provide our students with the opportunity to connect with these leaders and gain valuable perspectives on career pathways, financial literacy, and resilience.

9th grade English students were treated to a day of Shakespeare this week, as Del Shakes (@delshakes) returned for the 2nd year to help students appreciate how Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was intended to be experienced; by seeing, hearing, and most importantly, feeling it. This multimodal experience included a lesson on the rhythms of iambic pentameter, and a student reenactment of the famous Act 1 "fight scene", which included the finer points of theatrical swordplay (foam swords of course). The workshop ended with the wildly popular "Shakespearean Insult: Battle Royale!", with the boys just edging out the girls in a close 3-2 victory.

McKean is grateful and proud of this collaboration with Del Shakes, as we continue to create meaningful and innovative ways to share the genius of Shakespeare and to inspire a variety of students ranging from multiple-language learners to neurodiverse, and pre-AP. Plans for the next workshop are already in progress, stay tuned, and thank you Del Shakes!

February 15-22, 2025 - Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. It’s a time to share what FFA is and the impact it has on members every day

"Changing the Image Expectations of Men and Boys of Color"

Raising KINGS is a collaborative commitment to change the image and expectations of African American males by elevating the level of positive male engagement in the lives of boys. One Village Alliance leads this effort to build capacity among Men and Boys of Color by leveraging the community’s existing assets, resources and connections.

Raising Kings creates a platform to redefine success and teach healthy manhood through exposure and education. With a strength-based approach, this initiative interrupts the generational crisis of failure to create a counter-culture of fortitude, greatness, cultural awareness and self respect.

Unified Basketball went 7-0 in the regular season!

Highlanders,

Even though it is still cold, Spring is around the corner, and that means it's time for the start getting ready for our spring sports season! We are excited to get back outside soon on the fields, courts, and tracks for another great season of Highlander action!

Monday, March 24th- Spring Sports Competition Start Date

• Baseball - Jaxon Brown
• Softball - Jourdan Zickgraf
• Boys Track & Field - Lakayla Williams
• Girls Track & Field - Shakir Ali
• Unified Track - Grace Guillebeau
• Golf - Mike Freccia
• Girls Soccer - Emily Carroll
• Tennis - Ray Smith
• Boys Volleyball - Brian Starrett
• Boys Lacrosse - Nick Dorda

All Athletes playing a spring sport must have the following to participate in Spring Athletics:

• DIAA physical DIAA Physical Form
• Academically Eligible: All Incoming 9th, 10th and 11th grade students need to have 5 passing classes with 2 being majors (Math, Science, Social Studies, English or a Foreign Language) based on their first marking period report card.
• Register on Family ID Family ID Link
• Students must sign McKean Sportsmanship contract (Students will complete at the start of the regular school year)

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all our students. As part of our ongoing efforts to promote awareness and prevention, our school will be conducting a mandatory program on sexual abuse awareness for all students. This program is designed to provide age-appropriate education on personal safety, boundaries, and how to seek help if needed.

The program will take place on Tuesday March 4th and participation is required for all students. If you have any questions or concerns or would like more details about the content, please feel free to contact us at 302.992.5520

Thank you for your support in creating a safe and informed school environment.

The Down Syndrome Association of Delaware is selling Rock Your Socks t-shirts for World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st. This is the day that we wear crazy, mismatched socks to celebrate the things that make each of us UNIQUE! This year they are selling them directly online and they have t-shirts, hoodies, youth shirts, and long sleeve shirts in multiple colors! The design of the shirt is the same that we have ordered previously. Depending on the particular item, they have sizes XS-5XL.

Phelan Lucky at McKean!

The McKean Special Olympics and Best Buddies Club will be selling the Spread the Word t-shirts for $7.00. The shirts are for the first week of March when we celebrate Spread the Word-Inclusion Day. This is where we will have a banner signing to pledge to show respect and kindness to all. This year we will host events throughout the week and wear the new shirt on Wednesday, March 5th.

We have Youth Sizes Small, Medium, and Large and Adults sizes Small, Medium, Large, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, and 5XL.

If you would like to order one, please click the link and fill out the form below. You can pay by cash or check written out to McKean High School. You do not have to pay now, just let me know what size you would like.