McKinley PTO Newsletter

📱Directory - Submit & Purchase

🙋Get involved - Reps for PE Teachers, Battle of the Books, Dine Outs & more!

Your efforts have been outstanding and Mr. Sperl is going into the dunk tank! Next, we aim to help our current Monty mascot costume retire. Let’s keep those Roarin’ Run donations coming! Check our progress here, If you haven’t created an account yet, it’s not too late. Grade levels that hit 70% registration by Monday night will get popsicles after the Roarin’ Run. We are accepting donations through Oct. 13th.

Please send students in PE-appropriate footwear and dressed for the weather in their grade-level color (see below) so they’re ready to head outside for the Roarin’ Run on Tuesday, Oct. 6th. The emphasis is on FUN, so students can participate at their own pace.

Thanks to the donations of our families and friends, students have already earned a pajama party, extra recess, dance party and Popcorn Friday. And you are ensuring that we can hold events like High Interest Day and show appreciation for McKinley’s staff. Thank you so much for your support!

I hope students enjoy the Chess Club’s first practice on Monday and the Green Team’s first meeting on Thursday. And don’t forget Walk to School Day on Wednesday!

Briana Jury (Possin), PTO President

tosamckinleypto@gmail.com

Follow us on our McKinley Elementary PTO Facebook page for important reminders.*

PTO Meeting - May Minutes

Reminders:

• Green Team - 1st Meeting on Oct. 8th
• Dine Outs
• PTO Meeting Dates
• Art Room Volunteer Sign-Ups
• Chess Club - 1st Practice on Oct. 6th
• Lunch Volunteers: SK/1st Help and 4th/5th Composting
• Volunteer Background Check
• Box Tops for Education

Oct 6 - Roarin' Run Fundraiser

Oct 22 - PTO Meeting @ 6:30pm
Oct 30 - Character Parade @ 1pm followed by classroom fall parties

McKinley's NEW Roarin’ Run is this week! Students will run, jog or walk as many laps as they can around the school. Be sure to wear PE-appropriate footwear and dress for the weather in the color of your grade level.

Our Fundraising Goal: $24,350

Funds raised support High Interest Day, First Stage field trips, Family Fun Nights, Teacher Appreciation, classroom support and many other McKinley programs! (We are hoping that this will take the place of a separate ask for room parent funds.) Most other Tosa elementaries host fun runs and they have been incredibly successful.

1. REGISTER

Create your student/family fundraising page through Get Movin’ Fund Hub.

School Identifier: 6a0d9a7364821

2. SHARE
Send your fundraising page to family, friends & neighbors! Fund Hub makes it easy to share by text, Facebook or URL.

3. DONATE
Donations can be made by credit card, PayPal, Venmo or Google Pay.

Prefer to pay by check? Drop it at the McKinley front desk, payable to McKinley Elementary PTO. Please include your student’s name on the memo line.

Make It Fun!

Personalize your fundraising page with a photo, short video or message to help get your family and friends excited to support your Roarin’ Run!

Volunteer/Cheer at the Roarin' Run

If you can help out as the students run/walk on Tuesday, please sign up HERE. If you want to pop by to cheer, check out the schedule above.

Let’s get moving, McKinley — and ROAR our way to $24,350! You can track our progress HERE.

Questions? Contact Colin Doyle @ cdoyle02@gmail.com.

A school directory is a great resource with school and family contact information, the school's daily schedule & calendar, class lists and PTO committee chairs.

Purchase a Directory HERE

Submit Contact Info HERE

During registration, you may have agreed to share info and that will be referenced. Addresses are not collected in that process. Please fill out the form with all info you want shared.

We need some volunteers to some love to our PE teachers! This role focuses on teacher appreciation gifts (holiday season, TA Week, and end-of-year); and there there are no classroom parties to plan.

Click HERE to sign-up!

Teacher Appreciation Reps Needed:

• Aronow (PE)
• Roloff (PE)

Questions? Please reach out! I am happy to answer any questions.
Wendy Von Rueden (wvonrueden@gmail.com or 262-468-6452)

At McKinley, 5th graders have historically had the opportunity to compete in the Battle of the Books. In this program, students read great books from a specified list and then have fun competing with their peers in online “battles.” A battle is a competition where teams earn points by testing their comprehension/trivia knowledge in a Jeopardy style format by answering questions about the books they’ve read against teams from across the state of Wisconsin.

We need a Battle of the Books coordinator* to make this happen in the 2026-27 school year. (The previous coordinator's children are now in middle school.) If we can find a volunteer coordinator, then we would ask for volunteer coaches and open up sign ups for the 5th graders.

*The coordinator doesn't have to be from a 5th grade family. If you've been looking for a way to support the McKinley, we would love your help!

Find out more about the Battle of the Books Coordinator Role and contact Briana Jury or Hope Doyle with any questions or interest.

4th and 5th graders can join McKinley's Green Team! They are also looking for volunteers who can occasionally help the students sort for composting at lunch (11:45-12:00pm).

Please mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

• Thursday, October 15th: Noodles & Co (Tosa Village)
• Wednesday, October 28th: Joy Ice Cream Social
• Thursday, November 12th: Raising Cane's

The PTO is looking for volunteers to learn about and help coordinate the Dine Outs. Please contact Hope Doyle (Hope.e.doyle@gmail.com) with questions or interest.

Everyone is automatically a member of McKinley's Parent Teacher Organization (no dues) and encouraged to attend our PTO meetings that are held on six Thursdays at 6:30pm throughout the year in the Community Room. We will also have a Zoom link for those who can't make it in person. We would love to have you join us!

• Oct. 22nd
• Jan. 14th
• Mar. 11th
• May 13th

Find the links to the Sign-Up Genius for your child's art class HERE. Contact Alicia Jackowiak at alicia.jackowiak@gmail.com with questions.

McKinley Elementary has a Chess Club for 2nd-5th graders that will meet on Mondays after school, 3:30-4:45 in the Community Room, starting Oct 5th and going thru March 22nd. Check out the email from Ms. AshLey for more details.

Registration: Fill in THIS FORM.

• Turn into the office
• OR take a photo of the completed form and email to Mark Seghers @ seghers@gmail.com.

Fee: $50 (covers ChessKids.com Gold)

• Write a check payable to McKinley School PTO (and turn into office)
• OR pay online through Give Lively or PayPal/Venmo.

We will need parent helpers again this year – send an email to Mark Seghers (seghers@gmail.com) if you can help!

Help SK/1st Adjust

Thank you for all the help thus far! The PTO is looking for volunteers to help make this a smoother process for the rest of September and October to help our SK and 1st Grade students manage their lunches (milk carton!) and learn the routine. See SK/1st Lunch Volunteer Sign-Up for more detail and to sign up!

Help 4th & 5th Compost

This year, the school's Green Team is asking for parent volunteers to help with compost during the end of 4th/5th grade lunch from 11:45-12:00! Help make our composting successful and verify that only compostable items make it in the compost. Sign up to help with sorting for composting HERE.

Anyone interested in volunteering or chaperoning should complete the Wauwatosa School District Volunteer Application. You will not be able to allow you to participate until your application is complete and cleared by the system.

Not sure if you’re approved? Call the McKinley office at 414-773-1500, and they’ll be happy to check for you. You can also search your email for a confirmation from Visitor Aware, or try starting a new application using the link below—if you're already approved, it won’t let you continue.

Important: When completing the form, be sure to enter your name exactly as it appears on your driver’s license to avoid delays.

Thank you for your support in keeping McKinley a safe and welcoming place for all students!

Use this referral code HEI51T5R when you sign up. Download the Box Tops for Education app here: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=HEI51T5R Enter our zip code 53226, choose McKinley Elementary School, and start scanning to help our PTO fund school activities!

If you are a parent, guardian or teacher at McKinley Elementary School, you are a member of the PTO, you already are!

Interested in becoming more involved? The PTO is looking for help with High Interest Day, the annual McKinley fundraiser, community outreach, Literacy Night, Green Team, family nights out, and more! Look for more information in the upcoming newsletters or contact tosamckinleypto@gmail.com.

Board Members:

President - Briana Jury

Vice President - unfilled

Treasurer - Colin Doyle

Secretary - Allison Ryther

VP of Committees - Hope Doyle

Members at Large - Nicci Zickuhr & unfilled

Community Outreach - unfilled

Teacher Rep - Mike Hansen

Principal - Steve Sperl

Email: tosamckinleypto@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/McKinley-Elementary-School-PTO-Wauwatosa/227520614000173?ref=bookmarks