Dragon Tale

9/3 - School Store Opens (Please limit your student to $5)

9/3 - Community Council Meeting @ 8:30am

9/3 - Harvest Fair & Open House @ 6:30pm (Dress like a farmer!)

9/4 - New Volunteer Training @ 2:15pm

9/7 - No School - Labor Day

9/10 - Coast Walk Clean Up - All School Field trip

9/11 - Early Release Day

9/18 - Talk & Dress Like a Pirate Day

9/24 - Site Council Meeting @ 3:15

9/25 - Family Game Night @ 6:30pm

TBD - Spotlight Lunch @ 11:55

School is underway and going very well at McNeil Canyon Elementary.

It is so much fun to see all of the students, new and returning, eager to learn and excited about being here at McNeil. We have new faces at all grade levels.

The State will be releasing the AYP scores this next week on Thursday, 3 Sep. McNeil students scored very well on the State level assessments and because of those good scores our students are to be congratulated. They have all taken on these assessments as something to do their best at and it is certainly showing. Funding and the politics connected to that will continue to present some very interesting challenges that seemingly have no viable solution.

It is our intent to not become distracted by the political side of education and just continue to make learning the primary focus for all of the McNeil community.

Welcome to this great learning community and remember that it takes all of us working together to accomplish great learning.

**If this would create a hardship for your family, please email Joy at the address above**

The McNeil Canyon Elementary School Parent Volunteer Workshop will be held Friday, Sept. 4th at 2:15 pm. We will be covering the Parent Volunteer Handbook, how to run most of the school equipment, and safety issues such as Blood-borne Pathogens and the Emergency Action Plan. Any parents who have not previously had this training will need to attend. If you can not make it at this time please contact Joy to set up another time. If you have not submitted your online volunteer application yet please click on the appropriate link below.

Check out our new dragon gear options by clicking the link below. This is also a fundraiser for all the amazing extras that are tradition here at McNeil like our monthly Spotlight Student Lunch sundaes and hot chocolate after Coast Walk Clean-Up amongst many other treasured traditions! The gear will have have our new featured logo on each item (see example on the right side of this post). The deadline for all orders is Sunday, September 6th. The online store will close after that date.

On Thursday, September 3, 2026 we will hold our annual Open House & Fall Harvest Fair . Parents will be able to enjoy looking at the Fair during Open House which begins at 6:30 pm. Come in your best farming attire and join the fun! We look forward to seeing you all there!

Students and community families are invited to bring fruits, vegetables and flowers to the Harvest Fair. Bring your entry to display at school on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 3rd. Consider which category suits your entry best:

· Largest . . . vegetable, fruit, grain, leaves, and flowers

· Smallest . . . vegetable, fruit, grain, leaves and flowers

· Unusual Looking. . . vegetable, fruit, grain and flowers

· Harvest Hat . . . Decorate one or make one with fruits, vegetables or flowers

· Tiniest flower arrangement

· Most colorful flower arrangement

· Smelliest – good or bad

· Creations: (children attempt to create characters or objects with vegetables i.e. stick a carrot on a potato face for a nose)

- Funniest

- Dragons

- Unique Setting or Scene

- Camouflage Creatures

· Family Project (any category)

· People’s Choice (students will vote for the entry they consider most

outstanding)

***6th grade will have a baked goods sale during the Harvest Fair! They will also be selling a natural salve the 6th grade class makes with Conrad Field every spring. The salve is great for everyday use or to put on cuts and wounds. $6 for a one ounce container, $10 for two ounces. They can accept cash, checks, and also have a QR code for easy checkout. This is one of only a few fundraisers they do all year and will help fund their Peterson Bay trip on September 23-25 and spring trip to the Swanson River cabins. Feel free to prepay and pick up your salve at Open House or anytime at the front desk.

As the winds begin to swirl on Kachemak Bay and the fireweed reaches the tops of the stalks, we all know that summer is winding down—which means our school year is starting! I can’t wait to hear about the summer fun our Dragon families enjoyed as we transition into healthy activities and movement in the gym.

We’ll kick off the year in P.E. with games and activities that help us get comfortable in the gym, get to know our classmates, and explore healthy movement. Students can look forward to breathing hard, working as a team, and laughing as we learn the expectations and routines that will help us be successful in P.E. this year.

Families can support P.E. by making sure your child has well-fitting gym shoes. Students should be able to run, skip, hop, slide, and climb safely in shoes they can fasten independently, whether by Velcro, slipping them on, or tying laces.

I’m pleased to announce that McNeil will once again participate in the Healthy Futures Challenge! Students can earn prizes by tracking 60 minutes of healthy activity each day for at least 15 days each month. Our fall session will run through September, October, and November. Look for the September activity logs in green homework folders.

Finally, teaching P.E. at McNeil is truly a privilege. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm. I’m so excited to embark on this new school year!

Dear McNeil Families,

Welcome back to a wonderful new school year! Title I is thrilled to continue working with students and families this year to support academic success for every child in our school.

As a full-school Title I program, our services benefit every student at McNeil. We provide targeted reading and math intervention, support classroom learning with additional resources, and offer meaningful family engagement opportunities throughout the year. We also love sending home materials like family reading books, activities, and other resources to keep learning going beyond the classroom walls.

Speaking of family events, mark your calendars for our Annual Family Board Game Night on September 25th. We're excited to partner with our Student Council, who will be hosting Capture the Flag in the gym for part of the evening. More details coming soon! We look forward to seeing you there.

Veronica Jones

Title I Tutor

vjones@kpbsd.k12.ak.us

What is it? We are a group of parent volunteers who work together to encourage and support our community of McNeil staff and students.

What does it do? The McNeil Canyon Community Council organizes two primary fundraisers: The McNeil Fall Carnival in late October, and The McNeil Family Talent Show in the Spring. These are wonderful, community building celebrations that have traditionally provided funds for our Artist in the School program, Swim lessons for the kids, Scholarships, etc.. We also seek to support our staff members when they need additional classroom materials, and show our appreciation for their tremendous investment into our children’s lives.

What can I do to support the Community Council? We all lead busy lives, but the good news is that there are many ways you can support the Community Council at McNeil without doing it all!

If you are a planner/ organizer with time off on Friday afternoons: Attend a Community Council meeting. Look for our next meeting date and time in the McNeil newsletters.

If you don’t have time during the day but are able to make phone calls: Become a room parent. You can be in charge of calling the parents in your room 3 times during the year to let them know about upcoming events and how they can participate. There will be a sign up sheet in your child’s classroom the evening of the Open House/ Harvest Fair, September 3rd.

We look forward to working together this year!

***Stop by our info table at the Harvest Fair to learn more and ask questions***

We will have an Early Release Day on Friday, September 11, 2026. McNeil Students will be released at 1:20 pm and buses will leave at 1:30 pm. Your child will arrive home 1.5 hrs. earlier than usual.

Friday, Sept. 18th, is Talk and Dress-Like-a-Pirate Day. Aaaargh. Join the fun!

Our Annual Beach Coast Walk Clean-Up Day will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10th. Teachers will be looking for volunteers to help with student groups and 2 volunteers will be needed to prep and serve hot chocolate at the school for the students return. Additional information was sent home today.

We received a generous donation of youth size rain jackets/pants and are hoping to get it into families hands that can use them. It is a first come first serve basis and you are welcome to go through the box of items at the front office.

Join us at 6:30pm on September 25th for our annual Title 1 meeting where you can learn more about how this program supports our McNeil students and their families. Family game night will follow from 7:00-8:30 pm. Bring board games to share. Join the Fun!

Parents are invited to join their child and the principal for lunch in September at 11:55 am. We will post the lunch date in the next Magpie!

Spotlight Student forms are being sent home with these children today. Please return them as soon as possible so they can be placed on our Spotlight Student bulletin board. Thank you!

We are currently waiting for Student Nutrition to post their menu for September. We will post it by next Friday in our Magpie. In the mean time, you can click the link below to see if it has been posted to the Student Nutrition page on the KPBSD website at the link below.

Email: joverson@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
Website: kpbsd.org/schools/mcneil-canyon/
Location: 52188 East End Rd, Homer, AK, USA
Phone: 907-235-8181
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McNeilCanyon/