An Update from McKenzie Schools

McKENZIE (August 1) — I am so excited for the 2024-2025 school year and cannot wait to see all the smiling faces on August 6. It has been a busy summer for McKenzie Special School District, with projects happening at all three campuses, and many new pieces coming to use for the upcoming year. I am sure many of you have seen the paving project taking place at MMS and MHS. It is great to have some much-needed repairs taking place in various areas around each campus--new walkways, new culverts that will help address drainage issues, and repairs to areas of concrete and asphalt in drives and around buildings to name a few. In addition, a fresh look with new pavement, parking lines, and directional arrows for traffic control is a great update for our campuses. Fresh paint at MES and MMS, new restroom partitions in several elementary restrooms, pressure washing, and repairs to several areas at the schools and district facilities have also been a priority over the summer. We want our community to be proud of our school facilities and for our students to enjoy each day they are on campus during the school year.

For our parents, if you have not already heard, we have moved to an online student registration process through PowerSchool—be sure to add the app to your phone to keep up with student schedules, grades, and attendance information. We have added a McKenzie Special School District app that can be downloaded to your smartphone, giving you access to calendars, menus, and a plethora of district and school information. At the end of last year, we introduced MySchoolBucks, an application that allows for real-time information for students and their cafeteria needs, including adding funds to lunch accounts. All of these new digital pieces are works in progress, so please bear with us as we work out the bugs, and please know that you can contact our office if you have any questions or need help.

If you are a sports fan, our All-Sports facility at MHS is fully usable and many of our teams have taken advantage of the great facility. Our MHS football team even recently sponsored a community Youth Team Camp in the building and it was a great success, and was an opportunity to have the community in the new building. We do plan to have an Open House at the All-Sports facility soon—more details to come. If you are on Facebook, be sure to follow the McKenzie High School Rebel Athletics page, as well as the three pages that are dedicated to each of our individual schools.

I encourage all families to be sure and review each school’s student handbook and read over with your student(s) too as we get started. There are typically changes that take place over the summer that will be reflected in the handbook for your information. We are proud to continue to offer all students free breakfast at all three of our schools, and while lunch will not be free, we are confident that delicious, nutritious meals are being offered to our students at the best meal-deal in town. We continue to encourage all families to complete applications for free/reduced lunch prices as well.

We have such an amazing staff here with McKenzie Special Schools, and I cannot wait to see the great strides we will continue to make through the 2024-2025 school year. We have several new staff members this school year serving in a variety of positions, and we know that each one will be a great fit for MSSD in their respective roles. We will highlight our new staff in the coming days through our social media channels and through our district website, so be on the lookout for those new faces, and please help us as we welcome them to the Rebel Family!

As the summer ends, I want to be sure to acknowledge our amazing MSSD personnel for their tremendous efforts. We have some of the hardest-working teachers anywhere in the state, and their hard work will demonstrate itself each day when students come into their classrooms. I know teachers are excited for the new school year, as I have been able to talk with many of them over the summer and they have shared their excitement and love for MSSD with me. The time that our teachers, assistants, band directors, coaches, administrators, and other staff devote to the lives of our students can never truly be measured. An unsung group, our maintenance and custodial staffs, have worked diligently throughout the summer to clean and maintain all three of our school buildings, ensuring that students and staff come back to the best possible-looking buildings. Hats off to so many who make McKenzie Special School District the best it can be!

With school starting in just a few days, we have hit the point where parents and students feel mixed emotions as we reflect on all the great summer adventures, but also look on with anticipation for all that the new school year has in store. New backpacks and school supplies fill every shopping cart, new clothes are hanging in closets, students are excitedly considering who their new teachers will be, and parents anticipate a few minutes to breathe again! This is an amazing time of year, and it’s my prayer that everyone is ready to take on the new school year with a positive outlook and a sense of anticipation for all the “new” that lies ahead. I look forward to being in schools on a weekly basis to see firsthand all the amazing things that are taking place each day.

I continue to welcome input from parents, teachers, students, and all community stakeholders—my door is always open. The community of McKenzie is tremendous and we are grateful for the support of so many people and businesses in various ways.

We are all partners in the process of seeing our children grow. We have the best school system in the state and our priority will continue to be every student, every day!

GO REBELS!