Principal's Page
August 2023
Dear Parents and Students of Mac High:
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to the 2023-2024 school year at McKinley High School. The opening day of school is Friday, September 8, 2023. The school day will begin at 8:30 a.m. and dismissal will be at 3:25 p.m. If your child would like breakfast, they can report to the side doors by the cafeteria doors at 7:50 a.m. All other students must enter through the parking lot doors.
As the students arrive for the first day of school, please have them prepared with the following to turn in:
· Student Information Sheet - this ensures that we have the most current contact information for you. Only the people listed on this sheet will be able to pick your child up from school.
· Photo/Media Release
· Detention Policy - Students may receive detention for being tardy to school or to class. Excessive unserved detentions may result in more severe consequences. Please see the enclosed policy for more detailed information and return your signed copy to school to signify your understanding and agreement.
Preparing for school: To be certain that the school year begins and ends with success, we want to highlight certain expectations and what the first few days of school will involve:
1. All students must bring their charged laptop to school each day.
2. Students that live 1.5 miles from school will be provided with transportation and will ride the Metro buses. Bus passes will be issued to students during the first week or two of school in their homeroom and lunches. Transportation will be free the first month of school with a September only pass.
3. Please expect regular communication from your child’s teachers throughout the school year. If your phone number changes at all during the school year, please call the main office or use the enclosed form to update us as soon as possible. Please provide your email address as well. Also, please be advised that we cannot release your child to any adult that is not listed on Infinite campus, nor are we permitted to release your child without an adult. If your child has an appointment, we cannot release them unless a parent or approved adult picks them up from school. Thank you for respecting our commitment to the safety and security of our students.
4. The district’s Code of Conduct and school building policies will be provided to your child and explained during the first few days of school. Students and parents will be well-informed of the policies/procedures of the District and McKinley with regards to student conduct and academic expectations. Please be advised of dress code regulations before purchasing clothing for the school year. Students are not permitted to wear headgear of any kind (including but not limited to hats, caps, hoods, bonnets, drugs, bandanas, etc.), except when required by religious or medical reasons; inappropriate footwear (including but not limited to backless shoes, flip flops, slides, and bedroom slippers); revealing garments (including but not limited to spaghetti straps, crop tops, and sagging pants), or any other inappropriate clothing as listed in the district Code of Conduct (found at www.buffaloschools.org).
5. A student’s commitment to their education involves daily attendance and being on time for school and all their classes. This year, we will have a strong focus on student attendance and new initiatives to increase attendance. Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month, and it is known as chronic absence. Together, we will work to reduce chronic absenteeism.
6. Please make sure your child looks up their schedule in Infinite Campus and has it on their phone when they report to school. We will do our best to mail home a copy of their schedule closer to the opening of school in September.
If you have any questions and/or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or your child’s appropriate administrator:
9th grade: Dr. Carlos Wallace chwallace@buffaloschool.org
10th grade: Nicole Dias ndias@buffaloschools.org
11th grade: Patrick Cullinan pcullinan@buffaloschools.org
12th grade: Ms. Amy Chase achase@buffaloschools.org
Together, we will work to challenge and support our students. As always, I tell our students daily-
"Watch your THOUGHTS, they become your WORDS, watch your words, they become your ACTIONS, watch your actions they become your HABITS, watch your habits they become your CHARACTER, watch your character IT CAN BECOME YOUR DESTINY".
Sincerely,
Mr. Terence Jenkins, Principal
Please fill out the Laptop Survey if you have not already done so: