McKinney ISD schools will be closed November 20 – November 24 for the Thanksgiving break. We hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Seventeen years ago, a third grade student named Kwnaie needed a mentor—someone to help her find her way. McKinney ISD’s Sonja Harrison answered the call, just as she’s done in the lives of many other students. For her dedication to kids, the Plano Community Forum has awarded Harrison the 2017 Educator Award.
Only a few months into his tenure as assistant principal of Malvern Elementary, Gilbert Salinas was called up for a six-month Air Force deployment to Africa. Now back at his post at Malvern, Salinas took part in honoring his fellow veterans in the Malvern community on Veterans Day—and thanked Malvern for their show of support to his family during in his absence.
McKinney ISD’s school counselors are an invaluable asset to students and staff throughout the district. It’s a tough job; they wear a lot of hats and are often pulled in many directions. But, their heart is to serve — and they do it well. 2017 McKinney ISD Counselor of the Year Errin French exemplifies this outstanding team who make a tremendous, positive impact on our students each year.
In 2016, McKinney ISD students were among the 1.6 million juniors across the country who took the PSAT/NMSQT© which served as an initial screen of entrants in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Now seniors, 28 of those MISD students have earned Commended Scholar recognition for their performance on the test, and 12 have been named Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program. In addition, the College Board has recognized 16 MISD students in the National Hispanic Recognition Program based on their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT.
The McKinney Boyd Consortium Orchestra and the Cockrill Honors Band were each named 2017 Mark of Excellence National Winners by the Foundation for Music Education. The awards highlight the legacy of excellence in McKinney ISD Fine Arts—a legacy that each group is doing their part to preserve.
The McKinney ISD Aviation Academy is soaring with more than 200 students in the program and support from partners like LeTourneau University, Monarch Air, McKinney National Airport and Southwest Airlines. Now, American Airlines has come on board as a partner, and the program is sure to soar even higher.
Three years ago, MISD introduced its 1:the World initiative that put a MacBook Air laptop in the hands of every MISD high school freshman. Now, those freshmen are seniors, and since that initial deployment, every successive freshman class in the district has received a MacBook to use throughout their four years of high school.
Ten McKinney ISD schools earned national recognition and Healthy School Awards from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for their success in promoting healthy habits among their students and staff. They were among only 323 of the 31,000 schools that participated in the Healthy Schools Program last year named to the list of America’s Healthiest Schools.
The McKinney High School Marine Corps JROTC program, which launched in 2014, has experienced great success under the leadership of Chief Warrant Officer 3 (Ret) Ron McPhatter and Gunnery Sgt. (Ret) Trish Ramos. They sat down with us to talk about the program, their cadets and why their unit will never settle for mediocrity.