Keeping Students Safe and Parents Informed

Parent Newsletter Series

March 2026

In this issue:

A Message from Superintendent Shawn Pratt

Purpose

Featured Topic

Did You Know?

Practical Tips for Families

Family Tools Spotlight

Looking Ahead

From our Superintendent - Shawn Pratt

Dear MISD Parents and Guardians,

At McKinney ISD, the safety, well‑being, and success of our students remain at the heart of every decision we make. As technology continues to shape how our children learn, communicate, and interact with the world, it is more important than ever that we work together to support them in making safe, healthy, and informed choices online.

This school year, we launched a monthly communication and education series designed to strengthen our partnership with families by focusing on student safety, transparent communication, and legal awareness. Our goal is simple: to ensure that every parent and guardian has access to the tools, information, and resources needed to confidently support their child’s digital life, both at home and at school.

Each month, we will share timely topics, practical guidance, and learning opportunities to help us navigate the rapidly changing digital landscape together. In this edition, we highlight online student safety and digital citizenship—an area that affects all students, from our youngest learners to our high school seniors. We hope the information and resources provided will empower you to engage in meaningful conversations with your child and reinforce safe, responsible technology use.

Thank you for your continued partnership and for the many ways you support your children and our district. When schools and families work together, we create the strongest foundation for our students’ success, both online and in life.

With appreciation,
Shawn Pratt
Superintendent, McKinney ISD

Purpose

In August, our district launched a monthly communication and education series focused on student safety, transparent communication, family partnership, and legal awareness. This series will help ensure:

  • Parents and guardians are informed of their access, roles, and tools

  • Students receive age-appropriate learning on safety, digital citizenship, and well-being

  • Schools stay connected with families through proactive outreach and education.

Featured Topic: Online Student Safety and Digital Citizenship

Online and mobile technology are now a normal part of everyday life for students and families. While these tools  provide incredible opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection, they also come with potential risks that require awareness and guidance.

Unlimited access to information and people can lead to positive experiences and expanded knowledge, but it can also expose children to inappropriate content and online dangers. Our goal is to help students develop the judgment and skills needed to make responsible decisions in the digital world while protecting their safety, personal information, and reputation.

To support families, this newsletter includes resources and practical tips to help keep students safe online. One of the most effective ways to reduce potential risks is for adults to model positive digital behavior and maintain open conversations with children about responsible technology use.

Parent Information Regarding Online Conduct, Technology Habits, and Online Safety for Children/Teens

Across our district, McKinney ISD has been educating various grade levels on digital and online safety topics.  This year, MISD added lessons for 6th graders and 9th graders from our Children’s Advocacy Center that go deeper into these topics. Your secondary campuses will share this information with you as the lessons provided from the Children’s Advocacy Center require parental opt-in authorization.

Check out their website, Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County

FOR CAREGIVERS: The Children’s Advocacy Center has several helpful videos to preview:

  • Online Safety: Teaching kids about Privacy

  • A Parent's Guide to discussing healthy relationships with your teen 

  • Online Safety: help children spot grooming tactics early

 Head to their site, click Learn, and check out their education programs!

Join MISD Parents and Community Members 

For Parenting the Digital Generation & 

Online Extremist Presentation 

by the Children's Advocacy Center

 and McKinney Police Department

 (ADULTS ONLY)

DATE: March 25, 2026

TIME: 6:00 - 7:30 PM

LOCATION:  Community Event Center

FLYER:

Parenting the Digital Generation 

Continue to Learn: As parents, guardians, grandparents, and adults in children’s lives, we can never be prepared enough to manage children's online citizenship and safety. 

Please use these resources to learn more:

Did You Know?

You can use these resources to view  helpful videos and sites so that you can have valuable conversations with your child/children, regardless of their age:

For those who love articles:

Kids Are Growing Up Wired — and That's Changing Their Brains | Discover Magazine

How Technical Devices Influence Children's Brains | Psychology Today

Are our brains addicted to information?

Brain health consequences of digital technology use - PMC

The Impact of Technology on Social Skills

Too Much Information, Too Little Time: How the Brain Separates Important from Unimportant Things in Our Fast-Paced Media World · Frontiers for Young Minds


Books for Adults

The Anxious Generation by: Jonathan Haidt

Glow Kids by: Nicholas Kardaras

Books for Kids

Limit Your Dragon's Screen Time by: Steve Herman

Cell Phoney by: Julia Cook

Cami and Wyatt Have Too Much Screen Time by: Stacy Bauer

Unplugged by: Steve Antony

TEK a Modern Cave Boy by: Patrick McDonnell

The Couch Potato by: Jory John

Nerdy Birdy Tweets by: Aaron Reynolds

Once Upon a Time Online by: David Bedford

Practical Tips for Families

What can you do?

  • Be involved - Consider activities you can work on together, whether it be playing a game, researching a topic you had been talking about (e.g., family vacation spots, a particular hobby, a historical figure), or putting together a family newsletter. This will allow you to supervise your child's online activities while teaching them good computer habits.

  • Keep your home computer in an open area - If your computer is in a high-traffic area, you will be able to easily monitor the computer activity. Not only does this accessibility deter children from doing something they know they're not allowed to do, but it also allows you to intervene if you notice a behavior that could have negative consequences.

  • Set rules and warn about dangers - Make sure your child knows the boundaries of what they are allowed to do on the computer. These boundaries should be appropriate for the child's age, knowledge, and maturity. Still, they may include rules about how long they are allowed to be on the computer, what sites they are allowed to visit, what software programs they can use, and what tasks or activities they are allowed to do.

  • You should also talk to your children about the dangers of the internet so that they recognize suspicious behavior or activity. Discuss the risks of sharing certain types of information (e.g., that they're home alone) and the benefits of only communicating and sharing information with people they know. The goal isn't to scare them, it's to make them more aware. Make sure to include the topic of cyberbullying in these discussions (see Dealing with Cyberbullies for more information).

  • Monitor computer activity - Be aware of what your child is doing on the computer, including which websites they are visiting. If they are using email, instant messaging, or chat rooms, try to get a sense of who they are corresponding with and whether they actually know them.

  • Keep lines of communication open - Let your child know that they can approach you with any questions or concerns about behaviors or problems they may have encountered on the computer.

  • Consider partitioning your computer into separate accounts - Most operating systems give you the option of creating a different user account for each user. If you're worried that your child may accidentally access, modify, and/or delete your files, you can give them a separate account and decrease the amount of access and number of privileges they have.
    If you don't have separate accounts, you need to be especially careful about your security settings. In addition to limiting functionality within your browser, avoid letting your browser remember passwords and other personal information. Also, it is always important to keep your virus definitions up to date.

  • Consider implementing parental controls - You may be able to set some parental controls within your browser. For example, internet browsers allow you to restrict or allow certain websites to be viewed on your computer, and you can protect these settings with a password.

    **There are other resources you can use to control and/or monitor your child's online activity. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer services designed to protect children online. Contact your ISP to see if any of these services are available. There are also special software programs you can install on your computer to help with online safety. Different programs offer different features and capabilities, so you can find one that best suits your needs.

Family Tools Spotlight 

Family Digital Safety Resource: Common Sense Media

As children’s lives become increasingly digital, Common Sense Media offers essential, research-based resources to help families navigate technology safely. This non-profit provides a parent guide for managing media consumption and digital citizenship.

Key resources include:

By utilizing these tools, parents can proactively support their children’s digital well-being and online safety.

March is AI Literacy Month

Discovery Education offers many resources about Artificial Intelligence.  Students can access this information by logging into SSO (portal.mckinneyisd.net) and clicking on Discovery Education.

  • Support students in building essential AI literacy with the Digital Citizenship Initiative. Explore the Masterclass video, three DEMystified explainers, and short articles that show how AI shapes media, habits, and decision‑making. Get ready for AI Literacy Month this March with these curated K–12 resources.

  • Check out the new Think Smart: Exploring AI & Staying Safe Online animated series—provided by Norton and My Digital Life—with your grades 3–8 students. These quick, engaging videos build online safety skills, introduce AI, and support smart digital decision‑making. 

  • Common Sense Media also offers parents articles and information about AI.

BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. are great resources for students to learn more about AI and digital citizenship. This is available to PK-8th-grade students through SSO.

Family Guides to help keep students safe online:

Family Guide to Parental Controls

Parents' Guide to Cyberbullying 

Parents’ Guide to Social Media and Digital Wellness