District News

The Patton Junior Thespians earned various honors at the National Junior Theatre Festival held in Sacramento, California, this past weekend. The students, under the direction of Patton drama director Emily Wilcox, are the first junior troupe from Oregon ever to attend the national festival. Out of 47 groups, Patton’s thespians were awarded an Excellence in…

Six robotics teams from the McMinnville School District competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifying Tournament at Oregon State University on Saturday, January 28.  There were two teams from McMinnville High School (MHS) and two each from Duniway and Patton middle schools.  Both high school teams and one team from Patton will advance to the…

McMinnville School District’s effort to improve learning outcomes through curriculum was honored at the last week’s Confederation of Oregon School Administrators winter conference. The Excellence in Curriculum Leadership Award recognizes work that has resulted in enhanced student achievement. The award was presented for the district’s Early Learning Initiative, which includes Ready for Kindergarten – The…

Have you signed up for the “Be College Ready” offers this year? Every family with a current kindergartner can get $25 to open a new (or contribute to an existing) account with the Oregon College Savings Plan. The deadline to receive this offer is Tuesday, February 28, 2017. Additionally, one family in every elementary school…

Two McMinnville High School (MHS) students earned top honors in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards regional competition. Senior McKenna Suarez (Roebuckstag ) and junior Zelmira Vindas (Self love=war) both won a Gold Key designation in Digital Art and Mixed Media and both pieces will advance to the national competition in New York City later…

McMinnville High School’s Vic Downs has been named Sectional Coach of the Year for Boys Track & Field by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association. Downs is recognized for the Northwest Section of the association, which covers Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Coaches are nominated based on their…

Following is a message regarding inclement weather school make-up days: There will be changes to the school calendar due to the inclement weather we have recently experienced. McMinnville School District students will make up 3 of the 4 days school was closed due to snow. The last school day for students will now be June…

The Arts Alliance of Yamhill County invites submissions to the 24th annual Paper Gardens competition. Paper Gardens is a creative writing program with categories in prose and poetry that accepts free entries from students ages 6 through 18. This year’s competition will be judged by Oregon Poet Laureate Elizabeth Woody and Linfield College professor and…

The McMinnville High School Symphonic Choir was invited to perform at today’s inauguration of Governor Kate Brown. Led by MHS choral director Robin Pederson, the group performed six pieces during the ceremony at the Oregon State Capitol. The choir performed Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios Krao and Sure on This Shining Night during the prelude…

The McMinnville School District has launched the Women in Tech (WIT) project in collaboration with Salesforce, the world’s #1 CRM and Customer Success Platform. The collaboration features support from Salesforce.org and mentoring from Salesforce employees. Middle and high school girls who attended summer STEM camps offered by the McMinnville School District (MSD) were invited to…