District News

The 2019-20 school year launched today with the annual Welcome Back event that celebrates past successes and charts a course for the year to come. This year’s program themes was “Come Fly with Us” and mixed motivation, inspiration and humor to showcase the idea that we can all work together to help students soar to…

The district’s 33 new licensed staff were formally introduced today at the beginning of orientation sessions.  School Board chair Larry Vollmer formally welcomed the new members of the staff and other board members were also on hand to greet them. Building administrators introduced each new staff member to the group, and Superintendent Maryalice Russell gave…

All incoming kindergartners are invited to participate in a “Transition Camp” at their home school.  The camp will kick off this year with a special session for parents in an effort to build strong partnerships for students between home and school. “We know that inviting new kindergartners to camp begins helps them transition to the…

The Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) sent a reporter to feature the McMinnville School District’s freshman-sophomore math and science summer program. The program, created and led by McMinnville High School teachers, gives students a chance to focus on the curriculum areas they struggled with during the school year. The four-week session offers students a chance…

Anna Pearl Johnson graduated from Mac High in 2018.  After a year of college out of state, she’s back for the summer and helping the pilot Career Bound employment program launched this year by the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP). The Career Bound program matches new graduates with full-time summer jobs that could lead to…

The second annual Career Technical Education (CTE) summer seminars launched this week to kick off a slate of new programming for incoming sixth through ninth grade students. The free sessions run from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., mostly Monday – Thursday unless otherwise noted. Lunch is provided and transportation is available for students who live…

Over 100 middle school students attended the tenth annual McMinnville School District’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) camp this week.  “The boat-building session requires the students to design build a craft out of cardboard and keep it afloat for three minutes,” said Andrea Brown, director of the camp. “The first group found that…

This week’s School Board meeting featured the annual celebration for retiring staff. Retiring staff were presented with a “Golden Apple,” by board members to commemorate their years of service.  The Grandhaven Elementary after-school choir, directed by Tegan Johnson, performed at the meeting and all attendees were feted with cake in honor of those who served the…

At last night’s board meeting, the McMinnville School Board voted to implement new boundaries in district elementary and middle schools, effective in the 2019-20 school year.  Click to see interactive  maps. The changes will also affect current bus routes. Updated routes will be available by fall. The district’s Boundary Committee, composed of parents and district staff,…

Parents of secondary students are invited to attend a presentation on suicide prevention this Saturday, June 1 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. in the school auditorium of McMinnville High School. Adults are invited to learn about this important topic.