District News

The McMinnville School District has formed a committee to assess current boundaries for the district’s six elementary and middle schools. The committee will address the issues of school capacity and possible enrollment shifts that could result from new housing developments in McMinnville. “We formed this committee to examine our existing boundaries,” said Dr. Maryalice Russell,…

Fifth grade Memorial student Oscar Marksbury Page has been named a state-wide winner in the Oregon Blue Book 2019-20 essay contest.  He will be recognized at an event at the Oregon Capitol on Tuesday, March 19, in Salem. The contest theme was “Celebrating Oregon’s Local Festivals,” and Oscar’s piece and illustration describe the annual “Alien…

McMinnville High School AP Visual Arts students will display their work at a Student Showcase scheduled to run from Tuesday, Feb. 26 through March 31.  The Showcase will be held at Ten Oaks Gallery in McMinnville.  The show will kick off with an opening reception on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.  Artists whose work…

James Tenesaca DeMaster, fifth grade Memorial student, and Opal Primozich, eighth grade Duniway student, have been named winners in the annual American History essay contest sponsored by the Yamhill chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). This year’s essay explored the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment in June 1919,…

The McMinnville School District’s elementary Science Experiences program wrapped up a new session this week at Linfield College.  The sessions covered principles and forms of light and sound energy, activities aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. “One of the goals of the Science Experiences program is to expose students to different places in our…

The district calendar committee has presented two calendar options for the 2019-2020 school year. The final calendar will be adopted at the School Board business meeting on March 11, 2019 The committee would like input on which option is preferred. Parents and district employees are invited to participate in a short online survey by clicking…

Students from Duniway and Patton middle schools wrapped up performances this month with the Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) Honor Band and Honor Choir events.  This year’s Honor Band was made up of 90 students from 15 different middle schools representing six different school districts. Students rehearsed for over six hours on Friday, Jan. 18…

After years of steady increases, the McMinnville High School (MHS) overall graduation rate has exceeded 90 percent. This rate is 12 points higher than the state average and more than three points higher than last year. The results were announced yesterday by the Oregon Department of Education. In every category, MHS exceeded state averages, including…

The Arts Alliance of Yamhill County invites submissions to the 26th 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 Tracy Daugherty and José Angel Araguz. The top three submissions…

Five McMinnville High School (MHS) students earned honors in the state competition for the Scholastic Art Awards.  Across the state, 2,604 students entered 7,007 individual pieces of art and 270 portfolios. Seniors Keelie Grasley and Carly Szedlak won Gold Key recognition for their work (see below) and will advance to the national competition in New…