District News

The 2016-17 school year officially began for district staff this morning with the annual Welcome Back inservice that featured highlights of last year’s successes and a look toward challenges ahead. This year’s program motif was “Come Together” and covered the themes of unity, innovation, safety and achievement. Mixing motivation, inspiration and humor, the program focused…

Students from all over the district are attending a music camp at McMinnville High School this week. Budding musicians in grades  in grades three through 12 have a chance to explore the ukelele, strings, keyboard, mallots/drumming, voice, guitar or recorder, and fifth through high school students can also try band or jazz improvisation. “This is…

Kirsten Kepler is the only freshly minted McMinnville High School graduate  to earn a spot in the McMinnville WORKS internship program this summer. She landed in the Yamhill County Clerk’s office and spends her day digitizing and indexing vital records into a searchable database.  So far, she’s completed about 30 years of records. The nine-week…

New kindergarten students can get a jump start on the school year by attending transition camp.  Students can meet teachers and classmates and learn their way around the school. The camp features fun activities and time to play outdoors and includes a free breakfast and lunch.  The camp runs Monday-Friday, August 22-26 from 8:30 a.m….

McMinnville resident Carson Benner has been named to the McMinnville School Board. Benner replaces long-time member Stan Primozich, who retired in June. Benner, who has lived in McMinnville for more than 20 years, has served the district for more than 10 years as a member of the Budget Committee, Long Range Facilities Task Force and…

This week, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici visited Newby Elementary to learn about the McMinnville School District (MSD)’s summer meals program.   U.S. Rep. Bonamici visited the district to see the federally funded child nutrition programs in action.   Newby serves approximately 100 meals a day, at both breakfast and lunch, according to MSD Nutrition Director Cindi…

Nine staff members of McMinnville High School (MHS) attended the AVID Summer Institute this month. The institute is an annual professional learning event created to help educators learn the latest in AVID methodologies and strategies to successfully implement the national college readiness program in their schools. Teachers and administrators Doug Barsotti, Amy Fast, Darcy Houston,…

More than 30 middle school students attended a STEM camp at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum last week. The four-day camp is designed to improve science, technology, engineering and math skills through hands-on projects. Projects included new sessions focused on forensic science and DNA; rocketry; computer programming and game theory; and flight science with hot…

For the seventh year in a row, the McMinnville School District has been honored by the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting award, considered the Gold Standard in the industry, recognizes having met or exceeded the program’s high standards for financial…

Rising third graders start summer school this week.  The five-week sessions are held at every elementary school in the district, running Mondays through Thursdays from June 20 – June 30 and August 1 – 18, from 9 a.m. until noon. Breakfast and lunch are offered at every site. The free Step Up to Third Grade…