We kick off every school year with our annual Town Hall Meeting where we have fun and do important work. We begin the same way every year with a round of jokes. Anyone and everyone can come up and tell a joke and at McGuffey; you’re guaranteed an appreciative audience that offers a laugh or a groan or both.

Afterwards, in multi-age groups, older students facilitate a discussion on different topics. This year: What is community? How can we make our McGuffey community a kind place? After writing down ideas, each table shares them with the whole school. 

A community is:

A group of people who bring Peace

A group of people who work together

People who help people

A growing family

How can we make our community a kind place?

Smile and wave

Have empathy

Have a library

Keep people safe

Check in with each other

Grow things

We wrapped up our meeting by singing one of our favorite sing-along songs, “Count on Me.”

Kindergarteners have jobs to do each day. The jobs are real actions that need to be done to set up the classroom and create a comfortable environment. Kindergarten jobs include unloading the dishwasher, folding clean towels, setting up the outdoor classroom, emptying the compost bin, and preparing cots for preschoolers to use during quiet time. 

These jobs begin the spiral curriculum of responsibilities and rights at McGuffey. As students grow, their responsibilities grow and so do their privileges. Kindergarteners get to do special activities that preschoolers don’t. Each day, they leave during quiet time to go to Kindergarten Studio, they have music in the Main Building’s music room instead of their classroom, and they have special places to sit during morning meeting.