Free Weekly At Home COVID-19 Testing
McKenzie Families,

The University of Oregon (UO) has partnered with Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to provide free, voluntary COVID-19 testing to schools in Lane County.

McKenzie has opted into the program, and it is available for your student if you would like to participate during the 2021-22 school year.

How does the program work? - Parents/Guardians complete the OHA waiver and register using UO’s testing portal.

Participating students receive a welcome packet, including information on how to use the simple at-home saliva test, tube labels and other supplies.

Weekly, students will pick up a test collection kit from their school and return it on pre-set days.

Samples are picked up from the school and shipped to the UO’s clinical lab in Eugene where they are processed using a highly accurate PCR test.

Results will be available in the secure results portal 1-2 business days after they are received by the lab.

Families will get an email/text notification letting them know when to check the portal. Results will also be sent to local public health officials but are not released directly to schools.

Why Participate? Routine screening testing (testing of people who do not have COVID symptoms) is a way to identify people who are infected with COVID-19 and may pass the virus to others, even though they don’t feel sick. Weekly screening tests can quickly identify people who are positive and allow them to quarantine/isolate. This helps reduce the spread of the virus and can slow down an outbreak.

Opting In Is Easy!
Step 1: Complete the Oregon Health Authority waiver and return it to your school.

Step 2: Fill out the registration survey at: https://tinyurl.com/k12covidtesting

This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award to the State of Oregon. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Click here for information in Spanish

UO game and Tailgate
A big thanks to the anonymous donor who helped send some of our McKenzie families to the Ducks game on Saturday!
Thank you to Kendall Auto Eugene and The Hope Project for serving up a fun tailgate and keeping us dry during that crazy downpour. 
Here's a snapshot of the fun!
Back to School
Health Guidelines
We will continue to align ourselves with the The Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework. We will be following those guidelines. Our priority is to safely bring students back to school full-time and keep schools open and kids in classrooms throughout the school year.

Vaccinations: Vaccinations are proving to be the best defense against COVID-19. We will continue to work with Lane County Public Health to make vaccinations available to eligible populations in our community by hosting vaccination clinics. Everyone age 12 and over is eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 now. Authorization of vaccines for youth under 12 is expected this fall or winter. Lane County Public Health will be hosting a vaccination clinic for eligible students at our Welcome Back BBQ Friday, September 17th. As you know, Gov. Kate Brown recently announced that Oregon would require all public and private school teachers, staff and volunteers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Oregon school staff will need to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Oct.18. Exceptions may be made for eligible medical or religious reasons. 

Face Coverings: We will follow Oregon Health Authority’s statewide rule (OAR 333-019-1015) requiring face coverings in all indoor school settings, both public and private, for all individuals two years and older, including all students, staff, contractors, volunteers and visitors. This rule is in response to the sharp uptick in the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon and the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19. Face coverings will also be mandatory on district buses due to CDC requirements for public transportation. 

Physical Distancing: Reflecting the guidance, we will continue to support and promote physical distancing of students and staff. We will continue to distance in classrooms, the playground and during transitions when students are standing in line. Floor markings will remain a fixture of McKenzie’s spaces.

Cohorts: Students will continue to be tracked and placed into stable cohorts to the greatest extent possible, especially in our younger grades who cannot benefit from vaccinations. Cohorting helps reduce the number of people exposed and helps identify those who may have been exposed in case of an identified COVID-19 case in the school.

Entry Screening, Isolation and Testing: Students will continue to be screened for illness when arriving at school each day. Preventing ill students from coming to school helps prevent the spread of many illnesses beyond COVID. Students who show sickness symptoms during screening or during the day will be referred to our isolation room in the elementary office. Parents will be notified to pick up their student. We will continue to provide COVID-19 rapid tests this year to ill students with parental consent. The District is required to exclude students who demonstrate primary symptoms of COVID-19 as we were last year.

Hand Hygiene: Regular hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer will continue to be emphasized throughout the school year. Practicing safe hygiene helps prevent the spread of COVID and other illnesses we regularly encounter at school.

Increased Sanitation: McKenzie’s custodial staff will continue focusing on increased sanitation efforts throughout the buildings, playgrounds and other common areas. 

Air Purifiers: Thanks to a generous donation by BlueAir last year, McKenzie’s classrooms will continue to have HEPA filters in place during the year. This filtration can help ensure cleaner air for students and staff.

Increased Airflow: Buildings will continue to be opened up as much as possible, including doors and windows to get more fresh outdoor air circulated into classrooms.

Training: Regular training for staff regarding health and safety protocols will occur at the beginning of the year and regularly during the remainder of the school year.

Visitor Policy: Visitors must wear face coverings and check in at the office for health screening. Visitors will not be allowed in the building past the office. 

Quarantining and contact tracing: If we have a confirmed case of COVID at school, we will work directly with our district and Lane County Public Health to communicate with families. If students must quarantine, they will have access to class materials and assignments. 

Athletics COVID & Wildfire Smoke Protocols: McKenzie athletic teams will continue to follow OSAA recommended protocols during the season. Coaches and Administrators will regularly monitor air quality both indoors and outdoors to ensure safety from wildfire smoke exposure.

Weekly COVID Screenings: We will be offering weekly covid screening testing for interested families. More information to come soon. 

Safety Tips for Households
Here are 5 helpful tips from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) for safety as we head back to school.

  1. Make a plan to vaccinate all eligible household members. As school starts, help protect your child and their classmates, including those too young to get vaccinated, by making sure to vaccinate all eligible household members.
  2. Wear face coverings or masks in public and carpools. Face coverings effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the need to be quarantined and miss in-person learning.
  3. Limit gatherings with other households for now, including big events for kids, like birthday parties. If your kids have an early fall birthday, celebrate with just your household. You might consider postponing larger celebrations until the Delta variant’s rapid spread has subsided (plan a half-birthday bash!).
  4. Move social activities outdoors. To help minimize kids’ exposure to COVID-19, try to plan outdoor activities when possible, especially with other households.
  5. Make a plan if your child is going to need to miss class. Being prepared can make this difficult time easier and will help your child transition to and from the classroom. 
Thank You - The Hope Project
We welcomed back our teachers and staff to campus Monday!

A huge THANK YOU to the The Hope Project for bringing coffee, breakfast and amazing school supplies for each of our teachers.
This was the perfect kick-off to our school year as we look to welcome students back safely next week.

Project Overcome - Please Take This Survey
If you haven't already filled out this survey above, please fill it out! We know some of you filled it out at registration, so thank you.

As you know, McKenzie School District recently won a Project OVERCOME grant that aims to rebuild and improve internet services in the region. As part of the grant, researchers are looking to understand the positive benefits of better Internet services.

This survey will help move the wireless internet project ahead. But, first, they need to understand your interest in internet access and the available access to you and your household. 

There is no correct answer for any of these questions, and if there are any questions you prefer not to answer, you can leave them blank.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this short survey and supporting community rebuilding. Selected participants may be contacted by the school with an offer of free internet.
We are Hiring
Welcome to the McKenzie Family!