FAQs

At McGinn we celebrate a love of learning when recognizing a child’s birthday and provide these options to honor our student’s special day:
 

Announcements: Every child will have their name shared on the livestreamed morning announcements. Summer birthdays are shared in June.
 

Favorite Book Signing: We invite McGinn students to bring in one of their favorite books to share with their class on their special day. The birthday child may have it signed by the teachers and staff in the building for a lasting memory and keepsake.
 

If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday in this way, please reach out to your child’s teacher as the date approaches.

Birthday Book: If you would like to donate a new book to the McGinn Media Center in honor of your child’s birthday, a special birthday nameplate will be placed inside the book of your choice and your child’s picture will be posted on our Birthday Book wall.  
 

To donate a Birthday Book to McGinn, please feel free to send a book in with your child or reach out to Mr. Lohn, Media Specialist,  for suggestions at jlohn@spfk12.org. 

THANK YOU FOR PROMOTING OUR LOVE OF READING!!!

Due to the severity of food allergies among our students, we do not allow birthday treats or snacks. No Goodie-bags or trinkets can be distributed in school.

Dear Parents/Guardians

As food allergies continue to be a concern in schools across America and pose health risks to many of our students, we want to ensure the safest possible experience at McGinn. Students can be allergic to practically any food, but 90% of the foods they are allergic to fall under the 9 most common allergens: peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish, and sesame.

Therefore, the following safety guidelines are in effect:

● Please do not send any peanuts/tree nuts, peanut butter, Nutella or foods containing these ingredients to be eaten as snacks at school. 

● Birthday Celebrations are special times for children, but can be a difficult time for the food allergic child; therefore we recommend that you refer to our Birthdays FAQ panel for a suggestion for celebrating with a favorite book and special person. Birthday treats are not permitted in our school.

● Holiday Celebrations (Halloween and Valentine’s Day)  We must be extremely careful about the ingredients and preparation of all food items. Homemade treats, although delicious, make this process difficult. As a result, homemade treats are not allowed. 

We trust that you understand how deeply important it is to respect and adhere to these guidelines. If throughout the course of the year you have any questions or concerns about food allergy related issues, please do not hesitate to contact either one of us. 

Wishing you and your family a safe and healthy school year. 

Sasha Slocum, Principal Cheryl Ward, CSN, School Nurse

Suggested Nut free Snacks for Classrooms 

Here are some general groups of foods, which can help make nut-free snack decisions easier (borrowed from Victoria Groce, “How to Provide Peanut and Nut-Free Classroom Snacks”).

• Fresh fruit. Bananas are popular year-round, apples and pears are great in the fall, and clementines are easy to peel and available through the winter.

• Cheese: Most cheese is nut-free, including kid-friendly string cheese and convenient cheese cubes.

• Clementines, Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe

• Vegetables: Baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower are among the vegetables some kids will eat raw. Small containers of plain yogurt, salad dressing, or sour cream may be good dips.

• Raisins and other dried fruits.

• Pudding cups.

• Air-popped popcorn, Skinny Pop Popcorn (Original, White Cheddar, Naturally Sweet)

• Applesauce: The healthiest and most convenient type is unsweetened applesauce in single-serving cups.

• Fruit snacks: Stonyfield, Welch’s, Annie’s Organic

• Chips: potato, tortilla, etc., but examine labels closely to ensure they were not processed in factories where nuts were used.

• Lunch meat & sandwich bread.

• Oreos-Original/(Oreo Brand only)

• Treasure Mills School Safe Chocolate/Vanilla Cupcakes

• Treasure Mills School Safe Brownie/Chocolate Bars

• Rice Krispy brand treats- Store bought, not homemade

• Utz-Pretzels/Chips/Popcorn/Cheese Curls

• Doritos

• Herr’s Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips/Wise Salsa - Medium, Mild

• Made Good snacks

• Juice, water, and most other beverages.

• Some cereals, cookies, snack cakes, and crackers. These are more likely to contain nuts or to pose cross-contamination risks than other items on this list, so either check labels very carefully or consider buying these items from a nut-free manufacturer.

Websites for Further Information and Suggestions of Nut-Free Snacks

• Snack Safely

• Parents.com - Peanut Free Snack For School 

Many of your questions can be answered by checking out the McGinn Parent Handbook!!