"Paws for Patrick" Visit to McCracken

November 11, 2022

Dear Parents & Guardians,

We hope that your child has had a successful trimester so far! Our middle schoolers have the opportunity to spend time with a therapy dog during their recess period this school year. A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort, and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. McCracken Middle School is partnering with Paws for Patrick, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting young people with emotional support animals (ESAs) and therapy dogs in order to support students with their mental health. Here is the organization’s website: www.pawsforpatrick.org. 

Paws for Patrick will be bringing their dogs on Thursday, November 17th during your student’s assigned recess period. The therapy dog will be accompanied by a licensed trainer from Paws for Patrick, and we will review behavior expectations with all students. In addition to the trainer, a McCracken staff member will also be present during the visit.  

If you are interested in this opportunity for your student, please sign the attached permission form. If you would like a physical copy of this form, please have your student ask their advisory teacher. This permission form is due back by Wednesday, November 16th.  

We will only have a capacity for 20 students per recess period, so we will provide this opportunity to those students that turn in their permission slips first. Students that did not have the chance to participate next week may do so when the dogs visit again. If your student had the chance to be with a therapy dog in September, they may also be asked to wait until the next visit. Please know that this is an optional opportunity.  

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Thank you, 

McCracken Administration