We wanted to take a moment to share the sad news with the McKinnon PS community that Sandra Myrwoda has recently passed away. 
Sandra was the long-standing principal at McKinnon PS for well over twenty years, concluding her time here officially in 2015. Many of our current staff were not only initially hired and welcomed to the school by Sandra but were also well supported by Sandra during her time at the school. It is easy to say that Sandra was well known for supporting staff in difficult times.
Sandra was a visionary in the education sector and had an integral role in the building and saving of the school from when it was set to close in the early 2000s. The school at the time was called Ormond East PS with just over one hundred students. Sandra worked tirelessly to rebrand and rename the school to become McKinnon Primary School. Numbers quickly rose and the school became sought after. It is important to note that many of our beloved buildings where we gather each day (such as the Learning Centre) were petitioned for by Sandra. As well as saving the school and making it what it is today, she brought in many of the important programs we have at the school today, including but not limited to the International Baccalaureate(IB)- Primary Years Programme(PYP) and the Chinese Mandarin program (which she was considered a trailblazer in this area at the time). In all these decisions she was always thinking of the best education we could provide for our students’ future.
It is with immense gratitude that we thank Sandra for her commitment to this school and the students, knowing that she has influenced countless students’ lives in this process.
Suzanne Khatib