Washington Wildcat Chat

Dear Washington Family,

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend and had some opportunities to take in these last moments of summer!

It was wonderful to see so many of our families at our Curriculum Night last week. We hope you gained valuable information about your child's class and had the opportunity to connect with our teachers and staff. Please continue to keep the lines of communication between home and school open--we cannot do this important work without the help of all of you!

I look forward to continuing to connect with all of you and encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child.

Here's to another great week of teaching, learning, and growing together!

Warm Regards,

Angie

September 11th through 15th is Safety Week at Washington. We will practice our required drills, including Fire Drill, Lockdown, Bus Evacuation, and Shelter in Place. Teachers will review the importance of classroom safety and preparedness before practicing these drills. Please see the schedule below:

• Monday, September 11 - Fire Drill
• Tuesday, September 12 - Fire Drill with Fired Department
• Wednesday, September 13 - Lockdown
• Thursday, September 14 - Bus Evacuation
• Friday, September 15 - Shelter in Place

District 64 continues to provide a safe environment for all students, staff and community members. As required by the Illinois School Safety Drill Act (105 ILCS 128/20), during each academic year, schools must conduct a law enforcement lockdown drill to address a school shooting incident. This drill shall be no later than 90 days after the first day of each school year that addresses an active threat or an active shooter within a school building.

Law enforcement lockdown drills must be conducted on days and times when students are usually present in the school building and must involve participation from all school personnel and students present at school at the time of the lockdown drill, except that administrators or school support personnel in their discretion may exempt students from the lockdown drill. Our local law enforcement shall observe the administration of the lockdown drill.

As also required by Illinois, schools must provide sufficient information and notification to parents and guardians before any walk-through lockdown drill involving students' participation.

Schools must also provide parents and guardians an opportunity to exempt their children for any reason from participating in the walk-through lockdown drill. Please contact the main office if you wish your child to be exempted from the law enforcement lockdown drill.

If your child is exempted from the drill, we will provide alternative safety education and instruction related to an active threat or active shooter event to provide those students with essential information, training, and teaching through less sensorial safety training methods.

Thank you for your support in ensuring our students and staff a safe and healthy environment.

Spuntino's will once again deliver pizza to Washington School during lunch every Thursday starting Thursday, September 14th. Cheese pizza will be served by-the-slice by parent volunteers. In addition to pizza Thursdays being a fun lunch, it is also a very important fundraiser for the school!

Ordering Info:

• Orders are due FRIDAY, September 8, 2023 by midnight
  • After September 8th there will not be any more opportunities to sign up for pizza until the second half of the year. No late orders will be accepted in order to ensure we have an accurate pizza count
  • If ordering for more than one child, each child will need to have his/her own order

• 2 ordering options: HALF YEAR or FULL YEAR
  • If you choose half year, your child will get pizza from Thursday, September 14th through Thursday, December 21st. If you choose full year, your child will get pizza from Thursday, September 14th through Thursday, June 6th
  • Families can choose 1, 2, or 3 slices per student
  
  
• Orders are placed through the PTO website. CLICK HERE to order pizza
  • You will need to login to place your order
  • To check if a current order was placed correctly, please select "My Account" at the top right of your personal PTO account page, then select "Order History" to view previous successful orders

Pizza orders are final - no changes in the number of slices can be made. If you think your student will want to modify their pizza order for the second half of the year, please utilize the 'first half of the year' ordering only.

Parent Volunteers Needed!

• We are looking for parent volunteers to help serve pizza to our students on Thursdays at Washington from 11:20 AM to 12:35 PM
• New this year: You can select which grade level/lunch location you'd like to volunteer with to ensure you are serving your child's peer group
• CLICK HERE to sign up to volunteer

Chess-Ed is excited to return to Washington School to provide lunchtime chess instruction this Fall!

The 10-week program runs from 09/15/23 to 11/17/23 and takes place on Fridays from 11:35 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (during lunch). The program is open to students in all grades and of all chess abilities (including those in full-day and half-day Kindergarten). Professional instruction will include the basics for beginner and novice players and build with opening theory, middle game planning, and end-game combinations for continuing and advanced students. Playing chess improves memory, uses analytical and critical thinking skills, teaches problem-solving, responsibility, sportsmanship, social skills, and more! The benefits of chess last a lifetime!

To register, please go to https://2023-2024washingtonchess.eventbee.com. Register by 9/01/23 to take advantage of the lowest available fee. For more information about the program, please refer to the program flyer. Chess-Ed is looking forward to working with your CHESS ENTHUSIAST this Fall!

September 7 - Camp Duncan Parent Meeting, 6:00

September 8 - Pizza Day Ordering Due

September 13 - PTO Meeting, 7:00

September 14 - Pizza Day Starts

September 21 - Camp Duncan

September 21 - Board of Education Meeting

Inspire all students to discover their strengths, embrace learning, achieve personal excellence, and demonstrate care. Students thrive in a rich, rigorous, and innovative curriculum delivered by highly qualified teachers. Each student learns and grows in a safe, nurturing environment. In collaboration with student, parents, teachers and the community, District 64 provides opportunities for each learner to investigate, be successful, be resilient, and become inspired and empowered as they contribute to our global society.