Washington Wildcat Chat

Dear Washington Family,

District 64 will administer the ISBE-mandated Illinois Essentials Survey in February to all certified staff, students in grades 4-8, and all parents of students in grades PreK-8. The survey focuses on the five “essential” areas that research has shown are key components for school success: Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environment, and Ambitious Instruction. A link to the parent survey will be shared with families on February 12.

Students will complete this 20-minute survey from February 13-23, 2024. Student participants will log-in using their student ID and birth date to complete the survey. Students’ identities will be completely confidential. Teachers or administrators will never see individual responses to survey questions.

Please be aware that under the Protection of Pupil Rights Act. 20 U.S.C. Section 1232(c) (1) (A), you have the right to review a copy of the questions asked of your student(s). The student survey questions can be reviewed here. If you do not want your child to participate, please complete this form and return it to your child’s teacher by Monday, February 12.

Sincerely,

Angie

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

this Spring. The 9-week program runs from 03/01/24 to 05/10/24 and takes place on

Fridays from 11:35 am to 12:30 pm (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 02/16/24 to take advantage of 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 Spring!

See here for more information!

Good Afternoon Washington Families,

You are invited to this year's school dance: Washapalooza!

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, 2/11, at 9am through the PTO website and will remain open until our gym capacity is capped or until midnight 2/25 - whichever happens first.

We expect tickets to sell out, so be sure to get yours early if you'd like to attend!

Students must attend with a parent/guardian. Tickets are $20 for one parent/child combo, and then each additional ticket for the family is $5. The additional tickets you may purchase are for either siblings (who are current Washington students) or an additional parent/guardian that would like to attend.

The suggested attire is whatever "music festival" means to you and your family! No rules! Swiftie, boho, grunge, glam - call it what you want! <-- That's a Taylor Swift song. ... We expect to see a lot of Swifties at this dance :)

An email with the direct link will be sent when ticket sales open. As always, you must be logged in to your PTO account to purchase tickets. You do not need to be a PTO member to attend the dance, but you must have an active account.

We look forward to seeing you at Washapalooza on March 2nd!

Your Washington PTO Dance Committee & Board

All homerooms will celebrate Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 14th. Thank you to our teachers and room parents for coordinating these celebrations for our students! Room parent coordinators and teachers will be communicating plans for your child's homeroom. Please be on the lookout for more information and reach out to these people directly if you have any questions or concerns. We appreciate your support in helping to make this a special day for all of our students!

Once you finish enjoying your Valentine's treats, the Washington Green Committee is encouraging students and staff members to collect and bring in their Valentine's candy wrappers for recycling. There will be a Trash or Treasure™ box at the front of the building where we will collect empty candy wrappers! Once the box is filled up with candy wrappers (and only candy wrappers, please!), we will mail it back to the recycling processor. During processing, candy wrappers start their Second Life® as part of the circular economy. The wrappers are sorted by material, cleaned, and ground into small pieces. The plastic pieces then go down a long conveyor belt and into a machine that heats the shredded material, turning it into very small balls called plastic pellets. These pellets are used to make new plastic items! Thanks for your help!

• Science Olympiad - February 10

• Valentine's Day Parties - February 14

• Washington Open House - February 15

• No School - Teacher Institute Day - February 16

• PTO Meeting - February 21

• Board of Education Meeting - February 22

• Washington School Dance - March 2

• Uncle Pete's Lunches - March 5

• No School, Records Planning Day - March 8

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.