Washington Wildcat Chat

Dear Washington Families:

It is hard to believe that March is already here! We have a busy month ahead, so please take some time to review all of the things happening at Washington in the coming weeks.

I would like to thank our Wildcat family for their generosity and kindness in supporting Uncle Pete's Lunches this week. Together, we were able to collect 860 meals for people in need throughout the Chicagoland area. Thank you to Senora Nagel and the Student Council for spreading the word about Uncle Pete's and collecting lunches yesterday. As always, we appreciate the many ways our Washington family supports our Wildcats Give Back initiatives!

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Test, an assessment for all students in Illinois in grades 3-8, will be administered in District 64 from March 13-March 24. The best preparation for the IAR has been the quality instruction our teachers have provided this school year. However, there are things you can also do to promote your child’s success:

• Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats a healthy breakfast before each day of testing.

• Provide your child with words of encouragement. While we don’t want our students to feel anxious about any assessment, we do want them to do their best.

• The IAR is an online assessment and students will be using their Chromebooks to complete these tests. Please make sure your child brings his or her Chromebook to school each day, fully charged.

Below is our school’s schedule for test administration:

Monday, March 13: Math Test 1

Tuesday, March 14: ELA Test 1

Wednesday, March 15: Math Test 2

Thursday, March 16: ELA Test 2

Friday, March 17: Math Test 3

Monday, April 20: ELA Field Test 3

If you would like to learn more about the IAR tests, sample tests are available for your review. Thank you for your support in helping your child be prepared for upcoming testing.

Our students have been doing a wonderful job working for ROARS to meet our classroom and school goals. In celebration of filling our school bucket halfway, we will have a crazy hair and hat day on Friday. Thank you for continuing to support and reinforce positive school behaviors at home.

I hope everyone enjoys the sunny March weather and has a great day!

Warm Regards,

Angie

We are sending along our thanks and gratitude for the generosity of the entire Washington community from the PTO and the staff at the Uncle Pete’s Lunch Program.

Yesterday, we collected 860 lunches that were shared with individuals and families at:

· Marillac Center Project Hope, 2859 W. Jackson, serving new mothers with skills for raising children and after-school programs for youth.

· Marillac Center Food Pantry, 2859 W. Jackson, serving the needs of the surrounding community.

· Franciscan Outreach, 2715 W Harrison, an overnight shelter, offering food and support services for homeless men and women.

· Cornerstone Community Center, 4628 N. Clifton, serving meals in uptown to the needy.

Thank you to everyone who participated by helping spread the word, bringing a lunch, running home to grab a lunch left on the counter, and helping collect the lunches before school. Every contribution matters and we’ve shown our children there are many ways to truly care about our neighbors in need.

Special thanks to the student council and Señora Nagel who helped get the word out and build excitement and collect lunches this morning.

Wildcats Give Back!

With gratitude,

Sarah Youngkin and Lauren Rapisand

If you have not already done so, please take just a few minutes to participate in the 5Essentials Survey (5E). The survey takes about 20 minutes or less, and will help us understand the conditions at our school and guide improvements.

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. Your identity and individual survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. The 5E survey is sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and was developed in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

Three helpful tips:

• Please focus on your experiences during the current school year.

• Take care to select the correct school and community (you’d be surprised how many schools in Illinois have the same name)!

• If you have a student at more than one school, we invite you to complete a survey for each location.

Please visit this link to begin: https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and helping to improve the environment for student success in District 64.

In the coming weeks, our staff will collaborate on the important process of creating class lists for the upcoming school year. This process is quite structured, takes various factors into account, and involves many stages.

Because the placing of students in classrooms is so important, we use a very specific and detailed process for all children. We consider several criteria in making our decisions, with no one being more important than another. The following criteria are considered before placements are made:

• The total number of children in all grade-level classes needs to be equal.

• Ability levels of students need to be balanced in each grade level class.

• Leadership skills and other affective characteristics need to be balanced.

• Students’ learning styles should be matched appropriately with teachers’ instructional styles.

• Some student combinations should be split for social or academic reasons.

We will also coordinate co-teaching opportunities that may dictate how we group and cluster students in all grade levels.

If you would like to provide specific information about your child to assist in the homeroom placement selection, please submit a letter to Ms. Brito by Friday, March 24th. Pertinent information may include the parents’ view of how the child learns best, the environment that best suits learning, peer social matches to avoid, and any other pertinent details. Such information will be considered as part of our process, but final decisions about class assignments are determined by the administration and teachers.

Due to the nature and complexity of this task, we are unable to accept requests for specific teachers. We ask that you please do not put our teachers in an awkward position by requesting a specific placement for them. At times, they are unable to honor a request and we do not want them to feel responsible for not being able to follow through with considerations.

Please note that any letters received after Friday, March 24th may not be considered. Our staff will spend a significant amount of time on placements, and we take the process very seriously.

Lastly, please note that once homeroom assignments are made and notifications are shared in August, we are unable to honor requests for changes. We encourage you to take the opportunity now to share your thoughts. If you have questions or feel you need to have a conversation with me that our letter method doesn't provide, please contact Ms. Brito in the coming weeks.

Thanks for your support and partnership.

Congratulations to the following students for being recognized as ROARS winners in February!

• March 6: Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
• March 8: PTO Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
• March 8: 2nd Trimester ends
• March 9: Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences:
• March 10: No School for Students, Records/Planning Day
• March 15: 2nd Trimester Report Cards Home
• March 27-31: No School - Spring Break

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.