Washington Wildcat Chat

Dear Washington Families,

Just a reminder that IAR testing will begin on Monday, March 11th. 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.

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.

Thank you for your support with helping your child be ready for the start of testing tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Angie

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

On Tuesday, we collected 825 lunches that were shared with individuals and families at:

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

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

· St. Sylvester Food Pantry, 2157 N Humboldt, 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

· The Brickhouse family on the westside who connects with the neighborhood families

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. Thank you to the Washington administration, teachers, and staff for their support.

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!

On Monday, April 8, 2024 all of North America will experience an eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks any part of the sun. This is the first time since 2017 a solar eclipse will be visible on a path across the entire continental United States.

The eclipse in Park Ridge will be a deep partial (with magnitude 93.5%) beginning at 12:51 p.m and in mid-eclipse at 2:07 p.m. To participate in this event, our school has organized a structured, supervised viewing opportunity for students.

Safety during the eclipse viewing is our top priority. Looking directly at the sun is unsafe. Because the sun will never be totally covered during our eclipse experience, students will be required to wear special eclipse glasses during the entire time they are outside. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun. We have purchased NASA-endorsed, eclipse-safe viewing glasses for all students and staff. For more information regarding the safety certification of the special viewing glasses, please visit https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/safe-viewing).

Because of these safety concerns, other precautionary measures will be taken to protect students:

• P.E. classes during the eclipse event will be held indoors.

• Students will have indoor recess during the time of the eclipse.

• Some students will have the opportunity to participate in eclipse viewing during science class or through grade-level activities. Others are invited to participate through supervised observations during recess time.

• All students participating in the eclipse viewing are required to have a completed permission form (see below).

A parent signature on this sheet is required by Friday, March 22 in order for students to participate using the eclipse glasses. Students whose parents either do not complete this form or choose to opt out their child will view televised coverage of the event.

More information about the 2024 solar eclipse can be found on NASA’s website at https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/and on the website of Chicago’s own Adler Planetarium at https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/solar-eclipses-across-illinois/.

A solar eclipse is a memory to last a lifetime! Taking these precautionary measures and following these important rules will ensure an enjoyable and safe experience for our students. Please call or email me if you have any questions.

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 be coordinating 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 by Friday, March 22nd. Pertinent information may include the parents’ view of how the child learns best, the environment that best suits learning, peer social matches to possibly 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 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 to 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, any letters received after Friday, March 22nd may not be considered in the process. 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 me as I'd rather have this conversation now than a complicated conversation in August.

• IAR Testing - March 11-22

• Sky Dome (Part 2) - March 13

• PTO Meeting - March 13

• Report Cards Sent Home - March 15

• No School, Election Day - March 19

• Spring Break - March 23 - April 1

• School Resumes - April 2

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.