Washington Weekly Update 2/13/26

Hello Wildcat Families,

What a fun and joyful day it was watching our students share valentines and kindness with one another. The smiles, laughter, and thoughtful notes truly captured the spirit of our school community. Whether it was seeing the TK students carefully sorting their valentines into each others' bags, Ms. Moya's class weaving heart envelopes, or watching Coach Manu lead the kids in cupid tag, there was a lot of fun happening today at school!

Also, the big news around town is that the Burlingame School Board voted to approve the official start date for the 2026-27 school year. The first day of school for the Burlingame School District will be on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. We hope that helps you confirm all of your upcoming summer plans!

As I prepare for my transition to BIS as their new Interim Assistant Principal, I want to take a moment to thank you for the incredible kindness and support you have shown me over the past 2.5 years while I have had the honor of serving as principal here. I have loved every smile, high five, hug, and kind message I have received. It has truly been a privilege to work with your children each day. They are bright, caring, and inspiring in so many ways.

I wish everyone a smooth and successful rest of the school year. Washington will continue to thrive because of the strength of this amazing community.

Please join me in warmly welcoming Interim Principal Cristina Granillo. She is excited to step into this role and continue supporting our students, staff, and families. You may reach her at cgranillo@burlingameschools.org.

I hope each of you has a wonderful Valentine’s Day and enjoys a restful, well-deserved week off from school. Don’t forget that we will be on break for Presidents’ Week from 2/16–2/20. School will resume on 2/23/26.

With gratitude and appreciation one last time,

Alyssa Jaramillo

Contact the Washington School Office: 650-259-3880

Interim Principal - Cristina Granillo, cgranillo@burlingameschools.org

School Secretary - Alyssa Thompson athompson@burlingameschools.org

Next Week:

Monday, February 16 - Friday, February 20

• No School - Presidents Week
• School will resume February 23

Upcoming:

Monday, February 23 - Friday, February 27 - Random Acts of Kindness Week

To celebrate, we would like to have a spirit week of kindness!

• Monday 2/23 – Team Kindness: Wear sports attire

• Tuesday 2/24 – Crazy About Kindness: Wear mismatched clothes and accessories

• Wednesday 2/25 – Very Wildcat Wednesday: Wear green to show love for your school!

• Thursday 2/26 – Superhero Day: Be a kindness superhero

• Friday 2/27 – Cozy and Caring: Wear pajamas and let's dream of kindness!
  

Friday, March 13th

• No school - teacher work day

Friday, March 20th

• Trimester 2 report cards go home

Earlier this week, Washington Elementary School was placed in a Secure Campus at the request of the Burlingame Police Department due to reports of a potential threat in the neighborhood.

Secure Campus is one of five immediate action responses to emergencies practiced among schools in San Mateo County as part of The Big Five Emergency Guidelines. It is a precautionary measure against the threat of potential violence in the surrounding community. Secure Campus requires locking all classroom/office doors and closing entrance and exit points on the school’s perimeter. School activities will continue as normal within classrooms until we are given the all-clear.

School staff responded quickly to the Secure Campus and had students return to class and kept instruction going while we waited for the All Clear.

Every time there is a need to practice these protocols, it provides an opportunity for our school staff to reflect and prepare better for the future. Staff did a wonderful job enacting the protocols quickly and students did a great job following staff instructions.

Although I know it can feel very scary when we hear there is a Secure Campus or other emergency protocol happening at a school, I highly encourage you to wait until the school/district shares information via email and/or text instead of calling the office or coming to the school. When we undergo these protocols, it is important for staff to be available to attend to the staff and students on campus and to be available to receive updates via the district office and the police department. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

I will share our assembly slides here weekly with you all to keep you in the loop with what we are discussing and celebrating every week! Click below to see what we discussed in our assembly!

Click Here to see more events going on in the Burlingame Community.

Interested in volunteering at Washington Elementary?

We rely on our wonderful parent volunteers to help us with lunchtime supervision, field trips, and school and classroom events. In order to volunteer for these events, you will need to be fingerprinted. Once you have been fingerprinted, you will not need to redo it as long as your children are in BSD schools.

How to get fingerprinted:

- Complete the Fingerprint Live Scan form (print below or get a printout in the office)

- Bring your form and go get fingerprinted at the UPS Store

- Email Ms. Thompson to let her know you went to get fingerprinted so she can monitor when you have been approved by the district.

Ready to volunteer?

Be on the lookout for ways to volunteer in your child's classroom, with the PTA and Dad's Club, and at school events. We are always looking for volunteers to help at lunch time! If you have already been fingerprinted and would like to come volunteer for lunch duty, we would love to have you join us from 12:00-12:40. Just come check in at the office before noon and we will help you get started. We appreciate if you sign up on this sign up sheet so we know you are coming, but please feel free to come even if you forget to sign up or if the sign up if full. You are always welcome!

Driver Form

If you will be volunteering for driving on field trips this year, please fill out the form below (printed copies available in the office as well) and turn it into the office. We will also need to see your ID, proof of insurance, and the declaration page to check you meet the minimum insurance requirements. We can make copies in the office, as needed. Driver forms must be completed each school year.

Washington Website / Calendar

These times/dates have been added to the Washington calendar, to add the Google calendar to your existing calendar please click here.

The Washington School website can be found here for more information.