Wildcat News

Hello to all Washington families! A few reminders for the week:

~ At-Home Reading Minutes: Reading at home continues to be a very important priority at Washington. Each day, students should be bringng books home to read (many come home in the blue pouch) as well as the Home Reading Log. Students should be reading 20 minutes/day, 5 times/week. Thus, if you have a busy weekday, you can find some "make-up time" on the weekends. Parents should initial daily for each 10 minutes that a student reads. And, yes, a parent or sibling reading to a child "counts" for reading minutes. At Winter Break time, your child should be at or beyond 1500 reading minutes. IF your child is not close to that number, PLEASE spend some time reading over winter break. At-home reading really matters, and your help, support, encouragement, and modeling of this are key to building successful readers. If you'd like your child to hear some stories from me, I've read a couple this fall, and this would be one fun way to add some reading minutes (probably at least 50 minutes!). Check them out here.

~ Frequently Asked Questions for Winter Weather: IF we have a late start or an early out due to weather, it can be confusing for some families. Here's a document that answers some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs). Take a look!!!

~1000 Acts of Kindness Challenge: WE DID IT!!!!! Congrats to everyone who participated and were intentional about being kind and showing kindness!!! It really does help make for a nicer place to learn and grow.

~ Snowpant/Boot Drive: THANK YOU to everyone who donated. It has been awesome to have such a great supply for kids. We will continue to take donations at Washington.

~ OKAY Campaign: We will be launching this again in mid-January, so be on the lookout for information to be coming home about this. For those of you who are new, the OKAY Campaign reinforces with students the importance of being a first-time listener! There will again be a school as well as an at-home component!

~ PTO Info: We are still on the hunt for a secretary. Please consider this--it's really not that difficult, we promise! Also, we continue to collect Hy-Vee receipts (just have your child bring them to the office) and BoxTops for Education (just download the app--it's super simple!).

~ December Title I Info: As a parent, you have the right to request information about the qualifications of your child’s teachers. This includes their certification status, the degrees they hold, and any other relevant qualifications. Please feel free to reach out to the school office for this information.

~ No School: We will not have school from December 24 until January 1st. We return on January 2nd. A friendly reminder: we DO have school on December 22 & 23 and January 2.

This will be the last newsletter of 2025. Enjoy the Winter Break--here's wishing everyone a safe and relaxing break and a very Happy New Year!

Ann

Ann Haggerty

Washington Principal

ahagge1@isd77.org

The Washington Elementary faculty and PTO are hard at work preparing for Family Game Night on February 6, and need YOUR help gathering prizes for the Silent Auction! This was a big hit last year and families really enjoyed winning a wide range of household items, entertainment, and gift certificates. Best of all, the Silent Auction raises funds that directly support Washington's students and teachers!

We are putting out the call to all friends of Washington Elementary (if you're reading this, that means YOU!) to consider donating a pre-assembled gift basket, single item, gift certificate, or service to be auctioned during Family Game Night. If you can't drop off a basket of themed items, we will also gratefully accept individual items and our team of PTO volunteers will assemble the items into a range of fabulous themed packages for bid. Depending on items collected, attendees to Family Night will be able to bid on packages with fun themes like:

• Movie Night (popcorn, movie theater certificates, etc.)
• Rest and Relaxation
• Explore the Outdoors
• A character/artist themed basket (Minecraft, Pokemon, K-Pop Demon Hunters, Taylor Swift etc.)
  
• Knowledge and Science
• Unleash Your Inner Artist
• Puzzles and Games
• ...and more!
  
  

We are so grateful for our supportive community, and would appreciate if folks could bring the items (or better yet, pre-assembled baskets of goodies) to the school Secretary by January 23. See you at Family Game Night!

Excellence, Equity, Empowerment. Every student, Every day.

Email: ahagge1@isd77.org
Website: https://we.isd77.org/
Location: 1100 Anderson Drive
Phone: 507-345-3059