Washington Wildcat Chat

We are excited to share that we will partner with Educating Outside the Lines (EOTL) March 17 - 20 to engage students and staff in a week of learning experiences that support the inclusion of students with disabilities. Each grade level will explore a series of lessons and activities based on the following themes:

• Kindergarten: We Are All Alike, We Are All Different
• First: Helping Tools
• Second: Hidden Disabilities and Play
• Third: Visual and Hearing Impairments
• Fourth: Physical Disabilities
• Fifth: Hidden Disabilities

Please click here to learn more about EOTL and what they do.

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Test, an assessment for all students in Illinois in grades 3-8, will be administered in District 64 from April 1-April 11.

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: (UPDATE BELOW)

• Tuesday, April 1: ELA 1
• Wednesday, April 2: Math 1
• Thursday, April 3: ELA 2
• Friday, April 4: Math 2
• Tuesday, April 8: Math 3
• April 9 - 11: Makeups

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.

As we move into changing temperatures, we want to remind you of the student dress code according to the D64 Student Parent Handbook. Please see below for more information and thank you for your support.

• General guidelines include decent and appropriate coverage of the body, including the midriff, is expected.
• Clothing must cover undergarments and must be opaque (i.e., not see-through).
• Hats or hoods should not be worn in the school building unless the covering is a part of a student’s religion . Students may wear a hat or hood at recess.
• Student clothing and/or accessories may include numerals, logos, slogans, and drawings that are not offensive, obscene, or profane.
• Health and safety standards require that clothing and shoes not have ornamentation that will damage furniture or floors, or create a safety hazard to the child or others.
• Flip-flops are strongly discouraged, as they are unsafe for use on playground equipment and difficult for stairs. Roller shoes should not be worn on school grounds.
• A sweatshirt or sweater should be kept at school for days when the weather changes unexpectedly.
• For students in kindergarten and grade 1, an extra set of clothing (shirt, pants, underwear and socks) are suggested to be kept in the student’s locker in the event a change is needed during the school day.

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.

• Educating Outside the Lines Partnership, March 17th - 20th
• Spring Break, March 24th - 28th
• IAR, April 1st - 11th
• Science Olympiad, April 5th
• PTO Meeting, April 9th
• No School, April 18th

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.