Washington Elementary
September 2026
Dear Washington Elementary Families,
Welcome to September! As we settle into the rhythm of the school year, we want to ensure you have all the tools and information needed to support your child’s learning journey. Below are a few key updates
Clear communication between home and school is essential for student success. To keep you informed and involved, we are utilizing Rooms—a feature built directly into the district mobile app—to facilitate seamless, two-way parent-teacher communication.
Through Rooms, you can:
Send and receive direct messages with your child’s teacher.
View classroom announcements, reminders, and daily updates.
Alongside strong communication, ensuring every student receives instruction tailored to their unique learning needs is a top priority. This month, we are beginning our school-wide implementation of targeted intervention and enrichment.
To guide this process, students complete comprehensive benchmark assessments at the beginning of the term, including DIBELS (for early literacy skills) and MAP Growth / NSCAS (for reading and math performance).
Here is how we use that data to support your child:
Tailored Groups: Assessment results allow us to group students into targeted blocks for both extra help (intervention) and advanced challenges (enrichment).
Ongoing Growth Tracking: We monitor progress regularly to ensure all students are meeting state standards and continuously growing academically.
Tiered Support: Whether your child needs extra practice to master a foundational skill or extended challenges to dive deeper into a subject, our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) ensures they get the exact support they need.
As we track academic growth and customize instruction, we look forward to sharing these insights directly with you. Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for later this month! These meetings offer a valuable opportunity to sit down with your child’s teacher, review their progress, celebrate achievements, and set goals for the remainder of the semester.
Conference Dates & Times:
Thursday, September 24th: 1:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Friday, September 25th: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Scheduling Notes: Preferred time request sheets went home today (August 31st). Please fill out and return your form as soon as possible so we can begin building the master schedule.
Partnering for Success: We strongly encourage all parents and guardians to participate, as strong home-school partnerships are vital to student achievement.
Thank you for your continued support, dedication, and partnership. If you have any questions before conferences, please feel free to reach out via Rooms or call the main office!
Mrs. Gale
Unplug & Play: Powering Down for Happier, Healthier Kids!
Hello, Wildcat Families!
Most of you are aware that I began my counseling career in private practice. During graduate school over a decade ago, I wrote my final research papers on the impacts of screen time and social media use. Even then, the data clearly showed a strong correlation with increased childhood anxiety, depression, and deficits in social skills.
Since that time, we went through a global pandemic that catapulted our culture into an even higher level of device usage. Today, technology has practically become an extension of ourselves. Because of this shift, I want to share a bit of what I learned during my research, and what we are seeing now, to help support our students.
When kids spend hours behind a screen, they miss out on practicing critical, real-world social skills like reading body language, sharing, and navigating disagreements with peers.
🔔 The "Ping Pandemic": How Notifications Impact Focus and Anxiety
It is not just about what our children are watching; it is also about how often they are interrupted. The constant pings, buzzes, and alerts coming from smartwatches, phones, and tablets keep young brains on high alert.
- It destroys focus: Every single chime breaks their concentration. This makes it incredibly hard to focus on homework, reading, or even deep, creative play.
- It increases anxiety: This relentless stream of notifications triggers a continuous "fear of missing out" (FOMO). Their brains stay in a stressful state of anticipation, always waiting for the next buzz.
The great news? Rebalancing our time and silencing those alerts can make a massive difference in our children's focus, moods, and confidence!
🛝 Creative Play Ideas (Zero Screens Required!)
To help your family disconnect from devices and reconnect with each other, try swapping just 30 minutes of daily screen time for one of these fun, brain-boosting alternatives:
- The Living Room Fort: Grab blankets and pillows to construct an epic indoor castle.
- Family Board Game Night: Games like Uno, Guess Who?, or Connect Four build critical turn-taking skills.
- Outdoor Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt: Make a quick checklist of items (a smooth rock, a yellow leaf, a feather) and explore together.
- Kitchen Chefs: Involve your child in mixing, measuring, and preparing a simple family meal or snack.
- DIY Obstacle Course: Use couch cushions, chalk on the driveway, or laundry baskets to create a fun physical challenge.
- Classic Sidewalk Art: Break out the sidewalk chalk for giant murals, hopscotch, or tic-tac-toe.
💡 AND to wrap things up... A Quick Counselor Tip: Try "Do Not Disturb" 🚫
Consider setting up a "Device Bedtime" where all smartwatches, phones, and tablets are put on silent and placed in a central charging station outside of the bedroom. This gives their minds a true chance to rest, recover, and recharge.
By putting the devices away just a little bit more, we give our Wildcats the space to create, problem-solve, and truly connect. Let's work together to help our students thrive both online and off!
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and caring about these critical studies impacting your children!
Mrs. Simmons
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Washington Elementary
Phone: (308)535-7142
Email: mweaver@nppsd.org
Web: https://www.nppsd.org/o/washington
Location: 600 West 3rd Street, North Platte, NE, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NPwashingtonwildcats
Link to NPPSD 26-27 K-12 Parent Calendar