Wildcat News

Principal Message

Happy December--hard to believe we are at this point! A few reminders for the week:

~ 1000 Acts of Kindness Challenge is coming along!!! Check out the photo. Any encouragement you can give your kiddos to show kindness really matters!

~ Culver's Fundraiser: The Culver's fundraiser is from 4:00-7:00pm at the Culvers on Madison on Tuesday, December 2nd. The PTO will get 10% of all sales during that time--no need for a flyer or a code. And...Mrs. Haggerty (with other volunteers) will be bussing and wiping tables...how fun is that?!

~Early Release Info: OUR NEXT TWO HOUR EARLY RELEASE DAY WILL BE WEDNESDAY, December 10, 2025. The school day ends at 12:30 p.m. Please complete the following REGISTRATION to let us know your plans for your child or children on this day. Please fill out a separate registration for each child. We ask that you fill this form out for EACH Early Release because it is easier for us to track. Thank you for your cooperation.

~ Winter Gear: Your help in making sure your kiddos are properly outfitted for Minnesota winters is greatly appreciated. Recess can be such a joyous, fun-filled time with proper winter gear. Coats, hats, and gloves/mittens are a must at recess when temperatures are below 32 degrees. In order for kiddos to play in the snow or on the snow hills, they MUST also have snowpants and winter boots! If you can make sure your child has the proper gear every single day, it will help immensely and be greatly appreciated,

We do keep a limited supply of gear on hand to give to students who need it, and the Lighthouse Team is doing a snowpants/boots drive (see details below). If your child needs winter gear, and you need help with the appropriate gear, fill out this form and the school social worker will help get students what they need.

~ Bedtime Story: I'll be reading another story virtually this Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 7:30pm . This is another way that your kiddo can earn reading minutes. Simply click on this link to watch me read this week's story OR you can watch past recordings here. I'll be reading a great book--half of it on the 7th and the other half on December 14, so tune in for both nights to hear the whole story. These will be the last two nights this calendar year as I have conflicts on December 21 and 28. Please join--the kiddos who have joined have really enjoyed it!

Thanks for being such awesome Wildcat families!

Ann

Ann Haggerty

Washington Principal

ahagge1@isd77.org

Thank you to families for making sure kids have the appropriate and needed winter gear. It helps immensely!!!!! A question we get asked frequently is, "When do kids go outside during the winter months?" The answer is: most of the time. I use the wind chill chart below to guide the decision making. While there is nuance to this chart, by and large students are outside when we are in the light blue section of this chart. Thus, it's important that kids have the proper winter gear.

Many things factor into the final decision--wind direction/speed and sunny/cloudy to name a few things. Safety of everyone is of course priority number one. We also know that kids benefit from the fresh air and robust play that can happen in the winter months.

Thank you, in advance, for keeping your children geared up and ready for outdoor Minnesota winters!

What do the students at Washington call you?

Mrs. Long

What is your job at Washington?

I am a Reading Teacher. I love teaching and building confidence in our readers! I have taught reading to K-5 students for 15 years but prior to that I was a classroom teacher in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. When I started working here I taught ⅘ multi-age classrooms. I’ve been a Wildcat for a long long time. :-)

How long have you worked for Mankato Area Public Schools?

This is my 33rd year teaching for Mankato Area Public Schools!! I started my teaching career in Bloomington Minnesota and then moved back to Mankato in 1992. I was hired to teach at Washington Elementary and have been here ever since. Go Wildcats!

What is one of your favorite things about your job?

The students! They are the reason I am here. ☺️

What is an interesting fact about you?

I have actually been a part of Mankato Area Public Schools in some way, shape or form for half a century! That’s right, 50 years. I attended Franklin School for grades K-7 and then Mankato East for grades 8-12. I coached volleyball and softball at Mankato East while I pursued my degree at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I was even inducted into the Hall of Fame at Mankato East.

Tell us about your family.

I’ve been married to my husband Rick for 33 years. We have two grown children Mariah and Jacob. They both graduated from Mankato East High School. We are fortunate that they both live in Mankato. Not only am I a wife and mom, I’m also a grandma! Being a grandma is the absolute best! We all get to spend time together almost every Sunday. How lucky am I?

Goal #1: Increase consistent student attendance to 92%.

September 2025: 90.34%

October 2025: 89.69%

November 2025: 90.4%

Goal #2: Decrease the number of students who are chronically absent from 45 to 30 or fewer.

September 2025: 32 students chronically absent

October 2025: 32 students chronically absent

November 2025: 24 students chronically absent

Any student who has missed more than 6.1 days by the end of November is included in this count. We are making PROGRESS! Thank you!

Together, we can make this the best school year yet for our students. Every day your child is here, they are building a brighter future for themselves. We are so proud to partner with you and look forward to celebrating our progress throughout the year. Thank you for your commitment to our students and our school.

What should my child wear outside in colder weather? We do follow this chart closely. We use actual temperature, mostly, but factoring in the "feels like" temperature is also quite important, especially for the younger students. YOUR help in following these guidelines really matters, so thank you in advance!