Washington Wildcat Chat

Dear Washington Families,

The Illinois 5Essentials school climate survey for parents is now open! I am pleased to invite all parents to participate and would like to encourage you to share your thoughts. The survey should take about 20 minutes or less to complete.

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 participation will help us understand the conditions at our school and guide improvements. Your identity and individual survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. The 5Essentials Survey is sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and was developed in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

Three helpful tips before you enter the survey:

• 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/

The survey will close on March 31, 2025.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and helping to improve the environment for student success at Washington!

Best,

Angie

Uncle Pete’s Sack Lunch Project is coming to Washington this week! The sack lunches prepared by our school community will be delivered to shelters, food pantries, senior programs, and soup kitchens as well as those in need of food across Chicago’s West Side and Uptown areas.

Lunches will be collected in the morning at the start of the school day as children arrive on Tuesday, March 4th.

See below for more details!

Chess-Ed is excited to return to Washington School to provide lunchtime chess instruction

this Spring!

The 10-week program runs from 03/07/2025 to 05/23/2025 and takes place

on Fridays from 11:35 am to 12:30 pm (during lunch). The program is open to students

in all grades and of all chess abilities (including those in full-day and half-day Kindergarten).

Professional instruction will include the basics for beginner and novice players and build

with opening theory, middle game planning, and end game combinations for continuing and

advanced students. Playing chess improves memory, uses analytical and critical thinking

skills, teaches problem solving, responsibility, sportsmanship, social skills and more! The

benefits of chess last a lifetime!

To register, please click here. Register by 03/04/2025 to take advantage of lowest available fee. For more information about the program, please refer to the program flyer. Chess-Ed is looking forward to working with your CHESS ENTHUSIAST this Spring!

Washington's Spring Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on March 6th. Spring Conferences are by invite only. Your child's teacher will communicate with you if they are interested in scheduling a conference. As always, we thank you for your partnership in supporting our students!

Registration is open and you can now enroll your child for the 2025-2026 school year. All of the information and links can be located on the District Registration Page .

The registration deadline will be noon on Friday, March 14, and if you register your child and pay the fees by then, you will receive the early bird discount. You must fill out and submit registration forms by Monday, March 10, at 3:00 pm to take advantage of the fee discount. This allows our staff time to verify documents and send out invoices so you can pay them by noon on Friday, March 14. Any families who do not register by this date will receive a records release, as we assume you’re going to another district.

For the 17th consecutive year, academic registration fees will remain unchanged for families who register and pay by the deadline. However, the early bird discount does not apply to participation, bus, or tuition fees. Our website has the fee list and explanations for any fee increases, such as for Instrumental Music and Chromebook maintenance.

• Uncle Pete's Lunch Collection, March 4th
• Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences, March 6th
• Illinois Science Assessment (5th Grade), March 11th - 13th
• PTO Meeting, March 12th
• Educating Outside the Lines Partnership, March 17th - 20th
• Spring Break, March 24th - 28th

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.