Richmond Elementary E-News

Valentine's Day Parties

Thank you to all of our volunteers for our Valentine's Day Parties. Our kids had a blast!

February Dates

Wanted to share upcoming days where there is no school or 1/2 a day of school. See visual below.

There will also be an early release on Wednesday, February 25th.

February 19th

On February 19th we WILL RUN a MONDAY SCHEDULE. I'm sorry for previous confusion. We wanted our families to know for specials their child will have that day.

Judge Visits

We will celebrate National Judge's Come to School Day on Thursday, February 12th. Judge Cowart will be coming to visit Richmond Elementary to read a story and talk to our Kinder-4th grade classes. Thank you Judge Cowart!

5-Essentials Parent Survey

In addition to student and teacher feedback, the 5-essentials survey is also administered to District 303 parents. 2nd-5th grade students will take the survey the month of February. The Parent Survey is open from February 3, 2026, through March 16, 2026. All responses are confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. To take the survey, visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ and select the parent survey. A supplement report will also be generated if at least 20 percent of a school’s parents complete the survey. If you have any questions, please email UChicago Impact Surveys at impact-surveys@uchicago.edu. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Guest Readers - Second Semester - Sign Up!

During the month of February, we will be inviting guest readers into classrooms to share a book related to Black History Month. A list of recommended books is available; please click HERE for more information. If you have a different title in mind, feel free to email your suggestion to our LRC Director, Kristine Mutchler at kristine.mutchler@d303.org.

To sign up, we are using Sign Up Genius. Please note that you will need to create a FREE account if you do not already have one. To sign up for a reading slot, click HERE. You will be prompted to provide the name of the book you plan to read.

Thank you for volunteering to share your time and inspire our Richmond learners!

Cold Weather - Reminder

In D303 we go outside if the weather is above 0 degrees with the windchill. If there is snow on the ground and a child does not have snowpants or snow boots they will be able to play on the blacktop area. Students with snowpants and boots will be able to go into the snow on the field.

Bags to Benches Update: We’re Getting So Close! ♻️

Thanks to the continued support of our Richmond families, we collected 29 pounds of plastic bags this week! That brings our total to 727 pounds recycled so far. We are now only 273 pounds away from reaching our goal of 1,000 pounds and earning our Trex bench made from recycled plastic. With the finish line in sight, now is a great time to keep saving and sending in those clean, dry plastic bags and film from home.Every bag counts! Thank you for helping our students turn recycling into something special for our school!

Valentine’s Parties Room Parent Guidelines:

Valentine’s parties at Davis/Richmond will be Friday, February 13, 2026.

Classroom parties will run from 2:30-3:15 p.m.
Room Parents arrive and begin party preparation at 2:15 pm
Work with the classroom teacher on activities/games for the party.
No food treats will be eaten during the party
Please do not send any food treats with your child to pass out
Work with the teacher on any non-edible goody bags to be sent home. Please no candy, gum or other edible items.
Room parents for holiday parties are signed up through the PTO.

Complete the D303 volunteer form if you have not already. Contact Darlene Buffano at darlene.buffano@d303.org or call at (331) 228-2800 if you have questions about procedures.

Announcing Fiddle Fest 2026 Friday, February 27, 2026

Calling all fiddlers and lovers of folk music! It’s time for the 19th annual Fiddle Fest!

All advanced orchestra students, elementary through high school and beyond, can

participate! Parents, teachers, older siblings, grandparents and community members

who play guitar, banjo, mandolin or a string instrument are welcome! We guarantee

you’ll have a great time! If you are interested in playing and need music, please contact

your child’s orchestra director, or email Rita.Borkowski@d303.org

Click Fiddle Fest 2026 Online Registration to sign up. All performers must register

so we can adequately plan for this huge event. The final deadline to register is

Thursday, Feb 19th.

Fiddle Fest is Friday, February 27th. Performance begins at 7:00 pm.

Place: East High School Gym. 1020 Dunham Rd, St. Charles, 60174.

Dress Rehearsal: 5:00 – 6:00 pm All performers participating must attend!

Pizza Dinner: available for participants / volunteers for $5.00 following rehearsal.

JOIN US!

Spring Testing

Please see THIS letter regarding upcoming Spring Assessments.

At Richmond we will test the following days:

ELA: 3rd-5th Grade: 3/17 & 3/18 (AM)

Math: 3rd-5th Grade: 4/7, 4/8 & 4/9 (AM)

Science: 5th Grade: 4/21, 4/22 & 4/23 (AM)

Please avoid scheduling any appointments or pulling your child from school early, or arriving late those days, when at all possible - as we cannot pause testing once we start.

Tiger Lunch Crew Sign Up

School Calendar

Project Dance Bloom

This awesome dance party is a public event and will take place in the small gymnasium at St. Charles North High School. The Project Dance proceeds support organizations within our district and our community that involve individuals with Special Needs. We provide a safe and comfortable environment where anyone and everyone is invited, no special attire is needed!