Wildcat News

Principal Message

The end is coming fast and furious!!! Stay in the know!!! A few reminders for the week:

~ Books: We are purging many of our books from our old reading series. We are keeping many of them that align with the themes of our new reading curriculum that we are getting, but we have MANY that we no longer need. IF your kiddo comes home with some books this spring, please know they are yours to keep and read. ENJOY!

~ Kindess Matters: As you know, KINDNESS was our theme this year. At our end-of-the-year rally, we celebrated students who consistently showed KINDNESS throughout the school year. Take a peek (see below) at the kiddos who were nominated and why. It was so fun to showcase them!

~ Summer Reading 2026: Ms. Stenzel, our Media Specialist, compiled this list of GREAT reading opportunities for the summer. We have a very long summer and having kids do some amount of reading and stay engaged with text is so critical. Anything you can do to get books in their hands really, really makes a difference.

~ School Supply Kits: The PTO is trying something new for next year--prepackaged school supply kits. All the information is below. Check it out!! This is completely optional.

~ Last Day of School: Just in case you aren't aware, our last day of school is Monday, May 18. We typically end the day with a parade of students who walk through the building, starting with Kindergarten students, exit door # 9, and then the grades form a tunnel for our 5th grade students to walk through as they exit the building. Parents often join on the playground to celebrate all of our amazing Wildcats!

~ The Lighthouse Team and PTO have some very exciting news to share...we are putting in two new pieces of playground equipment for next school year!! HUGE kudos to the PTO for financially supporting these ideas, and kudos to the Washington students and the Lighthouse Team for making this a reality. At the picnic, you can learn what those two pieces will be and where they will be placed. We are soooo excited!!!!

Thanks for always being so supportive of our work!

Ann

Ann Haggerty

Washington Principal

ahagge1@isd77.org

School Supply Kits

We’re excited to share that we’ve decided to partner with Impacks this school year to offer an easy way for parents to purchase supplies and a simple way for our school to fundraise. Here’s how it works:

Parents can go here to purchase: https://shop.myimpacks.com/school/washington-elementary-mankato-mn
Each kit includes everything required, with the exception of a few things, like gym shoes. Prices are very comparable to Target, and cheaper than Amazon
At check out, parents will have the option to donate
Impacks will match the first $5 of each donation!
Impacks will ship kits directly to the school for parents to pick up during open house

Please share this information with parents! The more parents that choose to donate at check-out, the more we will raise to support our school.

Parents must order by July 15 if they want to take advantage of this option.

Thank you,

Washington Elementary Staff

Summer meals...come eat at Washington!

Student Kindness Recognition

Mr. Miller - 25 Years of Service at MAPS

Playground Availability After School

Dear Washington Families,

We’d like to share a quick reminder about playground use after school. Our ACES School Age Child Care Program uses the playground each day as part of its activities, so the space is reserved for ACES students until the program ends at 6:00 p.m. After 6:00 p.m., the playground is open to the public.

We appreciate your help in making sure our ACES students have a safe and consistent space during program hours. If you are looking for other places to play before 6:00 p.m., the City of Mankato offers a list of parks here, a map of North Mankato parks can be found here, and Eagle Lake here.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Ann Haggerty, Principal