The Washington Whirl

Happy Sunday GW Families,

Happy New Year! I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a restful and joyful break. As we begin this new year together, I want to thank you for your continued partnership and support of our school community.

This time of year is a wonderful opportunity to revisit and refresh home routines that help set students up for success at school. Consistent bedtimes, clear morning and evening routines, and reasonable screen-time limits all play an important role in helping students arrive at school ready to learn. As always, we encourage homework habits that prioritize reading each day, as it remains one of the most impactful ways to support academic growth across all subject areas.

As students in grades 4–6 continue to grow, one of our shared goals is to help them develop higher levels of independence. I encourage you to think about how independence might show up at home during the remainder of the year. What is the next concrete step for your child? This might look like managing their morning routine, organizing their materials, reading independently each evening, or taking greater ownership of homework responsibilities.

We also ask for your continued vigilance when it comes to student devices. For the remainder of the year, please continue to consider:

• Removing devices from students at night

• Regularly checking communication and correspondence on apps

• Reviewing media and online activity on a consistent basis

These steps help ensure students are using technology safely and responsibly, and they reinforce the important partnership between home and school.

Thank you for all that you do to support your child and our school community. I look forward to seeing you in the new year and continuing to work together to support our students’ growth and success.

With appreciation and partnership,

Ms. Milliner - Proud Principal

Research shows that only about 8 % of people actually stick to their New Year’s resolutions throughout the year, meaning over 90 % abandon them before achieving them.

This helps illustrate why setting specific, manageable goals—and building routines around them—is so important for lasting success.

Most people don’t stick to their New Year’s resolutions for a few common reasons:

• Goals are too broad or unrealistic. Resolutions like “do better in school” or “be healthier” don’t include clear actions, so it’s hard to know what to do day to day.

• Too many goals at once. Trying to change several habits at the same time can feel overwhelming and lead to burnout.

• Lack of routines and systems. Motivation fades quickly if goals aren’t supported by daily or weekly routines.

• No check-ins or accountability. Without regular reflection, people don’t notice progress or adjust when something isn’t working.

• Setbacks feel like failure. Many people give up after one missed day instead of seeing mistakes as part of the learning process.

That’s why goals tied to existing strengths, broken into small, concrete steps, and revisited regularly are much more likely to stick—and lead to long-term success.

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As we begin the new year, this is a meaningful time to reflect with your 4th–6th grader on the strengths they showed in 2025 and how they can carry those strengths into 2026 to help them win on their goals for the remainder of the school year. We encourage students to set 1–3 concrete goals that build on what is already working well.

How families can support this process at home:

• Start with strengths. Talk with your child about what they did well in 2025—academically, socially, or with routines—and choose goals that build on those successes.

• Keep goals specific and realistic. For example: reading independently each night, staying organized with a planner, or advocating for themselves when they need help.

• Write goals down and place them somewhere visible as a reminder of what they are working toward.

• Break goals into small, manageable steps and discuss what progress will look like week to week.

• Check in regularly to celebrate effort, notice growth, and adjust strategies as needed.

By grounding goals in strengths and revisiting them together, students continue to build confidence, independence, and ownership of their learning. Thank you for partnering with us as we support students in carrying their strengths from 2025 into 2026 and finishing the year str

As a gentle reminder, families please take a moment to speak with your children about not sharing snacks, food, or utensils at school. While sharing is a kind gesture, it’s important that we shy away from sharing food items so everyone can preserve their health throughout the remainder of the school year.

For the safety and well-being of our entire school community, sharing food is not allowed. We appreciate your support in reinforcing this expectation at home and helping us keep all students healthy and safe.

Families, please see the Lost and Found update below:

• All remaining Lost and Found items have been donated to our SEPTA Clothing Drive and are no longer available.

• To support student independence, we encourage families to remind students to check the Lost and Found weekly.

• This weekly routine helps students:

  • Take responsibility for their belongings

  • Successfully locate missing items

  • Reduce the number of unclaimed items at school

• Most importantly, it helps ensure items are returned to their appropriate owners in a timely manner.

The following dates are all of the important assessment dates for the remainder of the year.

• Please place them on your personal calendars for reference.
• Please also do not schedule any travel/vacations on these days as they are important in collecting information on your child's performance and progress.

Winter NWEA MAP Assessment

• Jan 20th - 4th & 5th Grade ELA MAP Assessment

• Jan 21st - 6th Grade ELA MAP Assessment

• Jan 22nd - 4th & 5th Grade Math MAP Assessment

• Jan 23rd - 6th Grade Math MAP Assessment

• Jan 26th - MAP Makeups

• Jan 27th MAP Makeups

NYS Exam Simulation - Mathematics

• February 2nd - 4th & 5th Grade - NYS Mathematics Exam Simulation

• February 3rd - 6th Grade - NYS Mathematics Exam Simulation

NYS ELA Exam

• April 13th - 4th & 5th Grade ELA Day 1 Exam

• April 14th - 4th & 5th Grade ELA Day 2 Exam

• April 15th - 6th Grade ELA Day 1 Exam

• April 16th - 6th Grade ELA Day 2 Exam

• April 17th - NYS ELA Exam Makeups 4th- 6th Grade

NYSESLAT Assessment Speaking Timeline

• April 14th - May 23rd
• Our ENL teachers will be administering this assessment within this window of time.

NYS Science Exam

• April 20th - 5th Grade NYS Science Exam

• April 21st - 5th Grade NYS Science Exam Makeups

NYS Math Exam

• April 27th - 4th & 5th Grade Math Day 1 Exam

• April 28th - 4th & 5th Grade Math Day 2 Exam

• April 29th - 6th Grade Math Day 1 Exam

• April 30th - 6th Grade Math Day 2 Exam

• May 1st - NYS Math Exam Makeups 4th - 6th Grade

NYSESLAT Assessment - Listening, Reading and Writing Timeline

• May 12th - 23rd

• Our ENL teachers will be administering this assessment within this window of time.

Spring NWEA MAP Assessment

• May 11th - 4th & 5th Grade ELA MAP Assessment

• May 12th - 6th Grade ELA MAP Assessment

• May 13th - 4th & 5th Grade Math MAP Assessment

• May 14th - 6th Grade Math MAP Assessment

• May 15th - Makeups

• May 18th - Makeups

Thank you to all of the parents who have volunteered to be Class Parents at GW. We are still missing class parents for the following classes:

• Boshnack Homeroom
• Kaminski Homeroom
• Abbott Homeroom

If you are interested, please email Ms. Rivas (luwisa.whepta@gmail.com).

We will be launching a book club for our families in alignment with our parent family engagement plan at GW. These meetings will be in person at the school where we get to come together to discuss parent techniques that are helpful in supporting our students become students who show up with all of our habits of mind in all parts of their life.

We are reading the book "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

Please fill out this Google Form is you are interested in joining our book club so that we can order your book and plan a time that works best for all families.

Meeting Dates: January 21st, March 4th, May 20th

Book Club Sign Up Google Form

Are you a parent of a 6th grader ? If so, our PTA needs your help in joining the 6th Grade Parent Committee. The committee is working hard to make your student's last year at GW a success. Please scan the QR Code below to join.

If you have any questions, please email Ms. Rivas - luwisa.whepta@gmail.com.