Washington Wavelength Fall 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

Dear Washington Families, 

Learning and safety are our top priorities at Washington School, and our partnerships with families are crucial for achieving these. When it comes to student safety, there are several things that parents can do to assist, so I would like to provide a few important reminders:

• There is no adult supervision on the playground until 8:05 AM. Please do your best to not drop students off prior to that time. 
• Students are not allowed on the playground equipment after school without an adult. 
• The staff parking lot is for staff and visitors only. It is not to be used for drop off or pick up before or after school. 
• There is heavy traffic around the school before and after school. Please drive with extreme caution. 
• All parents/visitors to the school must enter through our secure pathway next to door 9. Outside doors are locked at all times throughout the day. 

We look forward to working with you this year, and seeing you at parent-teacher conferences on October 23rd and 24th to talk about the progress your child is making! 

Sincerely, 

Matt Peerenboom, Principal

Important Dates      

September

• 2 - No School
• 25 - Picture Day
• 27 - No P4J
• 30 - No School

October

• 7 - 4th Grade JSOL Field Trip 
• 17 - Oktoberfest  -  Picture Retake Day
• 18 - No P4J
• 23 & 24 - Conferences
• 25 -  No School

November

• 4 - No School
• 22 - End of First Trimester  -  No P4J
• 27-29 - No School 

Please like and follow our Facebook page Washington Elementary School - Home

Traffic and Safety Reminders  

Safety Patrol 

Our school safety patrol is now on duty before and after school. The students have been trained in crossing students safely and wear bright yellow safety belts for easy visibility. Please help all of our students stay safe by following the drop off and pick up procedures below.

• Please avoid parking on the corners of intersections to ease the flow of Traffic.
• Please avoid parking too close to the crosswalks.  This can cause congestion and make it difficult for cars to pass through these areas safely, and it can also make it difficult for crossing guards to see around the vehicles to look for oncoming traffic.  
• Please ALWAYS have your child use the available crosswalks rather than crossing in the middle of the street. Children are safest when crossing at patrolled crosswalks.

Thank you for all of your help and support! We really appreciate it!

Grade Level/Special Area News

Early Childhood

We’re off to a good start in the Early Childhood morning and afternoon programs. Our day is filled with lots of fun activities including circle time, table activities (arts and crafts, fine motor practice, snack), play, and movement. The students are learning the routine and how to play with others. We do have the option of going outside to play, so please make sure to dress your child for the weather.

P4J

We have been excited to begin to get to know the P4J students this year!  We have been working on our fine motor skills and developing stronger fingers and hand muscles.  P4J students have been excited to use scissors in class and learn the proper technique to hold their scissors.  As the colder weather approaches, we will be working on putting our coats on by ourselves and practice zipping our coats.  These are great skills to be working on at home as well.  I look forward to meeting with P4J families on October 23rd and 24th at Parent-Teacher Conferences to share more about our goals for the year in P4J!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is off to a great start! We have been learning our school routines and are continuing to work on alphabet, math, social, and digital skills. Please continue to practice letters, sounds, and numbers with your child at home. 

For the children’s safety, please send shoes that are easy for our kindergarteners to put on and take off themselves. Also make sure sweatshirts, jackets, backpacks, etc. are labeled with your child’s name.

The Take Home Folder is a great communication tool between home and school. Please make sure to check it everyday for notes from your child’s teacher and/or the office. Also, make sure to check your child’s backpack. It may have some memorable things in there to show what we are learning in kindergarten!

First Grade

First grade has had a great start to the year.  Students are working hard following rules and practicing the procedures and routines of the classroom. We dove right into our curriculum in the month of September and will continue working through our different weekly themes in reading. Please help your child with their reading progress by listening to them read and practice their decodable stories that come home each night. This will help them with their decoding, fluency and confidence as a beginning reader. In math, first graders are working hard on number sense and adding and subtracting within 20.  We'll continue working on our rocket math practice each day to improve fact fluency. As the weather cools down, please remember to send your child in layers as we are outside for recess twice a day, and fall weather can sometimes be unpredictable. Thank you for all the support as we started this school year and we look forward to a great year!

Second Grade

Welcome back to our returning and new Patriot Families! We are loving having everyone back with us after a hopefully relaxing summer break. 

We have been introducing and practicing second grade routines. Students have been learning what it means to be a good citizen in 2nd Grade. Our main communication will be through Seesaw. 

Our math program uses lots of hands-on explorations and practices skills through our workplace games. This year we will be practicing math fluency facts. They will be coming home on a regular basis. Please feel free to work on any of the problems that students did not complete. There will be math homework 2 - 3 times per week.

We also encourage your child to read 20 minutes each day.  They may partner-read more difficult text with a grown-up or read independently.  In the family newsletter we will list the weekly phonics pattern and heart words. Encourage your child to sound out these words when they come across them in their text and practice the heart words so they know them “by heart”. Practice Makes Better!

As a reminder, the weather is changing.  Please make sure your child comes with a jacket/sweatshirt. Also please continue to send your child with a water bottle to school everyday.

Third Grade 

3rd grade has been hard at work!  We are busy getting into our reading, writing, and math routines. We have been reading a variety of fiction and nonfiction stories and focusing on  retelling, citing textual evidence, and chronological order.  In writing, we are focusing on personal narratives and will be moving onto writing opinions.  Continue to look at the Reading, Writing, and Spelling Weekly Focus sheets that are sent home at the beginning of the week.  As a reminder students should be practicing their reading for about 20 minutes each night and spelling words as well. In math we will be finishing up our addition and subtraction patterns and moving into multiplication. In Science we are learning about life cycles, adaptations and completing animal research projects. In social studies we are learning about diversity, cultures, geography, and our government. Please look for a reading or math homework sheet sent home once a week.  We will also be taking our first trip in November to the Survive Alive house in Beloit, so be on the lookout for more information on that when it gets closer.

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade is off to a great start for the school year! In math we are working on solving multiplication and division problems using different strategies.We have also been working on prime and composite numbers. In reading we have been reading different expository and realistic fiction texts. Some reading strategies we have been focusing on are comparing and contrasting, predicting, and the author's perspective. In writing we have been working on subjects and predicates and compound sentences. We are also going to be starting a new writing piece soon! In social studies we have been learning about the different social sciences as well working on our mapping skills. We have had fun learning about the different continents and oceans. Lastly, in science we have been learning about life science and the different functions of living things. Fourth grade has been working hard and we are looking forward to the rest of the trimester.

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade has been off to a busy start of the year! In math we are starting to work with fractions. We will be adding and subtracting with uncommon denominators. In reading we are coming to the end of Unit 1 and will be starting Unit 2. Unit 2 we will explore expository texts, folktales, and poetry.  In science we have been exploring the phenomena of a "pizza farm" and even starting to grow our own mung & lentil beans! Social Studies has been a great exploration for 5th grade! We have done simulations of what life was like as an explorer and colonist. Now we are exploring the relationship between the Colonies and Great Britain which will lead us into the Revolutionary War. We are settling into our routines in 5th grade and can't wait to see what this year holds! 

Learning Commons

We are excited to be back up and running here in the Washington LMC. We hope you all are enjoying taking time to read with your students. As a reminder I am including your student's library days. We regularly practice with students the library rules of no puppies, no babies, no water bottles and our books live in our backpacks. These tips will help keep your students library books safe and ensure they have them to return on their library day so they can select new books. We appreciate your active participation and support in helping your student(s) path to literacy, lifelong learning, and love of reading. 

• Monday: Johnson, Hartin
• Tuesday: Marx, Binkley, Severance
• Wednesday: Oswald Am & Pm, Niemeier, Dring, Schmidt, Glowacki, Wilson
• Thursday: Choitz, Gray, Otremba, Sendelbach
• Friday De Lorimier, Werner, Barry, Halon

Counselor Connections

Hello families! 

My name is Mrs. Morgan, and I am the School Counselor at Washington. I can not wait to continue working with our amazing students this year. As the counselor, I am here to help support your student’s social, emotional, and academic development.  I collaborate with our students, educators, families and professionals in the community to provide your students the resources they need to be successful inside and outside of the classroom.  

I will come into each classroom weekly, on the full weeks of school to teach their Connections class! In these lessons we will focus on learning about our emotional brain and coping strategies we can use to work through challenges. We also learn about conflict resolution, friendship skills, growth mindset, safety, and so much more! 

If you have any questions or concerns that I may help with, please email me at morgancasey-schm@janesville.k12.wi.us, call me at (608)743-7225, or text me at (608) 561-1424.

English Learners

Hola! Welcome back to all students at Washington School and especially to the three newest students joining me in  English Learner classes. I am excited to start my second year at Washington as an EL teacher. One of the best parts of my job is working with the same students I did last year and adding a few new ones. I love to see the growth from one year to the next. 

At the start of the year, it is testing time with STAR and after that, we get down to work. Students will work with me on Reading and English skills while speaking, reading, and writing. All my students will participate in their classrooms with their peers and join me for a little extra work to make sure that each student is meeting their academic goals. 

We are off to a great start already and hope to see lots of success as the school year continues.

Mrs. Nass

Notes from the  Music Room       

Kindergarten:  These students are getting to know the music room and each other.  We began exploring how a steady beat can be used and found in lots of places other than just music, like in clocks, our hearts, a ball bouncing, our hands, or our feet.  We are learning musical games that involve a steady beat and also help us learn names!  We are having fun with bean bags and the alphabet and good manners, and will begin exploring sounds and instruments and our own voices.

1st-2nd Graders: Students in grades 1 and 2 are reviewing the steady beat and playing games using bean bags and cups, singing songs, marching, and playing instruments to the steady beat.  We will be heading into some very fun activities with beat, rhythm, and melody in the month of October.

3rd-4th Grade:  These grades are reviewing steady beat and quarter notes, but also reviewing Treble Clef Staff pitch reading skills.  They will be expanding their knowledge of these skills on ukuleles and Orff instruments as we head into October.  They have been playing rhythm games with drum sticks that also help us review each other’s names, playing Lines and Spaces Bingo, which also introduces them to the Bass Clef.

5th Grade: These students now have music class 3 times a week.  The third day is to explore and learn about their music choices they have to choose from when they fill out their schedules for 6th grade in January.  Parker H.S. Band, Choir, and Orchestra students came and introduced us to the instruments and choir so they have a better idea of what they sound  and look like.  The students are reviewing Treble Clef Staff reading and rhythms and will work on Recorders to enforce these skills and demonstrate how a woodwind instrument is played.

A Few Lines from Washington’s Art Studio

Dear Families,

I am very excited to welcome back all the Washington artists who have been busy creating in the art studio! We kicked off the year with students creating an art piece of what summer means to them. Students shared their artworks with a partner by guessing each other’s ideas and telling what they liked about the art piece.

Each class is learning about the artist, Keith Haring, and doing a Keith Haring inspired project. We are having fun with the movement of the action figures, the bold lines, bright colors, and  playfulness of our artworks. Students are using the Elements of Art: line, shape, color, form, and space. They are also using the Principles of Design: repetition, proportion, and movement.

This year students will be investigating artmaking while developing creativity and innovation through: drawing, painting, printmaking, using mixed media, collage, creating sculptures, weaving, sewing, learning about past and present artists, learning about art history, and using clay.

Why Art? Art is everywhere! Art helps you form connections in Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math. Art enhances and enriches all learning experiences. Create is the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Art teaches problem solving skills. It helps us learn about history and many cultures. Art helps us express ourselves. It is a great outlet for stress. 

Art develops 21st Century Skills including: curiosity, imagination, creativity, flexible thinking, independence, responsibility, problem solving, evaluative skills, experimentation, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. These core skills, developed through art, help empower students to meet the challenges of the global marketplace.

I am committed to helping each student feel successful and welcomed. Your support is incredibly valuable as students progress through the year. If ever I can do more to support your child, please let me know.

I cherish the opportunity in helping your child cultivate his/her creative, imaginative abilities and art skills.

Artfully Yours,

Lynn Hopfauf lynn.hopfauf@janesville.k12.wi.us 608-743-7243

PE News  

Hello Washington Friends and Families,

We are off to a great start in the gym this year already, and are back to having a traveling PE teacher again. Therefore, two of the 5th grade classes will be taught by Mr. Rand instead of Mr. Hutson. At the beginning of the year we always like to start off practicing skills that students will be applying throughout the year. Some of these skills include cooperation to help students learn how to work together, throwing which is a skill that is applied in multiple activities, and kicking skills such as passing and dribbling. We look forward to learning many more skills and getting better at the ones we already know.

If you have any questions or need to contact us for any reason:

Mr. Hutson zachary.hutson@janesville.k12.wi.us  608-743-7248

Mr. Rand   gannon.rand@janesville.k12.wi.us

Schoolwide Title I Program Notice

As a school with a low-income rate of 59.6%, Washington School receives federal Title I funds to support the learning of all students through a Schoolwide Title I Program.  Schoolwide programs serve all children in a school. All staff, resources, and classes are part of the overall schoolwide program. The purpose is to ensure all students, including those most in need, are positioned to  meet the state's challenging academic standards.  Schoolwide Title I schools annually complete a needs assessment to identify the school’s strengths and areas for improvement in student achievement, develop strategies and action steps  to address how the goals identified will be achieved,  and evaluate and update the plan as needed.   

Schoolwide Title I schools are required to engage parents and families in the Title I planning and evaluation process as well as provide opportunities for parents and families to engage in supporting their child’s education.  Parents of children enrolled in Title I schools have the right to

• Timely information about services provided;
• Access to a description of the curriculum, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of challenging state standards;
• Opportunities or meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children upon their request; 
• Response to their suggestions in a timely manner.

Copies of the Schoolwide Title I Plan and the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy are available upon request. Please contact the school secretary at (phone number) or (email) to request a copy.

Child Find Notice

Upon request, the School District of Janesville is required to evaluate a child for eligibility for special education services.  A request for evaluation is known as a referral.  When the district receives a referral, the district will appoint an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team to determine if the child has a disability, and if the child needs special education services. The district locates, identifies, and evaluates all children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private (including religious) schools, elementary schools and secondary schools located in the school district.

A student with a medically diagnosed disability is not automatically eligible for special education.  An outside medical diagnosis is insufficient of special education eligibility.  A student must be found eligible as a “child with a disability” under state and federal special education law.  A student with a disability is one who requires specially designed instruction as a result of meeting the criteria for at least one of the identified disability categories under state and federal special education law.  A student cannot start receiving special education services without a full and individual comprehensive special education evaluation completed by the student’s district.  Outside evaluations and other information shared by the parent, such as medical diagnoses, are considered during the evaluation and may provide supporting or new information about the student’s academic and functional skills important for determining the nature and extent of the student’s disability and education needs.  34 CFR §§ 300.8 and 300.301. Wis. Stat. § 115.76(5).

A physician, nurse, psychologist, social worker, or administrator of a social agency who reasonably believes a child brought to him or her for services is a child with a disability has a legal duty to refer the child, including a homeless child, to the school district in which the child resides.  Before referring the child, the person making the referral must inform the child's parent that the referral will be made.

Others, including parents, who reasonably believe a child is a child with a disability may also refer the child, including a homeless child, to the school district in which the child resides.

Referrals must be in writing and include the reason why the person believes the child is a child with a disability.  A referral may be made by contacting Mrs. Kimberli Peerenboom, Director of Pupil Services, School District of Janesville, at 608-743-5061, or by writing her at 527 S. Franklin Street, Janesville, WI, 53548.

School District of Janesville
CONFIDENTIALITY OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH CHILD FIND ACTIVITIES

The School District of Janesville is required to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities, including children with disabilities attending private schools in the school district, and homeless children.  The process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children with disabilities is known as child find.  This agency conducts the following child find activities each year in the form of Early Childhood and Speech and Language Developmental Screenings. This notice informs parents of the records the school district will develop and maintain as part of its child find activities.  This notice also informs parents of their rights regarding any records developed.

The school district gathers personally identifiable information on any child who participates in child find activities.  Parents, teachers, and other professionals provide information to the school related to the child’s academic performance, behavior, and health.  This information is used to determine whether the child needs special education services.  Personally identifiable information directly related to a child and maintained by the school is a pupil record. Pupil records include records maintained in any way including, but not limited to, computer storage media, video and audiotape, film, microfilm, and microfiche. Records maintained for personal use by a teacher and not available to others and records available only to persons involved in the psychological treatment of a child are not pupil records.

 The school district maintains several classes of pupil records.

• "Progress records" include grades, courses the child has taken, the child's attendance record, immunization records, required lead screening records, and records of school extra-curricular activities. Progress records must be maintained for at least five years after the child ceases to be enrolled. 
• "Behavioral records" include such records as psychological tests, personality evaluations, records of conversations, written statements relating specifically to the pupil's behavior, tests relating specifically to achievement or measurement of ability, physical health records other than immunization and lead screening records, law enforcement officers' records, and other pupil records that are not "progress records." Law enforcement officers' records are maintained separately from other pupil records. Behavioral records may be maintained for no longer than one year after the child graduates or otherwise ceases to be enrolled, unless the parent specifies in writing that the records may be maintained for a longer period of time. The school district informs parents when pupil records are no longer needed to provide special education. At the request of the child's parents, the school district destroys the information that is no longer needed. 
• "Directory data" includes the student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, photographs, degrees and awards received, and the name of the school most recently previously attended by the student. 
• "Pupil physical health records" include basic health information about a pupil, including the pupil's immunization records, an emergency medical card, a log of first aid and medicine administered to the pupil, an athletic permit card, a record concerning the pupil's ability to participate in an education program, any required lead screening records, the results of any routine screening test, such as for hearing, vision or scoliosis, and any follow-up to the test, and any other basic health information, as determined by the state superintendent. Any pupil record relating to a pupil's physical health that is not a pupil physical health record is treated as a patient health care record under sections 146.81 to 146.84, Wisconsin Statutes. Any pupil record concerning HIV testing is treated as provided under section 252.15, Wisconsin Statutes.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and section 118.125, Wisconsin Statutes, afford parents and students over 18 years of age ("eligible students") the following rights with respect to education records: 

• The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of receipt of the request. Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal [or appropriate school official] a written request that identifies the records(s) they wish to inspect. The principal will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. The school district will comply with the request without unnecessary delay and before any meeting about an individualized education program, or any due process hearing, and in no case more than 45 days after the request has been made. If any record includes information on more than one child, the parents of those children have the right to inspect and review only the information about their child or to be informed of that specific information. Upon request, the school district will give a parent or eligible student a copy of the progress records and a copy of the behavioral records. Upon request, the school district will give the parent or eligible student a list of the types and locations of education records collected, maintained, or used by the district for special education. The school district will respond to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of the records. A representative of the parent may inspect and review the records. 
• The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the parent or eligible student believes is inaccurate or misleading. Parents of eligible students may ask the School District to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write to the school principal, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the district decides not to amend the record, the district will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and the right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing. 
• The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information in the student's education records, except to the extent that federal and state law authorize disclosure without consent. The exceptions are stated in 34 CFR 99.31, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations; Sec. 9528, PL107-110, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; and section 118.125(2)(a) to (m) and sub. (2m), Wisconsin Statutes. One exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosures to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the district as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the district has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Upon request, the district discloses education records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. Also the district discloses "directory data" without consent, unless the parent notifies the district that it may not be released without prior parental consent. 
• The right to file a complaint with the U. S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the District to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is: Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202-4605.

Washington Wavelength December ‘24 - January ‘25

FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

Dear Washington Families,

I hope this letter finds you well. We’ve been off to a great start this year, and are proud of the hard work and progress we’ve noticed from our students. As we continue to stride forward with our focus on safety and student growth, I would like to take a moment to share a few reminders regarding these priorities.

Safety: As we enter the winter months, and there is snow on the ground with snow banks near the roads, visibility becomes more difficult. Therefore, its especially important to drive with caution during drop off and pick up times. Please be sure that you are parking only in the designated areas and at least 10 feet from crosswalks. Another thing to be aware of, when it comes to the winter weather, is that we regularly go outside for recess. We stay in for recess only when the temperature is below 0 degrees (including the wind chill). This also applies to letting students into the building before school. If the temperature is below zero, students are allowed in, but not prior to 8:05. Please consider this when dropping students off in the morning.

Learning: One of our highest priorities is helping students develop strong reading skills for success in school and beyond. We also know that the amount of reading students engage in outside of school makes a significant difference in the progress they make. If you are looking for ways that you can help your child at home, we send home a monthly parent reading newsletter. Each newsletter offers tips/ideas that can be used to encourage reading and support reading development at home. In case you didn't get a chance to view November’s newsletter, I am providing the link below. I hope you find this useful. https://www.parent-institute-online.com/download2.php?902438-BR1-X30 9500

Thank you for your ongoing support, and your efforts to help keep students safe and progressing in their learning. It’s the strong partnership between families and the school that enables all students to succeed. We hope all of our students have a happy and safe winter break!

With Regards,
Matt Peerenboom, Principal

Important Dates

December

• 4th - FRC Cookie Decorating 3:15 pm - 6:00 pm
• 10th - Scoopie Night 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
• 13th - No P4J & 4th Grade Field Trip to the Capitol
• 18th - 5th Grade Field Trip to the Madison Theatre
• 23rd - Winter Break - No School

January

• 2nd - School Resumes
• 17th - No P4J 20th - No School
• 24th - No School

Please like and follow our Facebook page Washington Elementary School - Home Traffic and Safety Reminders Safety Patrol Our school safety patrol is now on duty before and after school. The students have been trained in crossing students safely and are now wearing bright orange safety vests for easy visibility - Thank you to the Hazeltine Family for the donation!

Please help all of our students stay safe by following the drop off and pick up procedures below. Please avoid parking on the corners of intersections to ease the flow of Traffic.Please avoid parking too close to the crosswalks. This can cause congestion and make it difficult for cars to pass through these areas safely, and it can also make it difficult for crossing guards to see around the vehicles to look for oncoming traffic.

Please ALWAYS have your child use the available crosswalks rather than crossing in the middle of the street. Children are safest when crossing at patrolled crosswalks. Thank you for all of your help and support! We really appreciate it!

Grade Level/Special Area News

Early Childhood

Early Childhood has been working on fine motor skills, art projects, and gross motor activities. We are doing great with learning our routine, sharing toys, and engaging in sensory activities. Our favorite time of the morning has been circle time and breakfast. We have learned about owls, turkeys, squirrels, fire safety, corn, and pumpkins. As the weather gets colder please send a jacket, hat, and gloves with them to school every day.

P4J

In December and January, we will be continuing to work on our fine motor skills of cutting, holding a pencil/crayon, picking up small items, and writing our names. Families can work on these skills at home as well by: lacing beads, making beaded or cheerio/fruit loop necklaces, playing with playdough, cutting, and writing names. We will also continue working on our counting and 1 to 1 correspondence.

Playing board games at home can help with these skills as well as work on taking turns. Please continue to practice Nursery Rhymes and letter recognition games at home. You can play I Spy in the car while driving to find letters on signs in the community. Talking, playing games, and pointing out letters in the community enhance your child's early literacy skills.

Kindergarten

Please make time during this busy month of December to complete your family project of the Polar Express train. The students and staff love to see all the different trains hanging in our kindergarten hallway! Please send your child every day with proper outdoor clothing for recesses. This includes a winter coat, hat, gloves, boots and snow pants when the snow arrives. Please label these items with your child’s name.

Kindergarteners should be working hard to be independent by dressing themselves in their winter gear and tying shoes as they are transferring from boots to shoes many times a day at school. Warm up to a good book this winter with your child! Reading to your child is a perfect opportunity to spend time together while practicing letter names, sounds, and high frequency words!

First Grade

First grade is finishing 2024 strong! In ELA we will be learning and reading about maps, folktales, and changes over time. Science and Social Studies concepts integrate well with our essential questions in the upcoming weeks. Continue practicing high frequency words and reading decodable stories daily for fluency. In Math we will continue practicing our fact fluency, solving number stories, learning about place value, telling time, and 3D shapes. We will be taking the mid-year STAR test in January after our winter break. Please remember to send your child with proper winter gear for outside play. Don't forget to send shoes for the classroom if your child wears boots to school.

Second Grade

The second graders have been working so hard on finding text evidence and comprehending our second grade texts. We are very proud of how they are growing as readers. At the end of the month of December we will be taking part in a gingerbread man unit. We will be comparing and contrasting different versions of the story, as well as working on other English language arts skills. Your child will be bringing home a gingerbread person that as a family you will want to disguise so it won’t get eaten. Be as creative as you wish. We have had many clever disguises over the years. We will be working on our expository writing. The children will choose an animal they are interested in and outline their life cycle. They have done a great job learning about finding relevant details when researching, and are very excited about their writing.

As second graders are beginning to do double digit addition and subtraction, it is essential that they have mastered and are fluent with their basic addition and subtraction facts through the sum of 20. Just reviewing a few minutes each night at home can help your child’s success. Are you ready for some cool weather? The winter season is here and it is important that our students have proper winter attire. You may want to use a second bag to bring their winter gear to and from school. It can be difficult to put snow pants as well as home folders in the backpacks

Third Grade

It’s hard to believe that we are finished with the first trimester! In math we are working on our 3-digit addition, subtraction, and rounding unit. Please continue to complete the math and reading homework sheets. In addition, please continue to have your child read each night. It’s a great way for your child to practice skills and show you the new strategies we are learning or practice previously learned skills. In reading we are continuing to read stories from our Wonders reading series. Upcoming genres include expository text and folktale. This next trimester we will be focusing on many reading skills such as summarizing, personification, visualizing, theme, and character perspective, just to name a few. In writing we will be focusing on opinion writing. In social studies we will be learning about economics and America’s early history. In science we will be learning about simple machines and magnets. Be sure to send your child with a hat and gloves each day as the weather gets colder. Also, remember to check take home folders each night.

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade worked hard during trimester one and is off to a great start in trimester two! In math we have been working on building equivalent fractions and are now moving on to decimals. In reading we finished up our poetry unit that focused on key elements such as imagery, figurative language, and rhyme. We are now moving onto unit 3 which focuses on character perspective and author's purpose. In writing, students have been practicing writing argumentative essays. We have also been working on properly combining sentences and writing plural and singular nouns correctly. In social studies, students have been learning about our state government to prepare them for our field trip to the capitol on Friday, December 13th! We are looking forward to our trip! Lastly, in science students have been learning about animal behavioral and physical adaptations.

Fifth Grade

Hello 5th grade families! It's crazy to think we are already onto Trimester 2! We have recently been introduced to finding the theme of a text and we will continue to do that throughout November and December. We also will practice finding the author's claim and problem/solution of texts. In Math, we are finishing up on unit on place value and decimals, and then will be moving towards multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, and fractions! In science we will be starting a new unit exploring changes in matter, specifically exploring the phenomena of the science behind liquid batter turning into a golden fluffy solid pancake. In social studies we will continue with American History leading towards the westward expansion of the United States. This year has been going so quickly and all the fun is just getting started!

Learning Commons Library related events:

P4J & Kindergarten students have done a fantastic job in training to be great library patrons and are putting those library cards to use.

1st & 2nd graders are broadening their selections by exploring a new early readers collection and new early chapter book series. 1st graders also had a special visit from Hedberg Library and learned all about their services and offerings.

3rd-5th graders are enjoying their first chapter previews of all our favorite fiction novels and non-fiction finds and have just started a rousing game of library bingo to encourage them to make selections from new genres or nonfiction classifications they maybe would not give a try.

STEM related learning:

P4J students had the chance to examine life size skeleton bones after reading "Skeleton with the Hiccups" paired with the super fun sounds from our Novel Effect app.

KG students spent some time really digging into bugs and studying shapes during stem centers.

1st Graders were fully immersed in building and materials related books the month of October and had a great time rotating through 3 special hands on building stations testing out their knowledge of foundations, structures, and the occasional collapse.

2nd graders have been very busy! They participated in a demonstration of fast and slow changes of the earth's surface through erosion, altering existing and creating new landforms with water and sand in a simulation table. They also had the opportunity to examine science specimens while discussing parents, offspring and the lifecycle and conducted an experiment in cross pollination after examining the complete lifecycle of the "Apis Mellifera" with pom-pom and pipe cleaner bees.

Other:

All of our Washington students have done a great job adapting to new technology in our classrooms with our new Chromebooks and Chrome Tablets and have shown great responsibility and patience. Keep up the good work.

News:

Washington Students brought home a Winter Gift Wonderland catalog flier and handout announcing our Online book/toy fair fundraiser through Literati. Shop online for fun, inspiring, educator-approved, imaginative kids books and toys delivered straight to your door and Washington Library earns 10-20% on all purchases to purchase library books and materials for our students.

Hello families! We have begun learning in our Second Step curriculum. Go online to SecondStep.org and log in with the

activation key CPUK FAMI LYGK

to get more information about what your child is learning in the Second Step program. Thank you for helping us make our school a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn! If you have any questions about what we will be learning, or would like more information, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Morgan Casey-Schmidt
Washington School Counselor
morgan.casey-schm@janesville.k12.wi.us
Office: (608) 743-7225 Cell & Text: (608) 561-1424

Notes from the Music Room

Kindergarten and 1st Graders will continue to work on reading and playing pitches G and E on the Music Staff using various melody instruments such as Boomwhackers and Xylophones, Metallophones, and Glockenspiels. We will be adding Pitch A as well. They will also continue to work on reading and playing rhythms and Ostinatos, which are music patterns that keep repeating over and over. They will use Tubano drums and other percussion instruments to play these rhythmic ostinatos. The students will also get to try their hands at composing or writing their very own melodies which they will perform for the class. It’s all very exciting!

2nd, 3rd and 4th Graders will be beginning, or building on, their ukulele playing skills, moving from getting to know, and playing simple melodies on the 4 strings to learning and playing chords to accompany some really fun songs, including some songs we hear on the radio! While we learn these ukulele skills we are continuing to develop our rhythm and pitch reading skills on the Treble Clef Staff, as well as learn more about harmony and Ostinatos and further developing our singing skills. It’s going to be Uke-a-riffic!!

5th Grade continues to work on completing their packet for middle school music choice selection, where they are learning about instruments from band and orchestra, as well as singing and working on vocal skills. The students will be choosing which music class they will be taking in middle school by the middle of January, so watch for the official form for scheduling your child’s middle school classes.

The students are reviewing and developing their recorder skills, focusing on B, A, and G pitches, and building a repertoire of songs they can play using those pitches. The recorder is a beginning Woodwind instrument similar to the clarinet, so this is helpful for students who are considering playing a woodwind instrument in band in 6th grade. They are also working on their sight reading skills using Solfege, or Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, and high DO.

A Few Lines from Washington’s Art Studio

Dear Families, Students will begin creating their art projects that you may purchase on unique gifts and keepsakes for the Square 1 Art Fundraiser, in January. The money raised goes back to your child in the form of purchased art supplies for Washington students. Order catalogs will be sent home at the end of February. Free shipping will be offered again this year. Our Washington community looks forward to seeing what masterpieces our artists will create for the Square 1 Art fundraiser!

Artfully Yours,
Lynn Hopfauf Washington Art Educator

PE News

Hello Washington friends and families, In the gym we will be getting into gymnastics and tumbling for most of December and also getting into our obstacle course, which most students look forward to as soon as the first day they get into the gym. In January we will come back and start off with a bowling unit, which as always, we will be having a glow in the dark day of bowling and I will be sending out some more information about that when we are closer to it.

We will also be having a fitness unit to help teach the students about fitness and why it is important.Also as it is starting to get colder and we get chances of snow we will have the opportunity to use the snowshoes outside, so make sure your students have coats and snow pants in case we have a good day to go out and use those. The snowshoes are only for 3rd-5th grade because they are a little too big and complicated for the younger grades to use.

If you have any questions or need to contact us for any reason: Mr. Hutson zachary.hutson@janesville.k12.wi.us 608-743-7248 Mr. Rand gannon.rand@janesville.k12.wi.us

Schoolwide Title I Program Notice

Schools with an elevated low-income rate receive federal Title I funds to support the learning of all students through a Schoolwide Title I Program.Schoolwide programs serve all children in a school. All staff, resources, and classes are part of the overall schoolwide program. The purpose is to ensure all students, including those most in need, are positioned to meet the state's challenging academic standards. Schoolwide Title I schools annually complete a needs assessment to identify the school’s strengths and areas for improvement in student achievement, develop strategies and action steps to address how the goals identified will be achieved, and evaluate and update the plan as needed.

Schoolwide Title I schools are required to engage parents and families in the Title I planning and evaluation process as well as provide opportunities for parents and families to engage in supporting their child’s education. Parents of children enrolled in Title I schools have the right to. Timely information about services provided; Access to a description of the curriculum, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of challenging state standards; Opportunities or meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children upon their request; Response to their suggestions in a timely manner.

Copies of the Schoolwide Title I Plan and the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy are available upon request. Please contact the school secretary at (608-743-7206) or (kristi.filter@janesville.k12.wi.us) to request a copy.

 

WASHINGTON WAVELENGTH

February/March 2025

FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

Dear Washington Families, 

Amongst other things, the cold weather, shorter days, and indoor recesses can make the stretch between winter break and spring break feel like the longest time of year for our students. On the other hand, it is also the stretch of time where they typically demonstrate significant growth here at school. We are proud of their hard work, and impressed with the progress they are making so far in both their academic and social skills. With around four months remaining, we have a lot left to do, and look forward to seeing how far they can go. February and March are busy months, and In this newsletter are several important dates to take note of. Some of these events include parent/teacher conferences, the spring sing, and spring break. In addition, we have WI Forward testing coming up in early April for grades 3-5. We are looking forward to a great second half of the year, and seeing everyone at conferences in a couple of weeks. 

Regards, Matt Peerenboom, Principal

Important Dates:

February 

• 5th - Scoopie Night
• 6th - Bingo for Books 3:30 - 6:00 pm
• 19th - 1st Grade Field Trip ( Discovery Center)
• 21st - No P4J
• 26th - School Day - Conferences 4 - 7 pm & Book Fair
• 27th - No School - Conferences 8 am - 7 pm & Book Fair
• 28th - No School

March

• 7th - End of Trimester for K-5
• 21st - No P4J & Spring Sing (K-5)
• 22nd - 30th - No School - Spring Break
• 31st - School Resumes

Please like and follow our Facebook page Washington Elementary School - Home

Traffic and Safety Reminders 

Safety Patrol 

Our school safety patrol is on duty before and after school. The students have been trained in crossing students safely and are now wearing bright orange safety vests for easy visibility - Thank you to the Hazeltine Family for the donation!  Please help all of our students stay safe by following the drop off and pick up procedures below.

• Please avoid parking on the corners of intersections to ease the flow of Traffic.
• Please avoid parking too close to the crosswalks.  This can cause congestion and make it difficult for cars to pass through these areas safely, and it can also make it difficult for crossing guards to see around the vehicles to look for oncoming traffic.  
• Please ALWAYS have your child use the available crosswalks rather than crossing in the middle of the street. Children are safest when crossing at patrolled crosswalks.

 

Thank you for all of your help and support! We really appreciate it!

Grade Level/Special Area News

Early Childhood

The EC students are back in the swing of school after Winter Break and are making great progress with early academic, daily living, and social-emotional skills. February is a busy month for us, so be on the lookout for information about our Valentine’s Day Party and Parent-Teacher Conferences which will be held at the end of the month. 

We are in the midst of winter weather. If your child wears boots to school, please send along a pair of shoes to wear in the classroom too. 

Thanks for all that you do to make this year of exploration and nurturing the love of learning to be a successful one!

P4J

P4J Students have been working on recognizing letters and practicing letter sounds.  We have been naming the letters in our names and writing our names.  In February and March, we will focus on Valentines, Dental Health, Dr. Suess stories and rhymes, and St. Patrick's Day.  We will be continuing to work on our fine motor skills of cutting, holding a pencil/crayon, picking up small items, and writing our names. Families can work on these skills at home as well by: lacing beads, making beaded or cheerio/fruit loop necklaces, playing with playdough, cutting, and writing names. We will also continue working on our counting and 1 to 1 correspondence. Playing board games at home can help with these skills and also helps students practice taking turns.

Kindergarten

February is a busy month celebrating Groundhog’s Day, the 100th Day of School, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and Children’s Dental Health Month! 

Also, in February we will be completing assessments for trimester 2. Please continue to practice and review – counting, number recognition, shapes, letters, sounds, words, and tying shoes.

Please be sure your child is dressed for winter recess times. Snow pants and boots are a MUST in order to play in the snow.  All students go outside unless it is below zero.

First Grade

First graders are working hard!  Our upcoming reading themes include how we get our food, how animals help each other, animal adaptations, and insects. Decodable stories continue to come home each week.  Please remember to listen to your child read these stories to help them practice their word knowledge and fluency. Rereading these really helps improve your child's fluency and confidence.  In Math we are working on place value, and continuing to focus on addition and subtraction strategies.  Kids are also working to tell time on digital and analog clocks to the hour and half hour.   Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately each day for the weather with their winter gear.  It is important to remember to bring regular shoes to wear in the classroom. 

Second Grade

During the next several weeks, our second graders will be reading a variety of genres. Through this literature, we will integrate our social studies program into our reading. The students will become more adept at using the variety of text features to improve their understanding of non-fiction material.  In writing, the children will be working on writing a structured paragraph. 

In math, the children have enjoyed our measuring unit and are getting quite good at estimating distances.  Our next focus will be on place values. We will be exploring values to 1,000 as well as place value with money.  Continue to be on the lookout for math home connections that are sent home two to three times a week. 

Please check with your child that they have all the necessary tools to do their work in the classroom. We are about halfway through the school year and many students are in need of working headphones, crayons and dry erase markers. 

Continue to encourage your child to come to school with the proper winter attire.  We have found it helps when they bring their winter gear to and from school in a separate bag. It can be difficult to put snow pants as well as home folders in the backpacks.

Third Grade 

A “few” things from Third Grade!  In math we are busy learning about fractions, division, and our geometry unit is coming up. In reading we will be reading expository texts, poetry (narrative, free verse and haiku) and biographies.  Our reading skills are focusing on finding text evidence, explaining different characters’ perspectives and how one or more characters develop throughout the plot, figurative language, theme and text features.  In writing we will be finishing up our opinion writing and getting into expository writing while doing some research to support our central idea. In Science we are just finishing up our simple machines and magnets unit and will have some STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) lessons in the library area, with Mrs. Miller, to further understand the Engineering Design Process.  In trimester 3 we will be learning more about ecosystems.  In Social Studies, we will be learning about the economy and global trade.  We are also getting started with our preparation for the Forward Wisconsin state testing.  More information will be shared at conferences.  In the meantime, continue to read 15-20 minutes each night.  We look forward to seeing you at conferences and sharing more about your child’s successes!

Fourth Grade

Fourth graders are doing a great job in trimester two and we are excited to see themcontinue their hard work in trimester three! In math, we are diving into our geometry and measurement unit and will also be working on different multiplication and division strategies. In reading, we are moving onto unit 4 and will be reading different narrative nonfiction texts. Students will focus on skills such as finding the author's purpose and character’s perspective. In writing, students have been working hard on their paragraph structure to answer different writing prompts. In social studies, students have finished up learning about the early English Settlements and are now moving on to covering the French and Indian War. In science, we will be talking about Earth’s early features and patterns. Conferences will be held on February 26th and 27th and the Forward exam will be coming up in April. We are excited to see what the restof the school year will bring!

Fifth Grade

Crazy to think this year is halfway over! We just finished up a unit on multiplying whole numbers & decimals and are moving on to multiplying & dividing fractions. In reading we are starting our fourth unit which will include expository and argumentative texts which connect to our writing of an argumentative piece. We are also really working on fluency and increasing that with multiple reads of a text. In social studies we are finishing up learning about the constitution then will move to westward expansion and the civil war. In science we have been working on a unit about Matter and will continue that. We have seen good growth in fifth grade this year and are excited to see what the rest of the year brings!

Learning Commons

I am happy to announce the Scholastic Book Fair will be back for Spring Conferences! There have been a ton of changes in the book fair industry and unfortunately even companies as large as Literati and Scholastic have felt the pinch of rising costs, shipping and inventory issues which lead to some restrictions for who could host a fair based on profit revenue minimums. We waited it out and are back in the pipeline for now so please visit us enthusiastically so we can host future fairs by making their revenue cut-off requirements.

Looking back, it has been a very busy space in the LMC! 

KG Students enjoyed reviewing what they know as they explored 6 centers each featuring Bugs and Shapes. They explored insect x-rays, created their own insects with 3 body parts each, used 3-nets to turn 2D models into 3D forms and explored other shape manipulatives.

K-1 Used their engineering brains to code and conduct smart trains. Building tracks, coding loops, making stops, reversing and even disconnecting their caboose.

1st & 4th Grade were immersed in a Light Lab investigation how light travels & interacts with various materials. Transparent, translucent, opaque materials were investigated as well as light reflection, refraction, dispersion and absorption.

2nd Grade explored fast and slow changes to the earth's surface. An erosion table demonstration was a great way to observe how wind and water create and change landforms. They also mastered the properties of matter while discovering non-newtonian fluids in an Oobleck experiment.

4th Grade students used their knowledge about simple machines from 3rd grade while participating in a riveting round of the Great Turkey Escape Challenge and brushed up on their collaboration and problem solving skills. 

5th Grade examined how discoveries among the earth's layers can tell us about the past. During a fossil dig they discussed how their discoveries connect to anthropology to make predictions about human presence, technology, or ancient civilizations as well as changes in the land over time. 

English Learners

Testing. Testing. 1.2.3 

This time of year means testing time for a lot of students. The English Learners have just completed the ACCESS tests. All students that receive extra support from EL are required to take the state test to show how much English they have learned. These yearly tests include Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking sections. After the hours it takes to complete these tests, we will wait until May to find out the results. While we have to wait for these results, there are other tests that students have been taking that have immediate results. K-3 students took Reading tests through AIMS Web. Every grave level took Reading and Math tests through STAR along with our usual unit tests at the end of chapters/units. All of this testing means that there is less time for me to work in groups with students. I can not wait to get back into a routine of meeting with students in small groups to help everyone understand English better and be successful in class.

Counselor Connections  

Hello families! 

In our Connection lessons we have been learning all about our amazing brain.You may be hearing your children say new words like amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. I wanted to give you all a glimpse as to what we are learning so that you continue using and learning about these words outside of school as well.  

• Amygdala: The amygdala reacts to fear, danger, and threat. Its job is to regulate our emotional state by acting as the brain’s security dog, alerting us to things that might make us feel unsafe and protecting us from threats. When a child is in a negative emotional state the amygdala prevents the brain from being able to do higher-level thinking and being able to make reasonable judgments. When the amygdala is incharge and we “flip our lid” we often respond with fight, flight, or freeze. 
• Hippocampus: The hippocampus plays an important role in our learning, as this is the part of our brain that is a storage vault of our memories. 
• Prefrontal Cortex: The prefrontal cortex is responsible for the learning, reasoning, and thinking in our brain, and it is really important in helping us make good choices.  In our lessons, we often refer to this part of our brain as the lid.

Learning about these important areas of our brain helps our children to understand how their brains respond to stress (flipping our lid) and how they can calm their minds and use their prefrontal cortex for thoughtful decision-making (putting our lid back on).  We can help our children learn to put their lids back on by practicing mindful breathing, or what we call “breathing on purpose”. 

I have attached a quick youtube video that can briefly explain this process further. It is a video that we use in class as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmnVmELMn8

If you have any questions or concerns that I may help with, please email me at morgancasey-schm@janesville.k12.wi.us, call me at (608)743-7225, or via text at (608)561-1424.

Notes from the  Music Room 

K/1 have been working on rhythm and beats organized in meters or groups of 2s, 3s, and 4s.  They have also begun learning about the Italian words we use in music for loud, quiet, very loud, very quiet, and quiet to loud–we call volume Dynamics in music.  Singing and different types of pitches or sounds that we sing or instruments play have also been a focus, and this will help a lot as we begin working on our upcoming March shows!

2nd-5th graders have been playing ukuleles and recorders, honing their music staff and rhythm reading.  We have worked on fractions in rhythm. They have been singing harmony using Partner Songs or Rounds, as well as 2-part music to further develop their listening, vocal, and proper breathing skills.  These skills are preparing us for our upcoming musical performances in March!

SAVE The DATE!!

Friday, March 21st is the date for our annual Spring Sing performances.  The times will be listed on the Washington Website for each grade level.  The students will be working diligently from now until then to learn all of their music, solos, instrument parts, and speaking parts to perform for you.  I will send parts home with students for them to practice and memorize.  

Grade/Performance Times for Friday, March 21st are as follows

K- 8:45

1st-9:45

2nd-10:45

4th-12:15

3rd-1:15

5th-2:15

We can’t wait to see you all on Friday, March 21st!!

A Few Lines from Washington’s Art Studio

Dear Families,

Coming home to you at the beginning of March will be your child's custom catalog for the Square 1 Art fundraiser. Get a head start, and start ordering keepsakes and gifts featuring your child's art online beginning in March!! Your little artist’s artwork would make a great gift for a family member or a friend’s birthday, for Mother’s Day, Father’s day, or for your child to proudly display on an item of their own.

In March, go to square1art.com/shop. Simply search for your child's art using Art Search, and enter state, school name, and your student's name. Your student's art and code will appear, and you may order!

Order by:  3/20/2025

Upload additional art if you like, using Art Upload!

If you have questions, or need anything at all, contact customer care online: www.square1art.com/contact/

Thank you for supporting our school!

Lynn Hopfauf

Square 1 Art Fundraiser Coordinator

Washington Elementary Art Educator

square1art.com/shop

PE News  

Hello Washington friends and families,

Over the next couple of months we will be doing units such as floor hockey, to work on skills using long handled implements. We will also have a basketball unit and will be working on our hand dribbling skills as well passing and shooting. We will also be revisiting and learning more about fitness and add some learning about nutrition as well.

For 3rd-5th grade we will also be rollerblading, which I will be sending out more information when we get closer to the week we will be doing it. Also, as a reminder, if there is ever enough snow we will be doing some snow shoeing for these grades as well, so please make sure your students have proper clothing to go outside.

As always if you have any questions contact us at:

Mr. Hutson     zachary.hutson@janesville.k12.wi.us   

Mr. Rand        gannon.rand@janesville.k12.wi.us

Schoolwide Title I Program Notice

Schools with an elevated low-income rate receive federal Title I funds to support the learning of all students through a Schoolwide Title I Program. Schoolwide programs serve all children in a school. All staff, resources, and classes are part of the overall schoolwide program. The purpose is to ensure all students, including those most in need, are positioned to  meet the state's challenging academic standards. Schoolwide Title I schools annually complete a needs assessment to identify the school’s strengths and areas for improvement in student achievement, develop strategies and action steps to address how the goals identified will be achieved, and evaluate and update the plan as needed.

Schoolwide Title I schools are required to engage parents and families in the Title I planning and evaluation process as well as provide opportunities for parents and families to engage in supporting their child’s education.

Parents of children enrolled in Title I schools have the right to

• Timely information about services provided;
• Access to a description of the curriculum, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of challenging state standards;
• Opportunities or meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children upon their request; 
• Response to their suggestions in a timely manner.

Copies of the Schoolwide Title I Plan and the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy are available upon request. Please contact the school secretary at (608-743-7206) or (kristi.filter@janesville.k12.wi.us) to request a copy.

 

FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

 

Dear Washington Families, 

 

It’s hard to believe that this is the final newsletter of what has been a fantastic 2024-25 school year. We’ve really enjoyed working with all of our students this year and are proud of what they have accomplished. While the end of the school year is within sight, we still have much work to do and will continue working hard to ensure all students continue to grow. April and May are busy months with WI Forward Testing, field trips, state AIMs testing, the all city track meet, the Ice Cream Social, amongst many other happenings. Many of the dates for these events are provided in this newsletter. 

 

As the year winds down I would like to thank Washington’s PTO for all of their contributions to the Washington School Community this year. The support they have provided to promote learning, the fun events they have planned for our students to enjoy, and the financial assistance they have provided to support field trips and other events are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank all of our parents and families for your ongoing support and involvement this year. The partnership between school and families is crucial to the success of each child we serve. Thank you for all you do and I hope you have a wonderful summer! 

Regards, 

Matt Peerenboom, Principal

Important Dates      

April 

• 11th - No P4J
• 15th - Scoopie Night
• 18th - No School
• 21st - No School
• 24th - FRC Family Dinner

May

• 5th - 3rd grade field trip (Tallman House)
• 9th - No P4J
• 16th - 2nd grade field trip (JSOL)
• 20th - 5th grade track meet
• 21st - 4th grade track meet
• 22nd - Ice Cream Social
• 23rd - Kindergarten field trip (Zoo)
• 26th - Memorial Day - No School
• 27th - 5th grade field trip (BizTown)

June

• 4th - Peace Park field trip - Kindergarten and 2nd grade only
• 6th - Last Day of School - Half Day 8:15 a.m - 11:41a.m

 

Please like and follow our Facebook page Washington Elementary School - Home

 

Traffic and Safety Reminders  

Safety Patrol 

Our school safety patrol is on duty before and after school. The students have been trained in crossing students safely and are now wearing bright orange safety vests for easy visibility - Thank you to the Hazeltine Family for the donation!  Please help all of our students stay safe by following the drop off and pick up procedures below.

• Please avoid parking on the corners of intersections to ease the flow of Traffic.
• Please avoid parking too close to the crosswalks.  This can cause congestion and make it difficult for cars to pass through these areas safely, and it can also make it difficult for crossing guards to see around the vehicles to look for oncoming traffic.  
• Please ALWAYS have your child use the available crosswalks rather than crossing in the middle of the street. Children are safest when crossing at patrolled crosswalks.

 

Thank you for all of your help and support! We really appreciate it!

             

Grade Level/Special Area News

 

Early Childhood

Hello Spring! It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the 2024-25 school year. As always, our main focus in EC continues to be following a school routine, playing together, and having fun learning early academic and functional skills. It is getting nicer out, so we may be going outside a bit too. Please send your child in clothes appropriate for the weather and with a little sunscreen on (if you’d like)! 

P4J

P4J is practicing writing their name daily.  We are talking about how to calm our feelings by taking a deep breath (smell the flower, blow out the candle).  We have been learning about how feelings can make our body feel comfortable or uncomfortable.  We will be working on fine tuning any skills that we need to work on in order to be ready for Kindergarten.   

P4J students are able to attend Summer School this summer.  They are able to attend "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" and Swim Lessons.  A note went home with students before Spring Break to explain how to register and sign up for classes.  "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" is a great transition to being in a different part of the building and meeting new teachers and new friends before starting Kindergarten.  Please let Mrs. Oswald know if you have any questions.  

Kindergarten

It is really hard to believe we are approaching the end of our kindergarten year! We have learned so much this year and we will continue all the way until the very end! Here is a list of things that first grade teachers want their future first graders to be able to do in the fall: writing his/her own name neatly with an uppercase letter at the beginning and lowercase letters for the rest, knowing alphabet letters and sounds, counting and number recognition, reading consonant-vowel-consonant words AND tying his/her own shoes. 

This summer, please consider sending your child to Washington for “Getting Ready for First Grade” during summer school. It is a great opportunity for students to continue on skills taught during the school year, see friends, and receive a free breakfast and lunch! Summer school will be from June 9 - July 3. 

First Grade

What a great year we've had in first grade!  As we finish out the year, we are continuing to work hard to prepare for second grade.  We'll continue to read fiction and non fiction stories, discussing text features and comprehension strategies, like retelling and summarizing.  Continued practice with reading at home each night will help your child with their fluency and word recognition. We will also be working hard on writing paragraphs with a beginning, a middle, and an end. In Math we will focus on place value, measurement, telling time, and problem solving with stories. Please remember to send proper shoes on the days your child has PE. Although it's getting warmer, sandals aren't safe to wear in PE. We'll be taking our spring STAR test in April and we're looking forward to seeing the amazing growth the students have made this year.  It has been a pleasure teaching your first graders this year!

Second Grade

It is hard to believe we are closing in on the end of the year. 

In reading, we will focus on comprehension and fluency skills. Please continue to practice the weekly reading passages or read a choice book with your child each night. 

The end of the year will find us studying measurement, fractions, multi-digit computation and place value in math.  Please continue to work with your child on the homework and games sent home.

We will be taking students on a trip to the JSOL in May. This will be a way to extend our learning of plants and animals in science. Look for more information to be coming home closer to the date.

We have enjoyed having your children this year. We are so proud of how they have risen to meet the many challenges we faced and the growth they have made. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Third Grade 

Wow!  We can’t believe it’s already Trimester 3!  It was great to be able to talk to parents at conferences and share what we are doing in class.  3rd grade students have been busy preparing for their first time taking the Wisconsin State Forward test.  They have been working very hard.  

In math we are continuing to work on multiplication/division, perimeter/area, telling time, geometry, and fractions.  In reading we are continuing to learn more about fiction and nonfiction stories.  In writing we are working on a variety of pieces and our main focus for the trimester is writing informational pieces and a research project.  In Science we will be learning about weather and ecosystems.  We will be learning about Janesville’s history in Social Studies.  We will be going on a field trip to the Tallman House and Frances Willard School house in May.  Be on the lookout for more information later this Spring!  In April and May, we have the FoodWise Nutrition lessons, taught by Karen Johnson.  A letter will be sent home further explaining the program. 

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade has been working hard all year long and is continuing to do so as we near the end of the school year! In math, we are continuing to work on multiplication, division, data and fractions. In reading, we are working on finishing unit 5 that focuses on skills such as visualization, plot, and conflict. In writing we have been working hard on forming different paragraphs/answering different prompts. In social studies, we will be learning about topics such as mining, logging, and the Peshtigo vs. Chicago fire. In science, we will continue with Earth science and learn about energy from natural resources. The annual 4th and 5th grade track meet will be occurring towards the end of May. Look out for more information as the date gets closer! We are excited to end the school year with lots of fun and hard work!

Fifth Grade

Crazy to think we are this close to being done with this school year!! We have some fun stuff happening in fifth grade! In social studies we are learning about the Civil war. Once that is finished we will be starting our unit on economy using the BizTown program which will get us ready for the field trip in May. In math, we are starting a unit on dividing decimals, and reviewing everything we have learned this year! In reading, we are moving to historical fiction and then will be moving to argumentative. It has been a great year and we can't wait to keep finishing strong! 

Learning Commons

A few Reminders from the LMC

As the year starts to come to a close please be sure to stay on top of your students’ library books. Books that stay in backpacks at home have a greater chance of making it back to school each week. 

The spring book fair was a smashing success and we greatly appreciate all of your patronage. The funds raised will be put to great use supporting the library program and we look forward to getting back on track with future fairs. Scholastic of course was ecstatic and has already reserved our fairs for next year. Thank you again! 

English Learners   

We have been so thankful for Mrs. Kelly Moore to be working with the English Learners each month with cooking classes. The students in grade second to fifth work in small groups, once a month, to learn how to make a different food. From pizzas in a mug, Thanksgiving quesadillas, or dirt cake, these students learn about new foods, trying new flavors, making new things, or being more independent in the kitchen at home. Mrs. Moore has encouraged all these students to try new foods before saying that they don't like it! 

Cooking time in the FRC is a wonderful break from the Forward testing that needs to be done and end of the year assessments. Testing is important for all students to show how much they have learned since last year but can make for some long, stressful days. All the students are looking forward to the end of the school year already and what they will be working on next year.

Notes from the  Music Room 

I would like to start off by saying how amazing all of the students performed for their grade level spring sing!  I am so proud of all of them, and they should be extremely proud of themselves and all of their hard work.  Whether they were chorus members, characters, soloists, instrumentalists, dancers, or surfers, each student played a vital role in making each show a success!  Thank you also to you as their special grown-ups who helped them prepare by practicing their solos or speaking lines with them.  You helped to make them successful.  Bravo to all!!  

Here is what we will be doing in music to finish out the year:

Kindergarten/1st Grade:   The students will work on very short compositions using rhythm and melody and perform them on xylophones, Glockenspiels, and metallophones.  They will work on some Italian music words that mean loud and soft and fast and slow.  We will continue to work on  rhythm as the students learn to play Rhythm Bingo with 4-beat rhythms using Quarter Notes, Quarter Rests, and combined Eighth Notes.  and we will be working on Form, noticing different parts of a song and looking for patterns.  The kindergartners will hear the story of “Mortimer”, and discuss how music is used to help tell a story, and they will be adding music to the story using various classroom instruments as we read and bring the story to life with music.  1st Graders will also be listening to the story of “Peter and the Wolf” and learning about orchestra instruments and families, where the music plays a large part in telling the story.

2nd graders/3rd Graders: We will now continue to hone in on the musical skills they have been working on, such as using dynamics in music, singing in harmony, and performing rhythms and melodies on various classroom instruments.  They will work in groups to focus on verse and refrain, call and response, and ABA forms, or recipes for writing songs, using instruments and composition.  We will also continue exploring the world of the orchestra and the instruments that make up the 4 families in the orchestra and how they make their unique and individual sounds.  There will also be piano skills involved.  We’ll play games and sing songs to end the school year on a high note!

4th Grade:   The students will be moving on to work on everyone’s favorite beginning woodwind instrument, the Recorder!  This will combine several musical skills while they learn proper holding and fingering placement in order to play the instrument.  Learning how to blow softly with warm, gentle breath is also so important for them to play sweet, gentle sounds instead of loud, squeaking noises.  This skill takes time, as does learning the tonguing technique needed to correctly separate each sound as they play.  The students will continue to work on the recorder at the beginning of 5th grade.  After the short introduction to the Recorder, they will continue to work on their piano skills and pick up where they left off at the end of last school year, not only working on their knowledge of the keys, but reading pitches on the Treble Clef Staff and reading and playing rhythms.

5th Grade:  As the last few months of the school year are upon us, and the 5th graders will be completing the last classes of their elementary school careers, they will be continuing to explore the various elements of music on various classroom instruments and with their voices.  They will review piano skills and perform songs, requiring keyboard knowledge, as well as rhythm and pitch-reading on Treble and Bass Clef skills.  We will play fun musical games and explore other classroom instruments as we hone in on all of the musical concepts they have learned about.  I must admit I will be very sad to see these awesome 5th graders leave!

A Few Lines from Washington’s Art Studio

Dear Families,

A special shout out to all the Washington artists for their hard work on the beautiful masterpieces they created for the Square 1 Art fundraiser! I will be hanging up their masterpieces.

A very appreciative thank you goes out to all the families that ordered artwork for the Square1 Art fundraiser and made it so successful! Your support makes a difference and the money raised will go back to the students in the form of art supplies such as clay glazes, erasers, books, tempera paint, felt, pencils, playdough, oil pastels, glue, kwik stix, poster board, sharpie markers…

Washington raised $3,895.95 and we will be given a check for 33% of that. Way to go!!! 

Thank you again!

Artfully Yours,

Lynn Hopfauf

Art Educator

Washington Elementary

 

PE News  

Hello Washington families,

We are coming up to the end of the year, which is a busy and fun time for PE. For the last couple months of the school year we will be learning some more about our heart with a heart obstacle course. We will also be spending some time outside learning about throwing and practicing with footballs. In addition, we will be working on our tennis racket skills.

Grades K-1

In kindergarten and first grade we will begin learning how to throw frisbees and playing some disk golf.

Grades 2-3

While 4th and 5th graders are practicing for their track meets, second and third graders will be going outside to learn about playing the game of golf. 

Grades 4-5

For those of you that do not know, the School District of Janesville puts on an all school track meet for 4th and 5th graders for all elementary schools in Janesville. We will be practicing all of the events before the track meet is put on. I will be sending out more information about the track meet eventually.

 

As always if you have any questions contact us at:

 

Mr. Hutson     zachary.hutson@janesville.k12.wi.us     608-743-7248

 

Mr. Rand        gannon.rand@janesville.k12.wi.us

 

Schoolwide Title I Program Notice

Schools with an elevated low-income rate receive federal Title I funds to support the learning of all students through a Schoolwide Title I Program. Schoolwide programs serve all children in a school. All staff, resources, and classes are part of the overall schoolwide program. The purpose is to ensure all students, including those most in need, are positioned to  meet the state's challenging academic standards. Schoolwide Title I schools annually complete a needs assessment to identify the school’s strengths and areas for improvement in student achievement, develop strategies and action steps to address how the goals identified will be achieved, and evaluate and update the plan as needed.

Schoolwide Title I schools are required to engage parents and families in the Title I planning and evaluation process as well as provide opportunities for parents and families to engage in supporting their child’s education.

Parents of children enrolled in Title I schools have the right to

• Timely information about services provided;
• Access to a description of the curriculum, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of challenging state standards;
• Opportunities or meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children upon their request; 
• Response to their suggestions in a timely manner.

Copies of the Schoolwide Title I Plan and the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy are available upon request. Please contact the school secretary at (608-743-7206) or (kristi.filter@janesville.k12.wi.us) to request a copy.