Washington Elementary School

December 2023

NO SCHOOL : DECEMBER 25 - JANUARY 1

MESSAGE FROM MRS. ZEMAN

Hello Washington Families,

It has been a great first half of the year, and it is hard to believe we are approaching winter break! When we return in January, we will be doing some more formal checks on our learning with Fastbridge reading and math assessments. It will be fun to see the progress and set goals for the rest of the year. We will also do some checking in with some of our other building goals. Students feeling that they belong at school is a huge goal of ours, and we do survey our students about that.

Conversation starters with your students:

*What helps you feel that you belong at school?

*How can you help others to feel that they belong at school?

We are looking forward to our STEM night (there is still space available, so please sign up if you are interested - it is a pre-registration only event).

I hope your family has an enjoyable winter break with time to do all of the things that you love the most!

Mrs. Zeman

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ENGINEERING NIGHT WITH THE WORKS MUSEUM

We are excited to host a family night with the WORKS museum January 9th from 5:00-6:30 at our school! There will be 5 stations of activities where students will explore various science and engineering concepts including:

- Dynamic Magnetic Structures: Use magnetic rods and steel spheres to make amazing structures that spin and interact.
- Fling Flyers: Construct and launch a glider that flies an amazing distance.
- Pop Fly Team Challenge: Work in adult-child teams with limited materials to make a device that
launches a ping-pong ball high enough for a team member to catch.
- Circuit Play--Loads: Create circuits to power different loads such as buzzers, bulbs and motors.
- Sound Sandwiches: Learn about sound and vibration as you make your own wind instrument that creates crazy sounds.

Space is limited to 250 total people. If you'd like to attend, please register HERE. Registration will be first come, first serve. We will have a pizza snack during the event and look forward to doing some learning and exploring with you all!

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WARM WINTER DRIVE

Our student council held a Warm Winter Drive- collecting socks, mittens, and gloves- from December 4-15. The goal was to collect 200 pairs school-wide. We are so excited as our total amount collected is 546 PAIRS of socks, gloves, and mittens. We also had almost $60 in cash donations that were used to purchase more items! Thank you to everyone who donated!

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LOST AND FOUND

Please have your student check the lost and found- or stop in before/after school. Items left after January 12th will be donated.

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YEARBOOK ORDERING

2023-2024 Yearbooks are now for sale! Click HERE to purchase.

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LUNCH WITH STUDENTS

We are excited to have family members join their students for lunch! If you plan to come for lunch, please call the office by 9:00 am. Adult lunches are $5 and visitors are required to bring a valid government issued I.D.

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ATTENDANCE LINE

Please remember to call the attendance line (507-444-8305) if you have a student absent for any reason. Even if you message the teacher, please call the above number to be sure absences are coded correctly.

MONTESSORI REGISTRATION

Enrollment for the Montessori program will open to new families on January 22, 2023 and will close on February 9th, 2024. This is a first come, first serve basis. Please fill out this enrollment link if you would like to register your student for the Montessori Program. Please call the McKinley office at 507-444-8200 if you have any questions.

K-5 BOUNDARIES DESIGN

The district has started a K-5 boundaries design process, due to the current imbalance of attendance between the four elementary schools, building space limitations, and disparity in neighborhood growth.

The process includes a Design Team of principals, administrators, staff, and Owatonna Bus Company representation to assess the current situation and create models of possible options.

An Input Team composed of staff and parents/guardians from each elementary school and the early learning program will provide feedback on the models.

The Input Team meetings will be held in the Owatonna Middle School cafeteria and are open to the public to attend, to listen and learn. Only Input Team members will provide feedback at these meetings. The dates are: