Carleton Washburne

We hope everyone enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine this weekend. Today, at Washburne, our staff was busy participating in professional learning related to our strategic plan and portrait of a graduate. Washburne staff continued our learning around the RULER curriculum and examined conflict resolution strategies. Staff also had the opportunity to continue working on developing project based learning opportunities for our students.

We are thankful for the collaboration time and look forward to welcoming students back to Washburne tomorrow.

Take Care and Be Well,

Andrew Fenton & Ben Horwitz

Washburne Principal & Assistant Principal

Dance Marathon 2023 is coming up on Friday, March 3rd

ALL 5th – 8th Graders Are Invited & Encouraged to Participate

Immediately After School 3:30PM – 5:30PM in the Washburne Gym.

Click Here for Students to Sign Up

What an AMAZING response we have had so far to Dance Marathon 2023. Our Skokie/Washburne community is playing an important role in the advancement of care and treatment at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. As of today, our community has raised OVER $31,000, with all proceeds being donated to support the nearly 223,000 patients that Lurie Children’s Hospital treats annually. Way to Go Already, Skokie/Washburne LIONS!

All 5th through 8th Graders are invited and encouraged to continue participating through their classroom donations (happening now) and to join us and register for this inspiring, social afternoon (on March 3rd). Not only is this a wonderful social event for 5th through 8th graders to participate in together, it’s also helping build awareness among our student body about health issues that affect children during an afternoon of games, prizes, a DJ, food and fun with your friends right after school.

Parent Volunteers Are Needed

We are looking for families and parents to help ensure a successful Dance Marathon. Click link to sign up to help in one of two ways:

1. Volunteer your time to chaperone at Dance Marathon on March 3rd, if all spaces are full and you want to volunteer email here!

1. Donate a raffle prize for the kids to win. Raffle prizes need to be dropped off by March 1st to the Boulos home at 986 Grove St. There will be a bin on the side porch to put the raffle items in.

Thank you for all your help in making this a successful event!

Questions? Email here!

In this section we will be shining the spotlight on our Related Studies program and all the wonderful opportunities available to our Washburne students.

The Washburne string orchestra has been busy these last few weeks! Many of our 8th grade students had individual auditions with Mr. Peter Rosheger, the orchestra director at New Trier High School on Feb 8. These auditions will help determine our students placement within the program next year.

In addition, many of our students participated last Saturday, Feb. 11 in the Illinois Grade School Music Association (IGSMA) Solo/Ensemble Contest at Attea Middle School in Glenview, Illinois.

Between Skokie and Washburne Schools, we presented 22 solos and 7 ensembles. Scores ranged from Div. II (excellent) to Div. 1+ (perfect score)!

D36 was well represented and performed at their highest level! It was a fun day for all!

We are in the middle of preparation for our Spring Concert as well as the return of the Tour of The Elementary Schools with Washburne's jazz band!!

Lots of exciting events to round out the school year!

A group of energetic students have been meeting every Tuesday morning before school to help plan our third annual dance marathon, which is benefiting Lurie Children's Hospital. These dedicated students are helping promote the dance marathon, fundraise for Lurie Children's Hospital, and plan the event, which will take place on Friday, March 3rd. Their creativity is evident in each commercial they write and film, every email they send to the staff, and every slideshow they create. This inaugural Dance Marathon Student Steering Committee has exceeded our expectations. Students and teachers alike are all striving to beat our last fundraising total of $42,000 and plan a fun-filled event for all Skokie-Washburne students to enjoy. Kudos to each student who has volunteered their time to be on this committee and to our staff who are leading the group, Ms. Falk, Ms. Silverman, and Ms. Yeoman.

On March 12th , Winnetka Public Schools Foundation (WPSF) Board members will be reaching out to D36 parents and community members by phone, text and email in order to secure donations for the coming year. Every donation can make a difference in our schools and for our community!

Donate online by March 11 to to “Beat the Call!” With your support, WPSF can continue to provide our teachers with the resources they need to bring creativity to the curriculum while enhancing the learning experience for all Winnetka D36 students.

What is the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation (WPSF)?

WPSF is a non-profit volunteer organization which raises funds from District families and the

community. Those funds are used to provide grants to D36 educators which enable them to go above and beyond what is possible with tax dollars alone. This year, WPSF provided over $111,000 in grants to Crow Island, Greeley, Hubbard Woods, Skokie and Washburne.

What People Are Saying About WPSF

“The Foundation continues to be a vital partnership that supports [our] work, allowing us to consider resources that we may not otherwise have immediate access to, while also continuing to promote the creative and innovative instructional design that our district has historically celebrated. We are immensely grateful to the Foundation for its commitment to our schools, students and staff, and excited about the possibilities in the year ahead.”

Dr. Kelly Tess, Superintendent Winnetka School District 36

WPSF Funded Carleton Washburne Grant Highlight: Your Human Body

Through its Core Plus and Summer Institute grants, WPSF provides funding for teacher and staff professional development programs. This past year, training for teachers in Fifth through Eighth grades focused on Project Based Learning (PBL). In addition to providing deeper engagement and interaction with subject materials, PBL encourages higher order thinking and real-life problem-solving skills.

At Washburne, Seventh grade science teacher, John Pappas’s students embarked on a project to help them learn more about human body systems. Students set personal improvement goals and researched the body parts associated with their goal. They used this research to develop an action plan and then tracked their progress.

“Goal setting is a lifelong skill that requires hard work, dedication, discipline, and sacrifice, which is why many people make goals and eventually give up. This project started right after the New Year, where goal setting is a cultural theme making it particularly relevant.”

John Pappas, Science Department, Carleton Washburne

The Accelerated Placement Act requires Illinois public school districts to adopt and implement policies on acceleration that provide opportunities for single subject and grade level acceleration. To learn more about District 36’s acceleration policy implementation, click here to view an infographic and click here to visit our updated webpage. Note that the acceleration request form will be open March 6-31. If you have questions about the policy, please contact the Director of Innovation, Teaching and Learning, Dr. Becky Mathison, at beckymathison@winnetka36.org.

Winnetka Voices is a podcast hosted by The Winnetka Public Schools, featuring candid conversations on issues relevant to education and shared resources to support our students and families.

NEW! Episode #4:

Recruiting & Retaining Incredible Educators

In this episode Dr. Kelly Tess discusses the national teacher shortage with The Skokie School Principal, Michelle Cooney; Jeff Knapp, Assistant Superintendent of Professional Learning and Human Resources; and Daniel Walsh, Interim Dean of the School of Education and Associate Professor at North Park University. The guests reflect on the landscape when they initially began their careers in education, the need to enhance recruitment and retention practices, and what makes this a unique era in terms of hiring the next generation of teachers. The guests reflect on how these factors may specifically impact our practices in Winnetka. According to Principal Cooney, "In order to do hard and important work, we need to be in a community where we support one another." Listen the full episode to learn more about this timely topic.

Listen here:

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UP NEXT:

From Washburne to New Trier:

A D36 Parent's Guide to the New Trier Transition

March 7, 2022

9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Carleton Washburne School, 515 Hibbard Rd.

Paul Waechtler, Principal at the New Trier High School Freshman Campus, and Lori Worth, 8th Grade Transition Faculty, will discuss the New Trier freshman placement process and the efforts made to ensure a smooth transition to high school. A Q & A will provide an opportunity for parents to learn more about how to best support their child(ren) as they prepare for their New Trier experience.

Interested: RSVP here.

Learning the Mood Meter- District Implementation of RULER

(District 36 SEL Coaches)

March 14, 2023

Location: Washburne RC

Time: 10:00-11:00 AM

Interested: RSVP here

D36 K-8 Math Programming: An Overview

(Dr. Becky Mathison, Director of ITL and District Math Teachers)

March 21, 2023

Location: Washburne RC

Time: 10:00-11:00 AM

During this session Dr. Becky Mathison, Director of Innovation, Teaching and Learning, alongside a team of math educators from the District will provide an overview of D36 math programming K-8 including an upper grade course map, explain how the approach aligns to progressive education and the portrait of a graduate, and ways to support your student at home. This session will feature a panel of D36 math educators.

Interested: RSVP here

Our Primary Program provides activities for children Pre-K (4 years old by June 1st, 2023) and K-1st grade (5 years old by September 1st, 2022) and will be held at Crow Island. Classes will be as varied as wilderness skills, archery, tennis, science, cooking, and many types of crafts​...along with the annual favorite, Animal Care.

Registration will go live in March.

• READ: Alliance’s Fall/Winter Newsletter

• READ: Alliance’s Let’s Play Guide 2022-2023 and NEW Let’s Play! Information

• REGISTER: Virtual Parent Series: Using Connection, Compassion, and Co-Regulation to Address Challenging Behavior in Young Children with Cari Ebert, February 9, 7-8:30pm

• REGISTER: Let’s Play! Let’s Play! Winter Woods Exploration Saturday, February 11, 10:00am-12:00pm, Crow Island Woods, 1140 Willow Rd, Winnetka

• REGISTER: Virtual Parent Series: Attachment and Your Young Child’s Mental Health: How You Can Make a Difference with Kate Blaker and Sarah Eastburg in Conversation with Carly Andrews, February 23, 7pm

For upcoming events, access FAN’s website here.

Tuesday, February 21st: School Board Meeting @ 7:15pm

Friday, March 3rd: Skokie/Washburne Dance Marathon @ 3:30pm

Friday, March 10th: Last Day of Trimester 2