Welcome to Washington

Welcome Wildacts!

It's Library Card Month - show your card to Ms Brown, or sign up for one to get a treat!

We will be on heat schedule this Tuesday through Thursday, with dismissal at 1:30PM. Busses will run right after. Actvities may take place right after school, and activity bus will report at 3:15PM. All games are on regular schedule at this time.

We are asking for parents to volunteer at the entrance to all games. WGMS still needs a Dance Team Coach and a Robotics Coach.

The lunch menus (breakfast and lunch) can be found for each school in district by going to the www.psd150.org site, click on students/parents site, where a full range of choices come up. Click on "breakfast/lunch" menus, and the two month menu can be selected.

Horizons Club will meet on Tuesdays beginning September 18th during lunch.

Applications for the RHS International Baccalaureate program will be posted on the Richwoods website Friday, September 21st for interested 8th graders.

The DI parent meeting is Sept. 24^th.

Dismissal is at 10:30am, with buses running, on Wednesday, September 26th for SIP Day.

Take great notes and photos on the 8th Grade Architectural Tour Thursday, September 27th.

The September 27^th Parent University meeting is at Tanner’s Orchard.

Eat tex-mex and raise money at the PTO Chili's Fundraiser all through the month of October!

The Big/Littles Sommer Park trip is Oct. 4^th and 5^th

The October Book Fair will need volunteers so please let us know if you are interested.

The Student Council sponsored dance for 7th and 8th graders is October 12th.

Conferences are October 15^th and 16^th.

Help-a-thon is the WGMS fall fundraiser. Students collect donations/pledges in return for volunteering in the community. WGMS will make arrangements with the organizations students and their families will help on October 13^th.

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Headlines & Features

Jump Trading Simulation and Education STEAM

The Jump Trading Simulation and Education STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) is a program for students from grades six through twelve. For the 2018-2019 school year, they are accepting applications from students within Peoria Schools who meet the eligibility criteria. Click here to learn more

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Washington Help-a-Thon

Look for information to come home this week about the annual fall fundraiser Help-A-Thon which will be held on Saturday, October 13th. Can't make it on the 13th? No problem. We will provide several other volunteer opportunities in the community. The first one is this Saturday the 22nd at Northwoods Church for the St. Jude Run/Walk to end Childhood Cancer.

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Washington Middle School 2018-19 School Culture Policy

At Washington our culture is driven by the philosophy of “Address, Intervene, Communicate.” Address- identify that the behavior is inconsistent with our core values. Intervene – have a conversation about behavior/expectation/correction plan. Communicate – via referral or parent contact, any other necessary means. Detention hall will be held on Tuesdays from 2:30-4:15PM. Major discipline infractions, as outlined on page 3 and 4 of the Washington student handbook, will result in an instant referral to the principal and will be subject to school and district consequences. This policy does not replace 7:190 Peoria Public School student discipline protocol.

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Student Pick-up and Drop-off Guidelines

7:05-7:30am and 1:00-1:40pm, CARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE FRONT PARKING LOT and students may only be picked up and dropped off in the North Parking Lot located near the ball fields. For student safety, only buses may drive in the Main Parking Lot during these times. Thank you for your cooperation in helping keep our students safe.

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Study Skills

Knowing how to study is an important skill to have. Students who use strategies to understand and remember what they read, such as underlining important parts of the texts or discussing what they read with other people, perform better in class and on tests. One of the biggest differences between top students and everyone else was that when they study, they take practice tests. Only 11 percent of students do this, but they perform better because they are studying in a way that goes beyond memorizing material. Also helpful is to create a study timetable & stick to it-- first include things you like/need to do on your schedule and then work study time in after. This method naturally ensures that you are doing things you like to do every day in addition to studying, so you don’t burn out and give up. These kind of balanced schedules are easier follow. Here are some ideas and strategies to help students learn more:

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Dress Code Update

We have reviewed our code, investigated other equivalent schools, received feedback, and assembled a panel of students, parents, staff, and teachers to update the Dress Code. Parents and students, please review the updated Dress Code from the handbook. The updated Dress Code will be effective beginning November 2017. Any violation of the code results in a referral to the principal. Repeated violations will warrant parent contact and loss of privilege/referrals. Hopefully, the updated code puts everyone on a consistent page and on to bigger and more productive things.

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Renaissance Home Connect for Parents

Parents- We are hoping that you will soon begin using Renaissance Home Connect as a way of monitoring and encouraging your child’s reading practice. It can be a valuable tool for monitoring your child’s progress. Research confirms that parental involvement in a child’s education is a strong predictor of student achievement. Thank you for your involvement in your child’s education. What is Renaissance Home Connect? Renaissance Home Connect is a tool that connects the school and home to keep parents informed of their child’s progress in Accelerated Reader, and encourages the child to practice reading at home. How does Renaissance Home Connect help me improve my child’s reading progress? • You can view your child’s progress toward reading goals and view all books that your child has read and quizzes your child has taken. • You can access an online search tool, AR BookFinder, to search for books using various criteria, including author, subject, or reading level. • You can receive emails that reveal results for Reading Practice Quizzes and provide links to the website where you can check progress. The same login and password that your child uses at school will work at home with Renaissance Home Connect.

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Volunteers for Exploratories Wanted

Exploratories is enrichment one Friday afternoon a month during school hours at WGMS. The parent organizers are looking for parent volunteers or community partners to share their hobbies and talents with the students. Examples from last year were Chess, Photography, Bread Making, Wilderness Survival, Printmaking, Sewing & Knitting, Health Careers, Science, and much more! Please email Gina Isada at gina_isada@hotmail.com or Mr. Poehls, if you can share your talents with the students. Students will get to experience 2 exploratory themes for the year. The first session dates are Nove 2, Dec 14, & Jan 11. The second session dates are Feb 8, March 15, & April 5. An community partner can do both full sessions; or it can be 1-2 dates that can fall under a pathway for art, science, or other (such as games, sports, etc)

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Richwoods Storm the Castle Race

Join us at the Castle for this Traditional and Fun Event for Families and Runners! GREAT Food provided after the race & a silent auction, too, thanks to the generous support of area businesses. Proceeds benefit the Richwoods High School Soccer Program and Field Improvement Projects. This event features a 5K walk/run beginning at the Opera House at Expo Gardens and finishing at The Castle (our soccer field). The generous support over the last six races have allowed us to complete major field upgrades so our course will be finishing midfield on the upgraded pitch. The field has been leveled and crowned, a watering system installed and new grass. Your support will allow the program to continue moving forward to bring the facilities up to a standard on par with our guests and competitors. It will also give the Richwoods players a home field to be proud to defend. Packet pickup is scheduled for Friday, November 10th between 4:30-6:30PM and on Race Day between 4PM-5:15PM in the Opera House at Expo Gardens, located at 1601 W Northmoor Road, Peoria.

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Former Washington Student Plays in Peoria

Former Washington/current Richwoods student Cami Proctor plays and sings as a member of the Blank Stairs. The band is gaining in popularity, playing at the Riverfront, Cyd's at Donovan Park, the HOI Fair, and in front of Kelleher's(pictured). While many Washington students come out to support the Blank Stairs, others from Peoria and the surrounding areas enjoy their funk and rock sounds.

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Congratulations from Peoria Public Library

We won again!!! The numbers have been totaled up and we have our school winners for the 2018 Peoria Public Library Summer Reading Program! Washington Gifted had 61 students. Representatives from the Peoria Public Library took a picture of our participating students and are making a summer reading poster for our school! They will also bring some neat coupons for the kids who helped us win the middle school division of the Summer Reading Program. Great job Monica, Tra, Yordai, Owen, Makenzie, Moises, Aidan, Jasmine, Lena, Mia, Michael, Chase, Lilyhan, Savannah, Matt, Georgia, Kirsten, Adler, Brady, Flynn, Claudia, Destiny, Ryan, Theo, Landon, Jackson, Melissa, Layla, Hiruni, Nethmi, Greg, Lauren, Lilia, Javen, William, Maleah, Brianna, Kiara, Kenneth, Alexi, Savannah, Ja'yre, Nylah, Declan, Bella, Hania, Nabeeha, Joshua, Lauren, Harry, David, Walter, Kara, Kevin, David, Ben, Adam, Rashad, Huda, Staten, Noelle, and David.

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Jumpstart Washington: What it means to be a Wildcat

Advocate for yourself! Organization will save your life! Social Skills for Success are Important! Remember you are awesome! Have fun, dream big and make good choices!

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8th Graders Visit Springdale Cemetery

The 8th grade class of Washington Gifted Middle School will go to Springdale Cemetery for an outdoor field class. As a cross-curricular trip, students complete learning projects with several subject areas. Assisted by Mike Rucker from Peoria Wilds, 8th graders help maintain the savannah restoration lands there. Students also make their own cemetery tour of prominent Peorians and use math to make a graph of average life expectancies. Though cold, the students enjoy learning more about Peoria history and lands in the beautiful historic cemetery.

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The role of productive struggle-from the Remarkable Times

Preparing students for their future isn’t about helping them to earn A’s or getting high GPAs. It is really about making sure that students are prepared for the workforce. The phrase “productive struggle” is used to describe the process of learning and the work that goes into it. To give an example that most people relate to is when one is learning to ride a bike. This is hard work and takes practice. There is often a little bit of help initially and support along the way but at some point, the bike rider needs to do all of the pumping of the pedals and maintaining of balance.

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Mathcounts Gold Level Status

Washington is the first school in Illinois, and the 9th school in the U.S. to achieve Gold Level this school year! After our school signed up our Mathcounts team for the competition season, we were able to start working for our Silver and Gold Level due mainly to the high level of participation this year. Our Mathcounts team has had an average attendance of 20-25 students during most of the weekly practices. After 5 weeks of high attendance, Mrs Klungseth sent her attendance stats into the National Math Club and we were awarded Silver Level. To achieve Gold level this year, the project was creating math games. Students created 2 games and sent them in to Mathcounts with our club information. Washington has officially been awarded Gold Level! This is all because of the kids' dedication in coming and practicing their skills each week. WE ARE SO PROUD OF WHAT THEY ACCOMPLISHED!

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